Hi All! Yes, I am begining to re-understand about particular style homes. There had been a beautiful mid century modern ranch in our area for sale a few years ago that needed sprucing up inside to bring it back to it's original 50's grandure. The architect on the outside was just amazing! I know the price started high due to it being so unusual. I guess the owner and REagent thought there was a market for it in "Colonial Haven". Well it sat there for ever and the price just kept on dropping. Had I not moved to were I am I might have considered it at the fire sale price it was even though it was too small for us. I also remember a Frank Lloyd Wright ranch home for sale in lower Farfield Co., CT, just after we bought our home. That had a tough time selling (his rooms are pretty small). It wasn't going anywhere until the agent realized he had to specialize the advertising and target the correct buyers. I forgot how long it was on the market and what it eventually sold for though. Thank you all for reminding me that I DO have something different and not everyone is as enamoured with a ranch as I am. I guess you might say "Ranch people are a rare breed!!!!" ;) Well, back to my boxing and sprucing!! One thing I was happy about though was none of the agents thought we needed staging and were happy with the way I decorated (it did take me till this move to finally find my style!). Felt really great about that since when we were selling our last home (THE COLONIAL!) the word "dated" came around a few time and I cringed! We ripped out perfectly good wall to wall and painted brown trim white. Funny thing, I had a brief though of doing that from the begining when we first bought the house, but the carpeting was in wonderful shape, plus I am from the wall to wall generation and I really did find it to be warm and comfortable, ( an aside for the younger generation - growing up the the 50's hard wood floors ment your family was poor since only the well off people had wall to wall, plus it did make your home feel warmer and you didn't have to deal with all those dust bunnies!!!) and the brown molding was great because all you had to do was dust it, there was no upkeep! As soon as we ripped out the carpet, had the floors sanded and painted the trim, the house looked amazing and we kicked ourselves for not doing it earlier. (hence I now am with it and have beautifully sanded wood floors, area carpets and white trim!)

Another option is to post an ad on your local FreeCycle. You won't get a tax credit, but you should be able to find a good home for it easily. FreeCycle is much safer than CL because FreeCycle members must register and get approved before they can post or even see messages. Unlike CL, FreeCycle doesn't allow come-and-get-it ads because they waste gas. If you do post it on FreeCycle, be sure to ask people to give you a definite day and time when they will pick it up -- this helps to keep the no-shows to a minimum. Also, don't necessarily offer the item to the first person who replies, because some people respond to every posting that seems to have some value, and then don't follow through. When I give away things on FreeCycle, I try to choose someone who lives nearby because there's a greater chance they'll pick it up promptly. Here is a link that might be useful: FreeCycle

My 79 year old father is scheduled for cataract surgery in September, but right now, the print in regular books is too small. He has pooh poohed large print, but my mother happened to find one on a "take one leave one" bookshelf in their adult community and he realized that yeah, this might be good! So I went on abebooks, searched for an author he had recently mentioned and put large-print in the keyword section, and found tons. I ordered two from a vendor who offers free shipping, and voila! Two books, less than $15. Late Father's Day present on its way. (He told us not to get him anything-they just downsized so "stuff" is not welcome.) Once he has read them, he can add them to the aforementioned book shelf, or donate them to the large on-site library. I'm sure large-print books would be welcome. You just need to know how to read the used book lingo-i.e. fine is better than very good, etc.

For goodness sakes, Dad is 81. I've purchased homes with the owner's clothes still in the closet, junk 4 feet deep in the basement, and nothing updated or fixed for 40 years. That Realtor isn't wrong IF you have endless funds (looking at about 20K minimum right there unless you guys do some work), and time to spend. You are almost at the end of June. The time is NOW to get it sold. Things slow down a bit after the 4th. IF you want very top HGTV showroom dollar, (and highest commission possible for the Realtor),, follow all that advice. But it doesn't sound like the expenditure of effort is worth it for your Dad. Follow your gut. You are already willing to list under what the very top dollar is, from what you say, given the condition of the house. Do what you think is right and do not be dissuaded.