Two Books that Sold Our Home to the First Showing

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We aren't putting out house on the market this year, but we know that we won't be staying here forever.  This is our second house, and so we know what it takes to put a house on the market.  We aren't looking forward to that and I usually put the thought far away when it comes to me.

This second house we're in has needed some investment.  So far, we have torn off the roof and put on a new one, Jon built a man door into our detached garage so that we could get inside if the power went out, we have painted almost every single wall on the first floor, installing granite counter tops in the kitchen, installed a new kitchen back splash (twice), new kitchen light fixtures, new dining room light fixture (twice), new window treatments in every window on the first floor, and now we've just put carpet in the master bedroom and another bedroom.

our current house, spring 2008

Our last  house sold to the first person who walked through it.  We had spent about $200 to get it ready for the market.  Not a lot!  And it was an 8 year old home.  The year was 2007.

our first house, ready to sell 2007

Here are two FANTASTIC books about getting your home ready to sell:

This book was written originally in the 1980s.  I remember thinking that the ideas in there were separate from the market boom that just went bust.  There is a dependability and longevity to this book that is hard to find in a real estate text.

This book was very solid as well.  What I like is that the author explains the different types of people that buy homes.  Owners don't want the house to look so bad that it attracts the bargain hunter.  Owners want to show people what a great house it is to LIVE in because buyers who will buy the house will pay top dollar.

I'm glad that we're not selling our house right now.  My hat is off to every one who is right now!  This seems to be a strange market.