Stressed about selling home

[bluebunny]

Well, we were casually looking for a bigger house and found one we liked. We put an offer on it and after countering twice, we agree on $23,900 less than their original asking price. :eek: We close at the end of the month and we haven't even put our house on the market, yet. :rolleyes: We're thinking of doing FSBO.

What are the main things we need to do before showings? Clean out closets? Declutter? Any specific tips?

[KarenS]

Your house needs to be completely decluttered and spotless. Rooms need to be arranged for their intended use - for example, don't use the spare room for storage or stack boxes in the garage. It's one thing to have an organized storage area, but you don't want to make the house looks like there's not enough room for your stuff.

I'd recommend renting a storage unit and putting all non-essential stuff in it. Clean out your closets and hang only the clothes you wear on a regular basis to make them look larger. Get rid of all knick-knacks. Clean and arrange the pantry and kitchen cupboards. The places that people look in are kitchens, bathrooms, closets, and pantries. :)

Also don't knock the power of a clean and tidy exterior. Make sure that there are no peeling paint spots on your house, that the trim is in good condition, you've power washed if you need to. A lot of people are so used to the way their house looks that they forget how those little things stand out to people who are seeing it for the first time.

Karen

[KaliLily]

Also don't knock the power of a clean and tidy exterior

When we sold our house in October 2004, the realtors said curb appeal is very important. We put in fresh bark and set out flower pots filled with seasonal flowers. These things were simple and inexpensive, but really upped the curb appeal.

I would caution against FSBO, though, since you have a rather tight timeframe to sell. While they do take a portion of the sale proceeds, a good realtor can sell your house fast. And the faster you sell your house, the more likely you are to get a full price offer.

ETA: We sold our house in less than 10 days.

[KarenS]

Yeah, I actually was going to disagree with the FSBO thing as well. I really don't understand why people sell FSBO. It's a lot of hard work and time involvement and you won't get nearly the exposure for your house that you'll get listing with an agent. I just don't get that it's worth it for what you save.

Karen

[KaliLily]

It's hard work to sell a home even with a realtor. I can't imagine doing it without one. We encountered a few less-than-professional realtors when selling our home, and it was nice to have realtors of our own to handle them. The key is to find a good realtor who you feel comfortable working with. Getting referrals from friends, neighbors and family helps.

[greenbunny]

If you have pets, be prepared to take them with you when you leave for a showing. Some people are afraid or allergic, or could accidentally let an animal out.

One house DH and I went to see had three huge dogs caged in the living room, snarling and barking their heads off when we walked in the door. They were so loud we couldn't even hear each other speak, and I was petrified and left immediately.

[Asha]

i am not against selling a house fsbo especially bc in ny the realtors don't handle the contract aspect of selling a house. quite honestly our lawyer did a lot more. though, in your case, i would use a realtor bc you have a very tight time frame.

i agree with karen's advice about how to get your house ready.

i have also heard to put fresh flowers in vases around the house. also, switch out your current light bulbs with the highest wattage that is still safe in all your light fixtures. turn on all your lights when the house is being shown. open all drapes and blinds to let in as much let as possible. i would also have someone visit your house and give you an honest opinion if there are some strange odors. this may sound funny, but i have been to some houses that just plain stink. i think people just can't smell their own stench. this really turned me off to some houses. one guy tried to mask it with incense and it just made it worse.

[Asha]

/hijack/ kali - your quote made me lol!!

[KarenS]

i have also heard to put fresh flowers in vases around the house.another thing you can do to "stage" your home is, if you have some pretty dishes, set your dining table as tho preparing for a dinner party. It's one of those things that makes a house look "finished" and it gives a sense of purpose to the room. It's one of the cool things that I learned when I took DH's staging class with him.

Karen

[Layla]

Bedroom:
Bed. Make sure it's made!
Clothes. Clean out your closet to make it look spacious
Shoes. Take them out and de-clutter the floor. Same with purses/bags/belts
Bureaus. Dust.

Kitchen:
Pretty table. Agreed, great point about setting the table with linens, or at the very least putting a bowl of fresh fruit or nice candlesticks with new candles.
-Cookies. I've heard it's a good idea to bake something (i.e., cookies) about three hours before you leave the house. It makes the house smell yummy and more inviting. Just be sure to use some store-bought cookie dough so you don't end up with flour splattered all over your freshly scrubbed kitchen!
-Drainboard. Either put it away or put it in the right-hand side of a double sink. This gives the impression of more counterspace.

Be sure to have all the blinds open so lots of natural light comes in, and maybe leave on some accent lights as well. Finally, vacuum, mop, and clean up all the crap on the floor! A good realtor should give you even more tips and tools. Good luck!

[Asha]

does anyone know if there are actually jobs out there for people who stage? it has always sound like something that would be fun. of course, i guess it wouldn't be fun with a gross house. or is this something that a good realtor would normally do?

[KarenS]

does anyone know if there are actually jobs out there for people who stage? Yep. There's an organization for staging professionals. One of them came a taught a class at DHs broker's office. A good Realtor should know the basics about staging and be able to advise you pretty well. But a professional stager is someone who you hire to actually come in to *do* the work - arranging furniture, looking thru your closets and cupboards, etc. Some of them even have a stock of decor items that they'll rent to you as part of their service - plants, art, etc.

http://www.iahsp.com/

Karen

[KaliLily]

/hijack/ kali - your quote made me lol!!

Thanks! :D

A good place to get ideas about preparing your home is the show "Sell This House." They give good tips and show simple, inexpensive things that you can do to help sell your home.

[Sabrina]

does anyone know if there are actually jobs out there for people who stage? it has always sound like something that would be fun. of course, i guess it wouldn't be fun with a gross house. or is this something that a good realtor would normally do?

If you want some good staging ideas, you should check out the show Sell this House on A&E. They bring a professional stager into a house that has been on the market for a while, and he stages the house for about $500 or less.

[eponymous]

One thing that really "fooled" DH and I when we bought our house was that it was freshly painted neutral colors (well, one neutral color throughout), but not so freshly that it smelled. The house didn't smell at all, even of cookies, which was good for us. One house had plug-in air freshners in every room and it was TERRIBLE. We couldn't tell what they were masking, but it was so bad that I got sick.

[Asha]

yes, i watch all those shows. i love them.

[bluebunny]

Thanks for all the tips! One thing that I'm worried about is getting the home spotless! With a dog and a 14-month old that seems almost impossible! :o

[Asha]

i know this may sound really horrible to you, but is there a way you can board the dog for a couple of weeks? it'll help keep your house cleaner plus you won't have to hassle with removing the dog every time you show your house. plus you won't have the dog smell in your house. i know it might cost a bit of money, but that decision might earn you more money in the long run bc you might sell your house faster if it is cleaner and people feel more comfortable without an animal in the house.

also, since you do have a 14 month old, i have heard on many house selling shows is to only keep the child's toys to his/her bedroom. people don't want to see toy cluttter throughout the house. also, a lot of children often have more toys than they need and they suggest storing most of the toys while the house is being shown and only keeping a few essential toys around.

good luck! it definitely sounds like you have your hands full. i find moving so hard and i don't even have a child to look after.

[bluebunny]

rebjc, you're not a dog owner are you? ;) I don't think boarding our dog is the answer. First, it would be quite cost prohibitive; for what it cost to board him for one week, we could pay to have the house cleaned from top to bottom and the carpets steam cleaned. Second, what if it takes several months to sell? Would we board him indefinitely? Third, our dog is my first baby; it wouldn't be the same without him around.

As for dog smell, I certainly hope our house doesn't smell! :eek: I've never noticed it (and I've noticed a dirty diaper smell upon coming in the house before so I don't think I'm immune to smells).

We will probably send him to doggie daycare on days we have showings.

[Asha]

no, i don't have a dog, but i have known people who have boarded their dogs when trying to sell the house. not all people have boarded them at the kennel or vet, but some people i have known have boarded them with relatives. though, i understand that you love your dog and would miss him too much to do that indefinitely.

oh, i wasn't implying your house smelled, but it's just that some very clean people have a certain doggy smell to their homes. not all though, bc the person we bought our current house from had a dog and the house didn't smell at all.

[lnicole35]

Bluebunny,
I have a 9 month old and a medium to large dog and our house has been on the market for a little over a year! Yes, a year (we are in a very competitive market). Just wanted to let you know it can be done, keeping the house clean that is, but it is hard work. I think if I have to do it any longer I will explode. :D
First off I have tried to keep a good system of spot cleaning every night before going to bed after little man has gone to sleep so I am not caught off guard in the early mornings. Also, if your husband can help out by putting the things he gets out back up at the end of the night (good luck with this one :rolleyes: ) or entertaining your child while you clean.
I have found that it is always better to have the dog/pets out of the house as well as putting their food bowls and personal items up before showing. I have many agents call to make sure we don't have any pets that will bite or jump on them! I think that is funny but apparently some people do leave them out.
Just my 2 cents!

Lisa Nicole

[KaliLily]

Bluebunny - When we sold our home, most showings only took about 10 minutes. If you're home all day, you can just take the dog and your child out for a walk during the showings. When my parents were selling their house a few years ago, they arranged for their realtor to be present for every showing to keep an eye on their dog. I think he usually just hung outside with the dog while the people looked around the house.

We had a lot of problems with realtors (of the prospective buyers) leaving doors unlocked, so we never went far when our house was being shown. We have 2 cats who stayed in the house during the showings, so we often just stayed up the street and kept an eye on the house to make sure they didn't get out. A couple times I just sat out on our front porch while the house was being shown.

[KaliLily]

oh, i wasn't implying your house smelled, but it's just that some very clean people have a certain doggy smell to their homes. not all though, bc the person we bought our current house from had a dog and the house didn't smell at all.

And with some people merely seeing pet items (toys, bowls, etc) will make them think they smell the animals. My husband smoked in the basement of our old house, so before we put it on the market we painted the basement walls. My parents, who could smell the slightest hint of smoke-residue, thought the place smelled great. However, we got feedback from our realtors that people smelled smoke in the house. That night, I removed the (clean) ashtray and lighters from DH's computer desk and put them away in a cabinet. Never got the complaint again. :rolleyes:

[pouncermom]

Just put our house on the market (offically today) and am worried about the 3 cats, dog, fish, etc. I know we can take the dog out during showings, but there really is no place to put the cats while there are people looking at the house.
Just hoping that there is a contract on the house soon, so we can start building our new house.

[KaliLily]

Just put our house on the market (offically today) and am worried about the 3 cats, dog, fish, etc. I know we can take the dog out during showings, but there really is no place to put the cats while there are people looking at the house.
Just hoping that there is a contract on the house soon, so we can start building our new house.

If your realtor hasn't already done this, you should put a "Seller's Note" on the exterior doors of your home stating that you have cats and to be careful not to let them out. We did that on ours and seeing as the cats never got out it must've worked. :) Just make sure your litter boxes aren't near any doors or open windows. Ours was in the laundry room, which was down the hall from the front door. We left the window slightly open with the idea of airing out the laundry room, but all it did was send wafts of litter-stink toward the front door. :eek: After getting feedback from our realtors that buyers were complaining they "smelled the cats" we moved the box into the basement, tucked away next to DH's computer desk. Never got that "cat smell" complaint again. :p

[vjel]

I agree w/ the other posters as well. So important to clean and declutter! Maybe hire a cleaning person to do a cleaning for you so your house will be totally spotless for showing? Also, our realtor in the past as told us to remove photos of ourselves/family from view. When people come to check out the house they want to be able to envision their own belongings in your place...not see your stuff in their potential new home. does that make sense?

It seems the housing market as slowed a bit, at least here (DC area). So be patient and lots of luck to you!

[bluebunny]

KaliLily, And with some people merely seeing pet items (toys, bowls, etc) will make them think they smell the animals. Good point!
On the days that I don't work, I'll definitely do this: you can just take the dog and your child out for a walk during the showings. Good idea!

lnicole35, your house has been on the market a year?! :eek: That's my nightmare! Kudos to you for being able to keep it clean with a baby and a dog.

Well, I got a stomach bug this weekend so our major cleaning was put on hold...maybe next week.

[pullbuoy]

How about boarding the dog for the couple days around the open house? Do you have any friends with a dog who could take it for a couple days? What kind of dog is it? I am a dog owner, and we are putting our house on the market, and no way would I try doing it with the dog and toddler around (the newborn doesn't make as much of a mess...). You close at the end of the month, right? So if it's not sold by then the dog will just be over at the new house. It might be worth it to just put some money into putting the house on the market and think of it as an investment- for example it's probably a good idea to get your carpets cleaned since you've had a toddler and a dog running around on them.

We're not living at our old house, but we had our carpets cleaned and had a professional "move-out" clean done, which included washing the windows (this goes along with reb's lighting suggestions- cleaning the windows makes a room brighter), cleaning behind the fridge, cleaning all the trim and ceiling fans, and generally getting the dirt out of places you don't regularly clean. We're also having the house staged, and one of the things I've been impressed with is how they make sure the furniture is proportional to the room. So if you have any oversized chairs or other stuff you love but maybe doesn't exactly fit the room, you might put it in that storage unit where you're putting the rest of your clutter.

If you are in the kind of market where people regularly get 23.9K under the asking price, you probably really want a realtor to help you get a good price on your home. It sounds like there is some negotiating to be done, and in that case you want someone with some experience on your side. I'm in a really hot market where you can count on getting the asking price or over, and I'm still going with a realtor, knowing how much money she's saved us in negotiating our last two home purchases. There's a ton of little stuff that comes up.

Good luck! Gawd it's a lot of work, isn't it?

[KaliLily]

We're not living at our old house, but we had our carpets cleaned and had a professional "move-out" clean done,

WOW!!!! Can I buy my next home from you? ;) The first house we bought was left a terrible mess. It was utterly disgusting!! Our 2nd (and current) house wasn't as bad, but it wasn't as clean as we (and our realtor) felt it should have been. I didn't use a professional move-out cleaning service when we left our old house, but with my and my parents' anal standards, we left that house quite clean!

[pullbuoy]

Ha! Well, the house we moved into was definitely not what I'd call in white glove shape(it was a fixer), and I'm certainly not doing all this out of the goodness of my greedy little sellers heart. People are just so taken by their first impression and rarely think about what's going into that impression(a handprint on a window, or dustbunny behind a table). We're going all out because we have the time(and the staging is being done for free) and remember how swayed we were by that kind of thing when we were looking for our first house. I think it's especially important if the house you are selling is a starter home, so your demographic is people who don't have as solid of a vision of what they want from a home. All this stuff really helps them see themselves in the house, maybe a little more than the next tier up.

[Cali_Katy]

We've lived in our townhouse for about three years and are thinking about moving to a bigger place. The idea of putting this place on the market is very stressful to me. People with babies -- what did you do? I'm at the point where I really need to babyproof, but I have a feeling that having latches on the cabinets and a gate on the stairs isn't going to be too appealing to people.

[lnicole35]

Cali-Katy>I don't think gates and latches would hurt selling your townhouse. Like my husband says, "People have to realize you live there." Although I have been known to get a wee bit anal about baby stuff being out.;)
Maybe a gate with a pet door would work better to allow people to get through without having to step over? This makes me smile because I was just saying we need to go this weekend to get gates and childproofing things! Our little man just started crawling and is into everything.:eek:

Best wishes!

[ManteoChik]

I agree with the decluttering. Taking away all nick-nacky things will really help. People want to be able to envision themselves living in your home and its hard to get past someone's snowbaby collection that they leave out all year long, or the 1970's wallpaper (not saything that you have either of those...lol), but you get my point. :D Painting, even just a neutral color will really help to give it a "fresh" feel. I agree with fresh flowers around and limit the number of pictures you have around. I'm not saying taken them off the walls, but stand up frams on end tables...sometimes it can just be too much.

When it comes to pets, I agree to take them with you when you leave (at least for the dogs) because cats don't normally bother anyone. However, I will say that I've always read that you should remove to litter box if at all possible, not just put in in a closet. I once went to see a house and the owners had put their cats litter box in a closet, when I opened to closet door to see the space, the smell almost knocked me over. We were out of there *very* fast. My dog is like my child, so I totally understand about boarding (I would never do it), but reality is there are a lot of people who don't like pets or who at least don't like them in the house. Personally, I really dislike cats and so whenver I go into a house with cats there is just something about it that throws me off. Some people are like that with, dogs, birds, ect.... I would just make a habbit of cleaning every night, even if its just a quick clean around the house wiping counters and doing a quick vaccume to get up any pet hair.

[Sabrina]

I agree with fresh flowers around and limit the number of pictures you have around.

One thing they always say on Sell This House is that you should remove all family photos from the house. The potential buyers need to be able to picture themselves living in the house, and seeing photos of another family may impede them from doing so.

[kerrykate]

I'm at the point where I really need to babyproof, but I have a feeling that having latches on the cabinets and a gate on the stairs isn't going to be too appealing to people.

We are putting our house up for sale in a couple weeks. We have a 2 year old so we don't need gates anymore but we still have all the locks on the cabinets and such. In my perfect daydream a couple with a small child come to look at our house and and give us a full price offer plus 10% because our house is already babyproofed and is so perfect for them since they won't have to do anything to it.... sigh. Back to reality. I'm getting stressed because we have already owned our new house for 1 month but it's a real fixer upper so dh is over there all the time putting in the new tile, doing drywall, tearing out old carpet, gutting the kitchen and bath, etc... So I am home trying to declutter and get the house ready to put up for sale. We are going to try and do FSBO for a few weeks and if we don't have any bites then we'll get a realtor. I don't want to waste too much time selling it ourselves during the peak season if it's not working. Anyhoo, I can relate to all the stress, I would love to skip over the next few months:rolleyes:

[bluebunny]

We close on our new house a week from Tuesday and we still haven't gotten our current house on the market. :rolleyes: We've decided that we'll pack up all the nicknacks and clutter (I've already packed all but one of our picture frames in the downstairs) and take it to the new house when we close. Then we'll get the carpets cleaned and do a deep cleaning of our current house and put it on the market FSBO. We're also listing it on MLS. If it doesn't sell in 3-4 weeks, we'll probably go with a realtor.

Feels good to have a plan, but it's hard to imagine getting everything done.

kerrykate, this will be us in a few weeks: I'm getting stressed because we have already owned our new house for 1 month but it's a real fixer upper so dh is over there all the time putting in the new tile, doing drywall, tearing out old carpet, gutting the kitchen and bath, etc...

[KaliLily]

We are putting our house up for sale in a couple weeks. We have a 2 year old so we don't need gates anymore but we still have all the locks on the cabinets and such. In my perfect daydream a couple with a small child come to look at our house and and give us a full price offer plus 10% because our house is already babyproofed and is so perfect for them since they won't have to do anything to it.... sigh.

We don't have kids - big or small. :) When we came to see the house we own now it was baby-proofed - including the doorknobs - and it didn't bother us a bit. Those things can be easily removed.

Personally, I think a lot of buyers are too picky and lack imagination. When I look at a prospective home, I look to see if it was taken care of (cleanliness), if it meets our needs, does it "feel" like home and can we afford it. (When we looked for our first home, we were even less picky. ;))

[lnicole35]

KaliLily-I totally agree...agents put so much stress on how the buyers will "visualize" your home as theirs and to remove such and such items. I think if you want something enough you tend to overlook certain things as fixable or do-able anyways!

[greenbunny]

I want to contradict one thing about the pictures--I know the usual advice is to remove family pictures. But in some cases, I think it's better not to. When we first looked at our house, there were lots of professional portraits all over the walls. The owners had upgraded to recessed lighting, and the lights were posed to highlight the pictures on the walls. In a situation like that, the pictures really helped to draw attention to how nice the upgraded lights were.

[naharkin]

Did anyone read this article about women being the largest buyers of
homes after couples? Fun article that talks about the stress of doing so...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/garden/26Tao.html?ex=1138510800&en=b0a57cce447a00b1&ei=5070

(I hope the link works?)

[Toonces]

Bumping this up to see if those of you who have children, and who have sold or are selling your house, have any tips for quick clean up before a showing. We have a 2.5 yo and an 8 month old. I've decluttered, put 90% of toys in storage, removed personal items, walls are freshly painted, etc.

I'm wondering what to do when a realtor calls and wants to show our house in 20 minutes and my kids have been playing with what few toys we have at our house, or DS is taking a nap, or there's been a diaper *ahem* situation... any tips straightening up/cleaning in this situation? Do you/did you have a routine that worked?

[Cookie777]

We had a spare room so I would take all his toys & organize them somewhat in there when I had someone coming. My son (now 18 months but was 15-16 months while it was listed) rarely poops so not many diaper issues, but we do use a diaper genie so not many problems with smell.

Also I would burn candles in all rooms while cleaning/straightening up. I had a really nice baby powder smelling one for his nursery.

If he was taking a nap I had to wake him up, which really bummed me out but I wasn't about to turn away potential buyers. If I didn't have time to load up the car I would just put him in his stroller & walk around outside while it was being shown.

[EJM]

I didn't have a routine (we sold to our first showing), but my plan was to use canvas toy bins to throw any toys into and store on a shelf in DD's room. Larger items went into her toy box.

My DD must have the world's worst smelling poops because even the Genie doesn't contain the smell. :cool: A few months before our listing I got into the habit of bagging each #2 diaper in plastic grocery bags and taking it out immediately to the trash. For the smell in the room, I would open the windows for a few minutes after (if they were not already) and it got rid of any lingering odors.

[myshel]

We used canvas toy bins and only allowed DS to have one out at a time, so we could just throw stuff into it quickly. We actually had all of the bins stores in the closet that was in the living room.

As far as the diapers go, out Diaper Champ wasn't doing much to hold in the smell of DS's diapers. We took out the trash bag inside before open houses or showings. I also sprayed down the Diaper Champ with Lysol pretty frequently. To keep DS's room and our living room smelling fresh (diaper smell in DS's room and dog smell in living room), we sprayed down fabrics with Febreeze, open windows for a few minutes, and used the Febreeze air spray. Opening the windows was great because our house was on the market in March, so the air was really crisp.

Good luck!

[scubasam]

We got a couple of wood storage cubes to keep DS' toys in since we've had our house on the market. Makes for a quick and easy cleanup. They are side table size so replaced our big coffee table which opened the room up quite a bit too.

We also have a Diaper Genie and try and empty it as much as possible but keep it next to an outlet that has a Method air freshener plugged in that really helps w/ whatever smell there might be if we aren't able to empty it.

[Toonces]

Thanks, ladies! Those are some very helpful tips. I hope I'm as fortunate as you, EJM, and that our house sells quickly! I'm going to have a hard time keeping it clean. :o

[LILRTL]

Oh I can relate to this thread!! DS 1 will be 2 in 2.5 weeks. DS 2 is 11 weeks on Sunday. It hasn't been easy keeping the house clean, that's for sure! We were FSBO for 45 days, and just went on MLS yesterday. Hoping the rest of the ride is short and sweet!!

[Toonces]

Good luck LILRTL! Ours is going on MLS today. I hope we both are relieved of this situation quickly!

[bethnjim]

We are doing FSBO and had an open house on Sunday. We have six couples come through. I got a call on Monday and a woman was here and would like to do another walk through Tuesday with her sister and daughter, so they are coming in.

I was also outside watering my plants last night and I had a couple walk up and ask if they could do a walk through. I let them, so hopefully that might work out as well.

It is super stressful to keep the house perfect and have people coming through all the time, but if it gets it sold without having to have a real estate agent, that would be wonderful!!

[kristin]

I am so glad to say that we are joining in!

My DH convinced me to do a FSBO trial for 6-8 weeks, and then we will list with a realtor if it does not sell. We are actually pricing the home lower than we think is market value since we hopefully won't be dealing with any realtors, and it will be a huge savings if we can sell the house this way. We are putting a sign out this weekend and will have an open house the following weekend. We are also hoping to list with MLS - if anyone has any recommendations for how to go about doing this, it would be great!

With a 3 yo and an almost 2 yo, I am really nervous about showing the house due to a)general safety of welcoming strangers into our home, and b)having the house show-ready at all times. My kids can have a totally clean house ripped apart in 2 minutes flat! I am praying it will sell fast!

[snoopy30]

It is a challenge for sure to have young children while your house is on the market! My son is 19 months and like others' kids can undo a clean house in no time!

We've had two open houses and those have been hard b/c they interfere with his nap. We've had to crash at friends' houses for the afternoon those days.

I had thought it would be hard to keep the house clean everyday for the times when our realtor called with a showing but unfortunately we've only had one showing in a month :( I honestly haven't worried about it recently b/c what's the point ;)

Once we had it ready for the first open house it's been alot easier to get it ready again. We end up putting stuff in our cars (like DS's toy box, booster seat, etc) to get it out of the house.

Good luck to everyone!!

[kristin]

Wishing everyone fruitful open houses this weekend! We will have our first open house next weekend.

We are spending the weekend painting trim and "staging" our house, and I had no idea how difficult it would be to come to an agreement on what needs to be done before our open house. Although I agree the potential buyer should feel our house is in "move-in ready" condition, I don't think that every single wall and piece of trim in our home needs to be repainted.


Good luck this weekend!