May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

So we bought our house at the downturn of the market and paid $490k for it (last Dec). We put about 20-30k into it re-doing the kitchen, updating appliances, new oil tank, pvc fence etc etc. My dad thinks I should list it at 525k to be negotiable. We're planning on eating the cost of all the updates and just trying to get back what we paid. If we are going to lose a substantial amount of money in this market, we'll build on instead of selling. (we need a bigger apt now b/c my parents need a room to stay with me down the road...My sister lives with us now and will always)

here is the website, we're putting the house on the market and i've been working on it here and there

http://stonybrookhomeforsale.shutterfly.com/

So if you have a second, could you tell me anything you see that you don't like or suggest - anything from too much clutter, ugly comforter- whatever comes across your mind! Don't hold back!

I really appreciate any help.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

First off - you have a beautiful home. I don't know what it looked like before or your updates, but it looks great. I also don't know the market out there so I can't comment on the price. As a buyer now though the only thing I'd comment on is the bedroom that is currently blue and pink - are you doing something else in there? Furniture, etc.? With the colors of the walls, I'd like to see it finished with the look you had in mind there, otherwise, a more neutral tone. Good luck to you!

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

When I first looked at the site I see that you have eight pictures of the kitchen (four with the kitchen table), none of the front or back yard. Then I realized if I went back to the home page you can see the front and yard. I would put all relevant pictures in one album, not seperate. A lot of people don't take time to read (like me). They do pictures first. For the outside pictures, you have the same picture over and over, delete some of those. You only show one bathroom picture, but mention 3?

Hope this isn't too crazy

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

i also agree that your home is beautiful.

to attract more buyers, i would suggest the following:

- replace the missing outlet cover in the pink and blue room
- touch up the paint below the molding (from the pics, there appears to be a red line above the box molding in the pink and blue room)

tone down the colors
- pink and blue room (maybe paint over the pink with an ivory, color match to molding)
- more muted blue in the bathroom or tan
- more muted pink

- add furniture and window coverings to the pink and blue room
- flowers on the kitchen table
- remove accessories on ledge and add candles
- bowl of fruit on island

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

The only thing i would do (that's sort of major) is paint the pink & blue room. if you tone down the colors to a beige and darker beige (still using two colors), i think it would be more apealling.

JMHO.



You have a really nice house. don't know the area, but i think you'll sell....

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

I would take out the snow pictures. There's a lot of snow on the ground, and almost none on the roof. To me, that indicates that the roof isn't insulated enough. There may be any number of reasons why there isn't snow up there, but I wouldn't let people make guesses based on those photos.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

I agree with the suggestions to repaint the bathroom and the pink/blue room. Your home is lovely though. I like your colors choices everywhere else

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

Message edited 3/31/2009 9:24:33 AM.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

You have a beautiful home. Everyone else has given you great suggestions and I agree with what they said - some neutral paint colors would probably make a difference to someone who doesn't want to "have to" do anything right away. Good luck!

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

Beth the house looks beautiful! I would change the bathroom color other than that I love it!

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

You have a lovely home! I would definitely tone down the colors, they tend to jump out too much. I would also use lighter and more neautral colors to brighten it up, and like somebody mentioned above, I would try one picture of each room in the house, the front and the back of the house as well.

Good luck!

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

You have some painting to do...

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

I would definitely agree with the other posters to repaint the pink room, the pink and purple/blue room and blue bathroom. You want to tone down the colors and make it attractive to all types of buyers. One thing you need to remember when you're selling your home, it's not your home anymore so you have to get rid of the bright colors and make it more inviting.

I would also do some changes to I'm thinking it's the master bedroom. Get new bedding that looks luxurious and put some pictures on the walls - like cheap paintings you can find at AC Moore or Michaels of flowers that go with the colors in your bedroom. It should look like a retreat you want to go to.

I would also post more pics of all the updated bathrooms.

ETS: When people see there are neutral colors on the walls, the first thing that comes to mind is "I don't have to repaint. It's move in ready."

We purchased our home last year and every home we went into had a lot of things we needed to change and it was a huge turnoff.

Message edited 3/31/2009 12:10:50 PM.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

Two things I would do

1st would be paint the blue and pink room a neutral color

Paint the blue bathroom a more mellow color

I like the color but you are always better off with a more mellow color

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

i agree with most of the others... the house looks great!! kitchen is nice and opened and in really good shape. i think i would just paint the pink and blue bedrooms a more neutral color, makes it easier for the buyer to see their own decorating tastes in there. I love the bathroom blue, too... but would probably tone that color down, too just to make it more neutral for buyers.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

Beautiful home! The only thing I would suggest would be to remove a few of the knick knacks from the dining room and maybe tone down the color of the babies room.

Re: May I ask you all to be brutally honest w. me re: my house?

ITA with all the other comments and wanted to also suggest taking down pictures where the room looks dark. In general, it looks like you got a nice amount of light but some of the pictures don't support that.