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Prepare to Move: The first thing we did was to call upon our friendly realtor who had sold the house to my daughter and a home to my son (11 miles apart). She has the option of moving all her belongings to the UK, storing her furniture in the US or keeping the house as a rental until her tour is up (a minimum of two years and up to five yrs). She opted to sell rather than be an absentee landlord. Property management is difficult at best, even when you are still in the area. The broker gave us a thumb-nail appraisal and showed us listings and sales in the area. That was encouraging since her home value has increased nearly $60k. She bought before the peak in 2005 and has maintained her property. You may recall I wrote about her remodeled bathroom. She had a new roof installed, replaced her air conditioning and remodeled the kitchen. The broker suggested a couple more items that are not expensive but beneficial to a sale. For example, her dining room has three red walls. As nice as we all like it, not everyone would.
Repaint the room a nice neutral color. He also suggested that the door hardware be replaced. Senior citizens can have difficulty turning a knob. A lever action handle is much easier to operate. Because the house is about 50 years old, she didn’t buy bright brass hardware. The antique bronze finish is more in keeping with the age of the house.
The installation of one or two solar tube sky lights that I wrote about previously is a great improvement for those dark corners. If you have oak flooring and can see a wear path, it would be a good investment to refinish the flooring. If the wear is minimal, a wipe on stain the same color as the rest of the floor, can be easily installed and will not show the obvious wear. Once again, I could continue with many more helpful suggestions for preparing to sell. Visit model home centers and see what the builders, decorators are currently showing – colors, tile, carpet, wallpaper, etc. It helps to have your home up-to-date. Good luck.