Getting there on selling our house - staging , part one

[Charris]

@DianaCox such a gorgeous home I couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave it unless my family size out grew it!

 

[DSRIGGS]

Where we live, a bedroom has to be a certain square footage, have a closet, egress (window of a certain size and height off the floor counts) and direct access to a bathroom on the same level. Since the downstairs bathroom is inside the main bedroom, even if we had put in an egress window in the "media" room, it would not count as another bedroom.

Basements are fairly rare here. Our basement is only under the bedroom "wing" at the back of the house. The stairs down to the basement used to be outside in the courtyard - at some point I think in the early 90s, prior owners extended the side of the house to enclose the stairs and enlarge the master bedroom a little and make the alcove and a walk-in closet. The entrance to the basement was still all the way down a hall to the far corner of the house where the external door was. Charles reconfigured it by opening the basement wall at the bottom of the steps and making the entrance in the middle and dividing the basement into two rooms. The hall then became a utility closet on the side facing the stairs, and a deep closet on the side that used to be the entrance to the basement at the far end of the media room.

That to me was a wise renovation. I would think that should return well on your investment. To me additional living space like a media room is a big bonus when selling or buying a house. Great space for a man cave or kids to hang out , separate from everybody else.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Looks wonderful --and easy to sell! I just listed a little house last week that I had bought for my son while in college. Proper staging is worth the effort. It quickly went for more than asking price. Get it on the market before the feds raise the interest rates.

And I HEAR YOU on the "why couldn't we have enjoyed the fix-ups?" My current house needs work on the kitchen to sell in the next year or so and my husband is balking at doing it now so I can enjoy it.

Here, a NEW finished basement has to have egress, which counts as a window large enough to accommodate a fireman with full battle gear. Anything used for sleeping has to have a walk out door. Fortunately my house is grandfathered as the egress law was enacted just after it was built. The teeny windows are glass block. If a fire breaks out at the top of the basement stairs, anyone in the basement is toast.

Egress window is code on new construction here as well....and I too need to remodel our kitchen and replace flooring throughout the house before selling, and oh the house was built in 97 so it will need a new rook anytime now as well. I had to do a $750 patch of a leak around a vent pipe flashing last year. ......so unfortunately I have a good $30K to really make the house sparkle (would do a steel roof if we have to replace).

 

[Porkchop :)]

What a beautiful home! Absolutely love this.

 

[DianaCox]

In some ways it is breaking our hearts to leave. We intended to live there for good - but my part-time income no longer sufficed, and we ran through our savings fixing it up and then maintaining it, especially when all three of our adult kids (plus a granddaughter plus a boyfriend who was over all the time) who were un- or under-employed were sucking us dry. Then I started thinking about what if there was an earthquake, and that we still had 15 years left on the mortgage which we were not going to pay off anyway, and our taxes went up - and we were having SO much fun RVing, that it just became clear we had to go. And our neighborhood is changing and we don't like most of our neighbors now. And a few other factors.

But after kicking our kids out, they are all doing somewhat better - everyone is employed, more or less. Their housing situations are all very tenuous - renting rooms in other people's houses - the housing and rental market in San Jose is ridiculous. But I really DON'T want to have to leave them, especially my daughter who is facing some surgery soon. And my father, who is 85 and his memory is failing, lives nearby and he's terrified that his ladyfriend is going to ask him to leave and then he will have no place to live (all he has is $1200/mo in social security, and he lives in her lovely condo and helps take care of her), and so we are going to have to plan to take him in in the not too distant future. But in the meantime, we want to travel while we still can.

Unless the housing market crashes while we're traveling, we will not be able to buy back into the area - that troubles me a great deal. I don't know where we are going to end up - I'm trying to be untroubled and footloose about this, but it is hard.

 

[Porkchop :)]

Moving is never easy... in this case it sounds like it is even more complicated, but you have a good attitude going in. Kudos to you for making the best decision for you and your situation, even though right now the future might not seem like exactly what you were hoping for.

 

[bearmom]

Beautiful!!!

I can relate to living in unfinished homes, and only making them fabulous at the last second to sell and never getting to enjoy it, but the pictures of your house after the remodeling was finished looked amazing, so I assume you haven't been on sub-flooring or had open framing. You may have been more anxious to move if things were that primitive.

You two have done everything so right, and I can't imagine it will take longer than a hot minute to sell after the open house. The hardest part is almost over, and you'll be on to new adventures.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I recall reading something, but I don't recall whose laws they were, about rooms below grade needing to have egress via a door to count as rooms. And that there were issues with hillside homes where the only access/egress was at the street-level entry, which ONLY opened to a staircase leading to where the entire rest of the house was located.

One side of the debate was demanding grandfathering in. The other side was demanding excavation and a door.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

In some ways it is breaking our hearts to leave. We intended to live there for good - but my part-time income no longer sufficed, and we ran through our savings fixing it up and then maintaining it, especially when all three of our adult kids (plus a granddaughter plus a boyfriend who was over all the time) who were un- or under-employed were sucking us dry. Then I started thinking about what if there was an earthquake, and that we still had 15 years left on the mortgage which we were not going to pay off anyway, and our taxes went up - and we were having SO much fun RVing, that it just became clear we had to go. And our neighborhood is changing and we don't like most of our neighbors now. And a few other factors.

But after kicking our kids out, they are all doing somewhat better - everyone is employed, more or less. Their housing situations are all very tenuous - renting rooms in other people's houses - the housing and rental market in San Jose is ridiculous. But I really DON'T want to have to leave them, especially my daughter who is facing some surgery soon. And my father, who is 85 and his memory is failing, lives nearby and he's terrified that his ladyfriend is going to ask him to leave and then he will have no place to live (all he has is $1200/mo in social security, and he lives in her lovely condo and helps take care of her), and so we are going to have to plan to take him in in the not too distant future. But in the meantime, we want to travel while we still can.

Unless the housing market crashes while we're traveling, we will not be able to buy back into the area - that troubles me a great deal. I don't know where we are going to end up - I'm trying to be untroubled and footloose about this, but it is hard.

Sitting in the living room of the tenth house we've purchased...it is always hard, but the longer we wait and the older we get the more difficult it becomes.

One thing we have probably all seen but seldom noticed...the older we get, the smaller our world becomes. MiniSue's daily commute is beyond my ability to consider. We often change to the closest doctor, grocery store, even church! We order online or via catalogs. There are rooms that are used to store crap we no longer need and to collect dust. My mom's brother was found dead on the first floor of his two story home. For various reasons...some physical, some emotional...he hadn't even SEEN the four bedrooms or two bathrooms upstairs in months.

We have made a big dent in the STUFF, but there is so much to do. Sounds weird, but I need to gain and maintain my health long enough to clean this crap up so I can die with a clear conscience.

Lol


Kinda

 

[DSRIGGS]

Once we get the boys out we definitely need to down size to a 3 bedroom ranch, but the thing is around here they aren't really any cheaper than what we have now. This house is very energy efficient, but too big for just the Mrs and I, well Honey and Maverick our beloved dogs.

 

[k9ophile]

Unless the housing market crashes while we're traveling, we will not be able to buy back into the area - that troubles me a great deal. I don't know where we are going to end up - I'm trying to be untroubled and footloose about this, but it is hard.

We moved to TN from CO to be closer to parents. We've discussed moving back to be with the children and grandchildren, but what we could afford there would not even be livable. This was the first house we lived in, pre-flip. At one time we thought it was going to be condemned by the housing board. There is no way in hell I would pay >$300,000 for this.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/2425-ponitac-st-denver-co_rb/

 

[DianaCox]

For that, you can get a really nice place in Phoenix ....

 

[DSRIGGS]

For that, you can get a really nice place in Phoenix ....

We had a huge house with 3 car garage, top end finishes, awe some landscaping and a gorgeous pebble tech pool with waterfall and in floor cleaning system for less than $300k in Chandler (southeast valley subirb)

 

[newanatomy]

Unless the housing market crashes while we're traveling, we will not be able to buy back into the area - that troubles me a great deal. I don't know where we are going to end up - I'm trying to be untroubled and footloose about this, but it is hard.

We moved to TN from CO to be closer to parents. We've discussed moving back to be with the children and grandchildren, but what we could afford there would not even be livable. This was the first house we lived in, pre-flip. At one time we thought it was going to be condemned by the housing board. There is no way in hell I would pay >$300,000 for this.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/2425-ponitac-st-denver-co_rb/

Wow, Denver is a spendy place to live!

 

[k9ophile]

Yes, Denver is expensive. In the late 80's and 90's there was a huge influx from Texas and California. When we sold in '97 we showed the house on a Tues. and sold it on Thurs. for the asking price. In TN, we got a lot more house and yard for our money. I had a friend who sold her house one hour after it was put on the multi-listings. Our children have had quite a hard time of it, but are in houses now. I must say I'm a bit envious of Diana. I would vey much like living in AZ or NM. The weather is mostly sunny and warm.