10 LOW-cost Suggestions to Prep your Home for Sale

No, I have never worked professionally in Real Estate.  However, in the last 6 years I have sold a house, plus been house-hunting for my family 6 different times--7 if you count hunting for a new apartment with my eldest son!  With various real estate agents I have toured more than 2 dozen houses in 2 different States.  And I've seen some things that have proven to me that while some of these things may seem like common sense, they evidently are NOT so common!! I've also had the privilege of working with one Realtor who is amazing, and yes some of the following comes from her (thank you, Tracy Hoyt in Valrico, Florida!!).  :) So, if you are getting ready to sell your house, and actually reading my obscure little blog, here is some free amateur advice of basic and inexpensive prep work (because we well know that not everyone can afford to do major upgrades and updates).  Little things really can make a big difference, because when you are selling a home, first impressions matter.

1. Remove as much clutter and personal items as possible.  You are getting ready to move anyway, right?  So, pack that stuff away.  Two or three family photos here and there makes the house look like a home, and not a model or a hotel, so don't remove every single one.  But having strange faces staring at you from every wall is a little disconcerting when you are walking through a potential new home, and those walls completely covered with photos have GOT to go.  Potential buyers want to see the actual wall, and I know whenever I saw walls overwhelmed with stuff I wondered just what problems all those frames may be hiding.  Cost: $0

2. Don't feel like you have to repaint the whole house, unless you have color or pattern choices so unusual they may make the average buyer balk (as pictured, though this particular photo is from the web, not from a house I saw personally).  I still remember the house we toured with one bedroom painted entirely black.  Yes, that was a bit much--it was hard to see the room, even with the lights on.  Most other colors, as long as they look nice, may be OK.  What is more important is CLEAN walls that do not have any obvious damage.  So do patch the holes for any excess decor you remove (in #1), and take the time to do some touch-up here and there to make sure your walls look fresh and clean.  I've seen walls in homes for sale with obvious dirt and cobwebs.  Yuck.  If you have the time and money, consider doing some touch-up of the baseboards and ceiling edges also--those paint splatters are more noticeable than you think to some buyers!  Cost: $0 if you have extra leftover paint on hand, minimal if you need to purchase small cans for touch-up.

3. Speaking of cleaning, don't forget the yard and any smells.  Have a friend who doesn't visit often walk in and sniff, because honestly you might not even notice if you live there all the time (especially pet odors).  This is especially important if you have to vacate the house before it sells--I've seen vacant houses with overgrown yards that reeked of pet odor or some other smell (made worse, no doubt, by sitting vacant with the a/c off and the heat deepening the odor).  I have had one or two houses that I walked out of without even seeing the whole thing, because it smelled THAT bad to me.  Yes, this one may cost you something if you have to leave the house empty and are unable to go yourself each week to clean it and mow the yard, but you may be able to save some $$ by hiring a reliable local teen or college student.  Cost:  Will vary

4. While you have that friend over to check the smell, ask him or her to walk around your house and look for other out-of-the-ordinary or too-personal things that may put off a buyer.  I looked at one house that had a child's name painted large and bold on his wall.  Many house hunters want to be able to move in immediately, painting later, and something like that could easily put them off.  Different colors are fine.  Large murals or personal things?  Probably not.  The most unusual personal item I saw when house-hunting was a large and clearly labeled grave in the back yard, most likely for a pet (because the marker held a single name).  Now I have buried a cat in a yard before, and I understand the desire to want to remember that beloved pet and even mark the grave in some way.  But mark it with a bush, a tree, or even a plain but decorative rock.  Please don't ask a stranger to buy your house with a memorial to your pet still there.  Cost: Will vary, according to what you need removed and what you may need to do to fix it.

5. Do any routine maintenance you have been putting off.  HVAC (heating and air conditioning) systems in particular should be routinely serviced every year.  Outdoor wooden features (deck, swing, etc.) should be resealed each year, especially in damp climates.  Many people don't seem to know this, or fail to keep up with it during years of renting the home.  But those years of neglect are almost guaranteed to cause damage that will show up on the home inspection for any potential buyer.  Save yourself some frustration and cost in the final days (or worse, a lost sale!) by looking over these things and doing necessary repairs in advance.  Check over plumbing and appliances remaining also.  Defrost that freezer, and clean out that dryer vent, etc.  Cost: Depends on whether you kept up with routine maintenance in the years you owned the home.  If you have, then very little!

6. Check the electrical outlets and light switches.  It's best if all of them in a single room match, at least, if not all of them throughout the house.  This is especially true if you will be showing the house after it is vacant, because then those mis-matched covers are REALLY noticeable, and they tend to look haphazard and unfinished.  If you must, replace them all with white--those are often priced at about 50c each, so cost will be minimal.  And don't forget to make all the screw heads point the same direction.  (Really!  This is something I would never even notice, but my husband did, and he worries that all the electrical work must be "sloppy" if this simple thing isn't done.)  Cost: minimal

7. Clean the windows and sills, and make sure every one has some sort of dressing for showings.  Simple white rods are very inexpensive; there is no need to spend a lot.  If you have basic sewing skills, you can make curtains from old clothing, sheets, or towels, or you can purchase used ones quite cheaply at thrift stores and yard sales.  Yes, I do understand this is partly a style preference, and some people prefer naked windows.  However, I know I'm not the only one who feels that it just makes it look more finished, and if you ever have to leave the house vacant this has the advantage of making the house look occupied from the street (discouraging vandals or squatters).  Cost: minimal

8. Check the kitchen cabinets (and any other cabinets) and doors for loose hinges, drawers that don't close quite right, etc.  This is another thing which may be overlooked, but some buyers are more thorough than others, and having loose doors or knobs and wonky drawers makes a house seem worn out and not cared for at all.  It especially looks bad if the drawer is hanging off.  Cost:  Little or nothing (possibly replacing a screw or something)

9. Take the time and expense to spray the house for bugs, and clean out the light fixtures of dead bugs (and other dust).  Nothing says dirty and not cared for like seeing live bugs crawing around, or turning on an overhead light with a shade filled with dead bugs.  Ew.  Cost: In this area it is anywhere from $50 to $150 for a one-time visit from a professional exterminator, and you could easily save money by doing this yourself.

10. If you can afford it, and haven't recently done so anyway, add some nice permanent item that makes the house look more like a home, that has been occupied by people who really care about it--something that will stay with the house, like a bonus.  You could put a nice little bird feeder in the yard.  You could add a storage cabinet in the garage, or some nice built-in shelving.  You could add a nice little flower garden in a corner of the yard.  You may not be able to afford to do a BIG thing like remodel a bathroom or put in a new patio, but you can still do a little thing that people will notice and appreciate, something that will make people think about themselves living in that house and enjoying watching the birds or smelling the flowers, etc.  Be creative!  You can't change the location or the footprint of the house, but you can make it look like an appealing and well-loved home!  Temporary "staging" things are good too, of course, but permanent things are more likely to be the things they talk about.  I remember talking about the house with the patio tent, the house with the bird feeder, the house with the built-in cabinets in the garage, etc.  Those are the little niceties that make it memorable.  Cost: will vary according to what you decide to do.

Why I believe Mom care is best

Let me preface this by saying that this is NOT meant to be a criticism of moms who work outside the home. Being a working mom is HARD, and too often the working moms *still* are expected to fulfill all of the "traditional" duties of wife and mother.  But perhaps because so many working moms are managing to hold it together (barely) and making it work, the moms who make the choice to stay home for their children are getting slammed even more, their contributions being devalued entirely too much.  It's high time we acknowledge that some choices are just BEST for children, even when they don't work for us personally.  A good example is breastfeeding--yes, it really is best!!  I didn't do it; and while I can explain my choice, my reasons won't change the fact that IF at all possible it really truly is the best choice!  Thankfully, formula today is amazing, and works well as a good 2nd choice.  Day care can be an acceptable 2nd choice also, if that is what you need (or just want) to do, and there are well-run day care places where your children will be just fine.  But I wanted to write out this comparison list just to illustrate both the genuine value and worth of a "stay-home" or "full time" mom, and explain why I believe that Mom care still is and always will be best.

Just for comparison, I'll take it from the perspective of a working parent seeking out a Day Care/Preschool for small children.  And what does everyone want?

1. First thing people look for in Day Care is the best possible teacher:child ratio.  The fewer children per teacher the better.  Day Cares and Preschools with ratios of 4 to one or less are highly prized (and usually MUCH more expensive!).  Yet oddly, moms who stay home to care for their own children are often given even more criticism if they stay home with "only" one or two children.  Moms of three or four small children are more likely to be "forgiven" for the choice to raise their own children, simply due to the unaffordability of placing that many children with someone else all day.  Yet instead of our modern culture praising the woman who is willing to devote herself to her children, too often we hear demands for day care subsidies or criticisms of families for having "too many" children.  :(


2. Next thing people look for in a Preschool or Day Care is workers who devote themselves almost entirely to the children.  They don't want their care-givers to have their attention split by having to do laundry and clean, etc. (other than spot cleaning, of course)--they want to see completely devoted "teachers" spending every moment with the infant or small child!  And almost every day care and preschool will hire separate janitors, cooks, administrators, assistants, and substitutes! Think about that for a moment, and ask yourself why the most common question "stay home" moms get is "what do you do all day?"  Do you ask your children's day care/preschool teacher at the end of each day the same question?

3. Another thing parents look for is low turnover.  This is remarkably hard to find in the real world.  Most day cares and preschools pay very poorly, and thus have extremely high rates of staff turnover.  They also tend to treat even the youngest children like school-age children, moving them to a completely different classroom and "teacher" each and every year, and rarely if ever mingling one age group with another.  Obviously this is a non-issue with a mom caring for her own children (other than the fact that she never gets a sick day!).  The consistency of care can't be beat!!

4.  Another big question is cost.  This is where the value of mom care gets a little less clear, because obviously the biggest reason many women choose to continue working outside the home is income.  However, for many women of more than a single child, day care costs can come very close to their actual income, and often go over it if you include ALL of the expense of working.  This includes commuting costs in gas or public transportation, having separate "work clothes," buying lunches for work, possibly being pushed into a higher tax bracket or needing another vehicle, having to go to the doctor for every little thing because day cares can't even put on diaper rash cream without a doctor's note these days... and etc.  Some moms who are on the fence decide to stay home after doing the math and discovering that they are making $1 per hour or less after all the expenses add up!  Granted you might be able to find a cheaper day care to help that expense, but unless it is family care do you really want to cut corners on your child's care?  NO ONE will ever care for your child more than you will.

5. Lastly, when looking for day care or preschool, parents want highly trained care givers.  Well, Mom might not have that child CPR training, but that doesn't mean she can't get it!  Mom might not have a degree in child development, but really?  For thousands of years, moms managed to raise children without fancy pieces of paper from modern "experts."  No amount of education can replace the love and care of a devoted Mother.

So, does this make the choice easy?  Probably not.  Sometimes there is no real choice, especially if mom is the sole provider for the family.  Moms who choose to keep a job will reap the rewards of income and adult interaction, paid sick days and hopefully at least an occasional lunch break, benefits such as health insurance and/or retirement savings... but in most cases mom will still be expected to cook and clean and of course "love on" her children as much as she can when she is home.  A working mom will have to juggle schedules with her husband, fighting over who has to take time off when a child is sick, or a necessary service worker is coming to the house (cable, electric, etc.), or daytime errands need to be run.  Working moms will worry about their kids all day long, stress about whether the day care is doing the best job they can, and they often face criticism from family or friends who made the opposite choice.  If they choose to stay home, they will forever have "only" or "just" shoved ungraciously in front of their chosen profession (of being a Mother).  There will be no Christmas bonus, no awards or accolades, and of course no paycheck (unless she tries to work from home, which is a whole 'nother issue!!).  Unless the family is lucky enough to live close to Grandma, mom will likely almost never have a break. 

But the best rewards are your children themselves, because as a "stay home" mom you will have to miss nothing.  And just like the breastfeeding mom, even at your most exhausted and frustrated you can rest in the assurance that you are making what is truly the BEST choice for your children!  And if it stops working for you, you can always make the second-best choice, and that choice still very often works out just fine--near as I can tell, my kids have no significant "damage" from being fed formula.  :)  Most day-care kids turn out just fine also.  Some are even lucky enough to have Grandma (or other family member) care, which is a beautiful thing!

Believing mom care is the best choice doesn't mean we have to slam those who made "second choices."  Offer them sympathy and support, as any fellow mom.  Parenting is HARD.  I can say that I chose to formula feed and still enthusiastically applaud those who chose to breastfeed.  And I can proudly say that I did choose to stay home, even to the point of homeschooling for several years, without insulting working moms.  I do sometimes regret that I didn't breastfeed.  Sometimes.  But I don't regret staying home with my children, not even a little.  I hope whatever choices you make, you will continue to be satisfied with them.  The only choice that really matters is that you LOVE and care for your children the best you can!

Five Stages of Moving to a New Area

Your experience may differ somewhat, as we all cope with things in different ways, and each stage has been a bit different for me too depending on the location, the age of my children, etc.  But I have learned through the years that for me every major move inevitably follows this pattern, so I thought I'd share, in case someday someone reads this who might find help and encouragement knowing that what they are feeling is "normal," and especially that the hard stage(s) will pass, in time. Please note that when I specify "new area" I'm talking about moving at least several HOURS away from your former home.  I really didn't experience most of these the couple of times I moved across town within the same area. 


1. Anticipation and Planning
This stage begins when you know the move is coming, and ends whenever stage 2 begins--sometimes very soon after getting your Orders (or transfer papers, etc.), but sometimes lasting months if you are fortunate enough to get a lot of advance notice.  The anticipation may be something closer to dread, if you fear you may be moving somewhere you won't like, or you really love the place you live now.  You may want to make sure your pets' vaccinations are up to date, or check your children's educational records, but most of what happens in this stage is research, and starting to plot out (sometimes on paper) how you will get everything done.  Sometimes parts of this stage will repeat, if you research one place then get sent somewhere else!  Good or bad, you will be filled with a sense of anticipation as you try to get a bit of an idea of what it will be like to live in this completely new
place!

Personal example:  When we left Germany, we were hoping for an assignment in England.  We made sure our cats had the necessary vet work, and I researched the area and other requirements... then we were told no, it would be Arizona or Florida, so we started the research all over again!  Once the "hard copy" orders came at last, we started gathering information on weight allowances and making lists of what we would take to Florida, and what we would have to leave behind.


2.  Work, Stress, Work, Farewells, and Work!
This stage begins with boxes, as the time to plan has passed and the time for packing begins!  Besides packing, you are working with all the various necessary places to find out what you need to do to transfer or carry necessary records with you, working on selling or clearing your current housing, arranging for movers or a rental truck, finding out where you will live when you first arrive at your new home, etc. etc. and etc.!  In between all of the work, and living in a house filled with growing piles of boxes, you still have your daily things that need to be done, and farewells to be made to all of your friends and associations in what will soon become your former home!  There really is very little time to feel much of anything in this stage but a general sense of overwhelming stress, as the final date looms ever closer!!  Try to find time, if you can, to make one last visit to your favorite places (parks, restaurants, stores, etc.).  You will be glad you did later.

Personal note:  If your move will be international, expect the stress to be at least 100x higher than a domestic move!!  And if you are military and your spouse is deployed to a hazardous area while you are doing most of the move alone, make that about 1,000x higher stress. 



3. More Stress, Work, and Discoveries
This stage begins with the arrival at your new home.  If they didn't come with you, soon the boxes will arrive, oh boy!  Now you have to find places for all the stuff you packed in stage 2!  Of course half the pictures from the old house won't fit the walls of the new house (wrong color, wrong size, wrong something).  If you kept curtains, maybe you will find some that fit, but inevitably some will be packed into storage for "maybe the next house."  Every.single.move. it seems like something gets unpacked that leaves you scratching your head wondering why on earth you brought that, and something else gets left behind that you wish you'd kept!  As you are unpacking, you are also completing the long checklist of changing your address with everyone, getting new driver's licenses, re-tagging the cars, trying to find where things are in the area, etc.  And of course as you hunt for things you are also taking some time to explore your new home area.  That part can actually be fun, as you discover a great new (to you) restaurant, a nice park, or a fun store in your new home town.  Maybe if you are lucky you will even meet a potential new friend in your first few weeks and months.  :)  The stress will likely overwhelm most other feelings at this stage also, as there is just SO much work to be done!!

Personal note: For me one of the hardest parts of step 3 is starting the hunt for a new church home.  Sometimes I feel like an abandoned dog seeking adoption by a new family!  There have been a couple of moves where we were lucky enough to find a new church home in only a month or two, but sometimes it seems to take much longer.



4. Nostalgia and Depression
This stage begins at different times during different moves, but basically it's what happens when all those emotions you have been keeping at bay with so much stress and work catch up to you.  For some it may even overlap stage 3 or even stage 2.  Suddenly you *hate* the place where you just moved, and the place where you came from seems like Utopia.  You may sound like Phoebe of "The Magic School Bus" in this stage ("at my old school...").  Yes, this even happens during moves you were thrilled about when they first started.  Now that you are gone, you will have those classic "misty water-colored memories" of the way things were, and they may come pouring down your face when you least expect it.  My advice is to let it happen.  That place you left is gone, and grieving is all a normal part of the process.  The more you fight it, the more you will delay stage 5, and stage 5 is where you really want to be.


Personal note: Rather than share a personal story of depression, I want to share here the photo credit for the amazing shot I found for this section, which says it in visual form so much better than I ever could with words.  Thank you, Georgie Pauwels (Flickr).  


5. Finding Equilibrium
This stage begins when you start to truly feel like you belong in the new place.  There isn't any timeline for it, unfortunately, but one day you will just wake up to realize you aren't depressed anymore.  You might think about where you came from and be glad you are HERE instead of there.  You will stop thinking of yourself as a "newbie."  You will have found some sort of social group, or a (local) personal friend.  At last you have balance, and you are home once again.  

 Personal note:  If your family is military, or in some other career that makes you get used to moving, you may reach a point in this stage where you start to feel "off balance" again, and ready for the next move.  For me that usually happens somewhere between 3 and 4 years at the same place.  It's almost a repeat of stage 4, but on a much smaller scale--I don't get depressed the second time, just restless and a little discontented.  For me it kind of came in waves (leaving stage 5, coming back to it, leaving again).  It will be interesting to see how many times I go through this as a newly civilian spouse, now that my husband has retired from the military and likely won't be moving again anytime soon!

Seven Hazards of being a Former Military Spouse

1. You often find yourself thinking or dreaming about moving.  You think about places you would have liked to be stationed... then sadly realize it will never happen.  You dream about past moves, sometimes nightmares as you imagine the worst that could have (or did!) happen.  You think about exactly which box held some item several moves ago... and you wonder what ever happened to that item (especially if you are looking for it in your current house, and can't find it!). 

2. You experience "re-entry" issues dealing with the civilian world.  Not every spouse experiences this, of course--especially those who never lived on Base and never went overseas.  But the military community has its own systems and ways of doing things, and just as we adjusted when we first "married the military," there are often adjustments back... especially if you have been "in" or overseas for so long that the way some things are done have changed in your absence!  (And if you aren't dealing with it for yourself, you may well be dealing with it through your children!)

3. You seriously have to restrain yourself giving the smack-down to disrespectful people during the pledge of allegiance, National Anthem, etc.  Or maybe you don't.  ;)  These people just don't get it.


4. You have high expectations for civilian life.  You may think your spouse will be home all the time and life will be grand.  You may think there will always be regular hours, no weekends, and so on.  But civilian jobs can have overtime and business trips too.  And if there aren't trips, adjusting to being home every night can also be more difficult than you might expect, after many years of getting used to your spouse being gone frequently.  This speaks to "re-entry" (above), of course, but what I'm talking about here specifically is expectation vs. reality.  Many former military have such high hopes for civilian life, and it doesn't always work out the way they envision.  A friend once told me she knew of several divorces primarily caused by such unrealistic expectations.  (There may have been other underlying issues too, obviously, but the transition to civilian life was the catalyst.)

5. Speaking of expectations, a big one talked about a lot among military folks is the idea that when you become a civilian you will make much more money. This is often not true, especially during the first few years.  Many civilian jobs will start you as something resembling "entry level," in spite of your years of military experience.  You may have been receiving tax breaks or discounts in utilities, etc. that you will no longer receive.  There will be greater costs in medical--yes, even if you choose Tricare Prime (the retiree version has co-pays, as well as an annual fee).  And it's highly likely that you will have to move in order to obtain a decent job.  The military will move you one last time, if you can line up that job before you retire, but as we all know the military doesn't cover everything--there are always, always additional expenses associated with moving.  Hopefully it won't be more than a few years before you are back up to what you were making before you "got out," if not more, but the transition can be harder than you think, especially if you didn't expect it (see #4!). 

6. Remember those 30 days of annual leave?  Granted, you weren't likely to take advantage of them every year, but when you were able to it was awesome!  You also say goodbye to federal holidays, family days, and wing goal days (or your branch of the military equivalent--those were the terms in the Air Force).  Again, even if you didn't get them often due to deployments, TDYs, or essential duty, sometimes you did.  As a civilian, you won't.  We all know we are giving those up when we leave the military, but knowing doesn't make it any less hard. 

7. Don't be surprised if you tear up at things that never used to bother you before--seeing the type of plane fly by on which your husband (or wife) used to fly, hearing Taps, seeing a unit march by in uniform in a parade, etc.  No matter if you don't really miss your military life, it was your LIFE, and it stays under your skin.  :)