In addition to buying, moving and getting into the new place, we’re of course selling the one at this end, which means a little polishing up before it goes on the market. Today I’ve got shower/tub re-glazers, carpet measurers and paint estimators all coming in to do their stuff. The repainting will be touch-up, we painted the house a couple years ago, but the carpet is a total replacement. I’ve gotten extremely good service from the carpet here, but it’s time to replace it, which we were going to do, move or no.
I just hope they come as scheduled, do what’s needed and clear the way for the next guy, and the next. Meanwhile I’ll be making lists and continuing to attend to details, details. Have a great day, everyone!
The Broken Bullhorn 
We sold my Mom’s house this year and had to go through the fix-up process you’re going through. Fortunately, we sold the house in three days to a guy who paid CASH!
Interesting, cash isn’t an acceptable or allowed method of paying for a real estate transaction. A cashiers check, however is, and I’ll bet that’s what you meant, but whether it’s cashiers check from us or wired or whatever, the guy didn’t have to take out a mortgage, I guess. Not sure what diff it makes though, you (and we, when it sells) will still have our money, whether the other guy has a mortgage or not. Am I missing something?
As for selling in 3 days, did you ask enough?
Banks can add a whole level of problems with additional insurance requirements, etc., so not having a buyer with a mortgage worked to our advantage. Our real estate broker knew exactly what the buyer wanted: a three-bedroom brick ranch-style house with hardwood floors and a new roof and a car-and-half garage. Which was exactly my Mom’s house. The selling price was above the assessed value of the house so I’d say we made out okay. All the money from the sale is going to the nursing home my Mom now resides in.
Good job, George. Sounds like it went smooth as silk. Let’s hope we can get a buyer and a smooth escrow et al on this place.
Do you watch Designed to Sell on HGTV? Someone in our house likes it, so I’ve seen a ton of them.
I think we’ve seen them all, and thus we know the tricks. Since the house will be sold empty, a lot of the fixing and staging won’t apply, but we’ll make it as appealing as possible. The realtor will be baking cookies on open house days…
Dread the idea of selling a house in Detroit now. Glad I don’t have to. We would take a terrible trouncing.
I understand, though it might depend on the specific Zip Code as to how much of a “trouncing” it owul dbe. The market here isn’t terrible, the median selling price in our Zip Code has gone up 2% from a year ago. Still, not as good as 2005!