Posted on 5. October 2009 08:50 by qjaneb
I recently had the interior of my house painted. What a huge difference it makes. Nice white ceilings and trim, color on the walls all fresh and clean. WOW is all I can say!
This got me thinking that if my house which is older and small looks this good with new paint, how much the houses I sell would look. Of course, most of the listings I have now are short sales, and let's face it, who in their right mind is going to put money into a short sale!
But wait, there is an upside to painting the interior or your short sale property. It will show better, that is a no-brainer, it will cost less for the new owner at move in time making the house more desirable; the new paint will definitely make the house smell better especially if there were tenants in place prior to it going on the market. The one huge difference it will make is in the market right now with all the bank owned and short sales on the market, a clean fresh house sells in record time!
I've seen this over and over again. Sellers need to know that there are thousands of homes that are comparable to theirs right now on the market and what is the difference to a buyer except price? Location is not even so much a factor right now, price is king! So, you don't have the perfect location, your price is about where everyone elses is, the lender is being stubborn about what they will take and it looks like your house might go on the auction block.
If you seriously want to keep a foreclosure off your credit, and who wouldn't? You need to spend a few dollars while it s on the market to get it sold faster and for more money. The more money the bank gets the less you will have to pay taxes on if it is your primary or the less the bank will come after you for later on. IN any event what are we talking here folks?
A 5 gallon bucket of paint and someone who is unemployed looking to make a few dollars; hand them a paint brush and a bottle of water and let them go at it. Of course you will have to keep the power on in your house and the water if you have public water supply, but still what is the cost of that compared to the taxes the government will hit you up with.
What about the lawn, keep it mowed and trimmed, keep the property looking its best as if you were making a profit because YOU are making a profit on every penny you don't have to give to the government in taxes or your lender after the deal is done if they put you in recovery. Also, you are walking away from a huge debt, dont' you feel a responsibility to help get it sold quickly and for the most money as if you were actually selling it yourself. You are not paying commission or closing cost or none of the other related cost, so why not spruce up your property before it hits the market.
Realtors will hold an open house in one that has curb appeal, but if you sit in an open house with the paint peeling and the carpet stained and bugs crawling around, nobody is going to stop so why waste your Sunday? The properties that I have had as short sales, with and without tenants in them, are kept up. Most of my sellers know that keeping the property available to show is important. Not all my sellers are on board, but those houses are still sitting there looking sad and abandoned with no buyers. The others are gone and new families are living in them already.
Wake up people, unless you are truly destitute and cannot afford to put $500 into your house to get it sold quickly and for the most money possible in this market, don't blame your Realtor or the market for your house not selling when the gavel comes down and you have a foreclosure on your credit for the next 7 years or more.
It is a small price to pay in this market to achieve what is in essence freedom from a mortgage and the aversion of foreclosure! Call your Realtor today and tell them you want to paint the interior walls of your house, mow the lawn and maybe even paint the front door to give your house the edge it needs to sell in this competitive market.
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