In September 2008, just as the so-called housing bubble burst, my partner and I sold our house in Louisville for just a few thousand dollars under our asking price. We tried a FSBO approach for one month and had only nosy neighbors for foot traffic.
Luckily, the daughter of a friend (who just happens to make her living as a real estate agent) caught wind of what we were doing and agreed to sell our house for a much smaller fee than is standard. (Thanks again, Sam!) So she listed our house in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and within just one month we had an attractive offer that we accepted.
Proving the Naysayers Wrong
Of course, all we heard from family, friends and colleagues was what a terrible time we had chosen for selling our house. “It’s a buyer’s market; be prepared to take a bath!” was the gist of what most people were telling us at the time.
But we had myriad reasons for relocating to Wisconsin when we did; for us, waiting simply wasn’t an option. We were prepared to sell and nothing was going to stop us!
Fortunately, we’d already been working for over 18 months to prepare our house for sale. We were very confident because we’d done everything the experts tell you to do when you have to appeal to the widest possible market: we neutralized!
It’s True What They Say about Décor
When we bought our home in 2004, there weren’t that many comparable places on the market in our target neighborhood. We were actually the first prospects to view the house and our full-price offer was accepted immediately. We didn’t haggle because we recognized that the asking price was a very good deal. You see, our seller was highly motivated—she had already purchased a new home in another state. However, another reason for the low asking price was the fact that the décor was excessively taste-specific.
What Does “Taste-Specific” Mean?
Well, for one thing, our kitchen ceiling was fire engine red! Worse still, the wallpapers that had been applied in many rooms throughout the house were some of the busiest wallpapers ever printed. There was an entire stairwell and hallway with deep purple ceilings, and the ceiling in the powder room off the kitchen was actually black!
Before: Media room (master bedroom for us).
After: Master bedroom (old media room).
We wound up living with the bizarre décor for a lot longer than we anticipated. At the time we moved in, we didn’t know how long we would be there, but we certainly weren’t thinking in terms of leaving within just four years. So we settled in for the long haul, and somehow looked past the dark paints and crazy prints all around us.
Time for a Change
In 2007, with a number of family circumstances in flux, we decided it was time to move to my hometown of Green Bay. My then-employer agreed to let me telecommute, which meant we could ready our house for sale and move north. That’s when the work began in earnest; for the next 18 months we spent every bit of free time improving our property. It was exhausting!
Our Shift into Neutral
The first step was to get rid of the wallpaper, which was pure agony. Some papers came off more easily than others, but ridiculous amounts of time were spent on the tiniest of areas, because the glue was unduly thick here and there.
Before: Detail of kitchen wallpaper.
After: New view of kitchen, sans wallpaper.
Gladly, I love to paint walls and I’m good at it. It’s a skill I learned while working my way through college. So as soon as the wallpaper was off, I set to work applying more neutral colors to nearly every plane in the house.
Delayed gratification is what interior painting is all about. You can’t have a good paint job if you don’t do a good prep job, so we didn’t rush things. In fact, we worked for weeks and weeks, every spare minute of every day, only to have a house full of walls and ceilings that still needed paint!
Before: The purple ceiling had to go!
After: Same bedroom, better colors.
The purple, red and black ceilings needed two primer coats and two topcoats each, and that’s exactly what they got. It was pretty demoralizing to have to work so hard just to have white ceilings, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to justify our asking price otherwise.
Why It Paid to Fix those Fixtures!
Another thing we knew we had to address was the problem of outdated fixtures. The ceiling fans were from the 1980s and were very noisy.
When we upgraded, we bought three Minka-Aire Acero model fans and had them installed by professional electricians. We chose the same model for all three rooms—a style that complemented the architecture of the 1920s-era bungalow.
Our total cost was just under a thousand dollars for all three fans; we heard from our buyers at closing that they fell in love with those new fixtures—that they were the best they’d seen in any of the homes they had toured.
A Petition to Saint Joseph
While preparing to list our house, I learned that St. Joseph is the patron saint of home selling. There’s a ritual that involves praying to St. Joseph while burying his statue. The practice is common enough that religious outlets sell St. Joseph Home Sale kits.
There are a number of styles available. They all consist of a little plastic statue, directions for where and how to bury him, and the prayer for invoking his assistance. The only thing St. Joseph asks in return for helping you get a quick sale is that you dig him up and give him a place of prominence in your new home.
Well guess what? We weren’t taking any chances. We ran right out to a religious supply store and found an extensive selection of home selling kits prominently displayed at the door.
How the Worst Objection Became a Non-Issue
As is so often the case, there was nothing we could do about the top objection our realtor reported after showing our house several times: it is located next door to an apartment building. Local buyers expressed concerned about the transience of apartment dwellers and potential noise problems. (Ironically, the tenants didn’t make the worst noise at those apartments; the air conditioning units did!)
Still, we were worried when we heard that the proximity to the apartment building was the biggest hang-up among prospective buyers. We did not know how we could possibly overcome that problem when our realtor reported that an interested couple was coming in from New York City to view our house. New York City!?! We could not believe our good fortune. The young couple was so used to cramped quarters that our house’s situation next to an apartment building didn’t bother them one little bit. They bought our house, and quickly.
What It Meant for Our Bottom Line
By the time we closed our deal, we’d been in the Louisville bungalow for about 4-1/2 years and sold our house for about $70,000 more than we paid for it. The biggest investment we made while we were there was about $4,500 worth of concrete work to the basement and foundation (it leaked like a sieve when we first moved in). Of course, this is the type of upgrade that’s not immediately apparent to someone just walking through; the difference is in living with a wet vs. a dry basement.
Photo Credits: Karen L. Stewart
What’s Your Experience?
Have you tried to sell a home lately? What happened? We’d love to hear your favorite tips and tricks for selling in a down market. Sound off below!
+Janice Conard is a seasoned editor and copywriter who has worked in the internet publishing space since 1999. She covers personal finance topics for online check printer CheckAdvantage. Visit the site to browse a huge selection of business and personal checks, including Basic Checks, Ethnic Checks and more.
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