Post to Facebook on 13/10/2018 at 2:45 PM
Commenting on “Fussy buyers snub houses that don't present well”
https://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/fussy-buyers-snub-houses-that-don-t-present-well-20181011-p5093l.html
Marketing is about selling what people want to buy, NOT selling what owner wants to sell! As a owner of my own home, I am house pride. It does not cost a lot of money to keep the house in good condition. If you can’t move around in the house, you are having too many things that you are unlikely to use or can’t find a place to put them.
Is it really that difficult to keep your shower or kitchen clean? Why wait until you see the white soap scum or black mould around the wet area? Why do you wait till the spiders dangle from the web before you take out the vacuum cleaner? Why do you wait until the grass grow to knee-high before you get off the backside and push the lawn mower to give the poor grass a new lease of life?
House painting is a chore, but do it slowly and patiently. It may take a day to paint a room, so be it. You have plenty of time before you sell the house, anyway.
I had no experience in “real estate” when I bought my first house. I knew nothing about renovation. I did not know how to use a hand saw, let alone understand the use of a power tool. There was no Internet, or handyman training video. I relied on books and magazines from the library, and visits to McEwans, which later became Magnet.
I removed the old and dirty kitchen, made new kitchen frame in less than a fortnight, because the Gas people came to install the gas hotplate after giving me two weeks notice. The story behind was that the previous owner put pots and pans over her electric hotplates during our inspection, and silly us never tested whether the hotplates worked. Yep, they were not working!
It took me three years to complete the kitchen. The rewards were immense. Besides having a rather “professionally made”, good looking, contemporary kitchen, I learnt how to design a kitchen, use of hammer, chisel, electric circular saw, drill and sander. I also learnt to cut, glue and trim Laminex/Formica. I tiled the splash back and a small part of the bench top for hot pots and pans to rest on.
While the kitchen was taking shape, my wife and I stripped and replaced the wallpaper, and laid new vinyl floor tiles.
It was not easy for us both working full time and “renovating” the house. Bit by bit, the kitchen, bathroom, and the backyard turned out great. We had no large machinery to chop the big trees or remove the tree stumps, so we had to get external help to partially landscape the front garden. We did the rest. The lounge and other rooms had new curtains too.
So are you thinking that I am bragging again? So what if it is true. I just like to share with you that “if I can do it, so can you!” If you want to enjoy your house which is your home, then spend small sum of money regularly in maintaining and updating the house. Do not wait until you are about to sell the house then pay big money to update it for the next owner to enjoy. Do be mindful that the new occupiers may tear away all that you have done, because the renovation is not what they like
Honestly, I am a hoarder myself. I still have magazines from the ark, and computers since Apple IIe. These are my museum collections. I still have my Form 5 maths exercise book, and some early university physics laboratory book. These are my pride and joy. However, they are in the way.
Thank you for reading.
Commenting on “Fussy buyers snub houses that don't present well”
https://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/fussy-buyers-snub-houses-that-don-t-present-well-20181011-p5093l.html
Marketing is about selling what people want to buy, NOT selling what owner wants to sell! As a owner of my own home, I am house pride. It does not cost a lot of money to keep the house in good condition. If you can’t move around in the house, you are having too many things that you are unlikely to use or can’t find a place to put them.
Is it really that difficult to keep your shower or kitchen clean? Why wait until you see the white soap scum or black mould around the wet area? Why do you wait till the spiders dangle from the web before you take out the vacuum cleaner? Why do you wait until the grass grow to knee-high before you get off the backside and push the lawn mower to give the poor grass a new lease of life?
House painting is a chore, but do it slowly and patiently. It may take a day to paint a room, so be it. You have plenty of time before you sell the house, anyway.
I had no experience in “real estate” when I bought my first house. I knew nothing about renovation. I did not know how to use a hand saw, let alone understand the use of a power tool. There was no Internet, or handyman training video. I relied on books and magazines from the library, and visits to McEwans, which later became Magnet.
I removed the old and dirty kitchen, made new kitchen frame in less than a fortnight, because the Gas people came to install the gas hotplate after giving me two weeks notice. The story behind was that the previous owner put pots and pans over her electric hotplates during our inspection, and silly us never tested whether the hotplates worked. Yep, they were not working!
It took me three years to complete the kitchen. The rewards were immense. Besides having a rather “professionally made”, good looking, contemporary kitchen, I learnt how to design a kitchen, use of hammer, chisel, electric circular saw, drill and sander. I also learnt to cut, glue and trim Laminex/Formica. I tiled the splash back and a small part of the bench top for hot pots and pans to rest on.
While the kitchen was taking shape, my wife and I stripped and replaced the wallpaper, and laid new vinyl floor tiles.
It was not easy for us both working full time and “renovating” the house. Bit by bit, the kitchen, bathroom, and the backyard turned out great. We had no large machinery to chop the big trees or remove the tree stumps, so we had to get external help to partially landscape the front garden. We did the rest. The lounge and other rooms had new curtains too.
So are you thinking that I am bragging again? So what if it is true. I just like to share with you that “if I can do it, so can you!” If you want to enjoy your house which is your home, then spend small sum of money regularly in maintaining and updating the house. Do not wait until you are about to sell the house then pay big money to update it for the next owner to enjoy. Do be mindful that the new occupiers may tear away all that you have done, because the renovation is not what they like
Honestly, I am a hoarder myself. I still have magazines from the ark, and computers since Apple IIe. These are my museum collections. I still have my Form 5 maths exercise book, and some early university physics laboratory book. These are my pride and joy. However, they are in the way.
Thank you for reading.
