Recently one of my associates got a listing for an estate home that had not been lived in for about one year. The place was a mess - dirty, dusty and just plain full of junk. There were no close relatives, just a few cousins living around the country. No one to take care of the accumulation of junk from over 25 years. One cousin did come to the home and remove family pictures, jewlery etc... but left the rest and said sell "as is", we are not spending any money to do repairs or clean this home.
Knowing that the home would not sell as it stood with all that junk, my associate and his wife and me and my wife went into the home and removed everything except what we thought made that home look like you could live in it. This home is a waterfront home located just minutes from the Gulf of Mexico and with a little work, it could be a real beauty. It has a wonderful view of the water from the windows and sliding glass doors in the back of the home as well as from the screened lanai. Just some paint, flooring, and "elbow grease" will do the trick.
That said we were not being paid to hire painters, carpet layers and home cleaning service. We just had to work with what we had. Just removing the heavy drapes, shades, and blinds (yes they had them all) that were blocking the VIEW made an immediate improvement, there was light and you could see the water view (which is mostly what people buying this home will be looking for), after all why live on the water if you can't see it. We then positioned the little furniture we had left (after donating most of it to charity) to make the rooms look as big as possible and also seem functional for the purpose they were designed. The only real cleaning we did was to vacuum the floors, wipe down the countertops, clean the sliding glass doors and dust, what a difference these little changes made in this home.
Also since the former owner was a heavy smoker removing the drapes and most of the fabric covered furniture helped with the cigarette smell. You can still smell it but we have also left the windows open for a few days to air out the home and it smells much much better.
The changes made with just a few hours of our time and no outlay of any money, except for garbage bags, WILL make the difference to potential buyers when they tour this home. The home is priced right and it should sell very soon even in the slower market we are currently experiencing. An almost 2200 square foot home sitting on a large lot, on a saltwater canal with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico (just minutes by boat), a great water view with beautiful sunsets for under $350,000! Visual Tour coming soon (now that it's worth looking at).
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