I was talking to my daughter who lives in a neighboring city yesterday and she and her husband have outgrown their first home and after adding three children and one rather large dog, it's time to upgrade. They have done a bit of painting and reflooring since moving in, but let's face it, it is an older home--probably built in the 1960's, and it could definitely use a redo.
The reason for her call was a request that her father and I keep the children next week while on spring break so she and hubby could do some work on the house to get it ready for sale. She said they couldn't decide whether to clean the satillo tile floor--which covers a good deal of the house, or to remove the original wallpaper and repaint the master bedroom and bathroom. As a agent, I said the more important item would be to paint. The floors should probably be done by professionals. Grout is a tricky item to clean and usually requires chemicals and the know how to use them. (I have learned not to give advice to this daughter of mine, as she has a mind of her own and is very sharp. I have tried before to suggest things to do to the house for resale and have always been rebuffed. Every house I have owned I have always done redecorating and remodeling, keeping in mind resale.)
As the conversation continued, I told her that with all the houses I have remodeled (and it seems it was every one I've owned to date) it always seemed to be at the end of the occupation, not the beginning, and I did not have sufficient time to enjoy my vision. So my advice to her was get the work done after you move in, not when you are about to sell it. If you think about it, if you did the work early in the process, you probably wouldn't have to work so hard at the end. As they say, hindsight is always best.
So two good things come out of the conversation--we get the kids for three days next week (ages 9, 6 and 2) and she and hubby get several days alone and time to do a much needed project.
Comments(0)