Is Grandma moving out before the place goes on the market?

You might want to take grandma on a little field trip and show her first hand what the competion looks like.

If she's going to get top dollar she's going to have face facts. Let the agent do it for you. It might go down smoother.

The carpeting should be the same in the entire condo. If you have some pics we might be able to help more.

So sorry to hear about Grandpa.

Top dollar is going to require work. Is Grandma up to having the place disturbed while she is still living there? Or, would it be best if she moved out first? And, you may want to consult a Realtor (or three) to get some ideas of what the place is worth now and what the place will be worth if you upgrade. It may be that the dollars of the upgrading will not be worthwhile economically (although they may result in a quicker sale).

How bad is the wrought iron? And, tell Grandma that wallpaper and painting are a must because they lived there XX years and it needs to be fresh for sale. The carpet should flow too. Pics?

It is not going to be easy if this is her "home". Detaching from a home to sell a house is very difficult for many people.

Best wishes

Are there other relatives involved? If so make sure there is communication. Just "doing" it will not work as unless your name is on the documents, you cannot do much. Who will pay for it and if Grandma says ok, and later relatives disagree--you have a problem. Christmas is not that long past, and with so many memories, take it slow, find a safe place for her to stay, do not let her come back. Good luck

First, my condolences on the loss of your Grandpa. Second, your grandma is lucky to have such a devoted grandson.
My advice is grandma's safety is number one. It sounds like she should not be living alone any more. You might need to consult with an attorney and obtain powers of attorney, living will, will, that sort of thing if it hasn't already been done. I think it would be too painful for grandma to try to make the changes that need to be done while she is still there, so transition her to a safe setting, then consult with an expert realtor or stager about the things that need to be done to maximize your sales price. Then bring this objective opinion to grandma when she is ready. You might show her some pictures from some staging websites.
If you post some pictures, we might be able to give you some hints on what you should do even before the experts come in.

Here is a link that might be useful: my staging website

This is a little bit weird, but you may want to consider getting a third party not related to your family to provide objective feedback, or what is perceived by your grandmother as objective feedback. What has worked well for some families has been getting a personal organizer who has alot of experience working with elderly folks that need to move. That person, whether they are an organizer or some other third party, needs to establish a real connection with your grandmother because it's not just convincing her that updates need to be made or that the price needs to be adjusted; there will be a multitude of decisions that need to be negotiated with grandma at every step of the process, including decluttering and downsizing. That third party really needs to be able to establish a trusting relationship. As a child or grandchild, it's pretty frustrating when you are telling your mother or grandmother the same thing as the organizer, but your mother or grandmother argues with you at every step of the process and only really "hears" the organizer who is saying exactly the same thing. Even in the closest families, a sale of the "family" home is extremely emotional. It's very tough and I found that personal organizers who have alot of experience moving and downsizing elderly folks can be extremely helpful in facilitating the process and reducing the overall anxiety level of the family.

Thank you for the kind words and advice. Grandma has moved out already. There are still a few odds and ends that need to be gone through, but for the most part, she is ready to move on and grieve a little. Poor thing. It breaks my heart to see her so lonely and sad. I think she and Grandpa had just started to get over my mothers passing 9 years ago. Today we stopped by her new place with the kids and that was wonderful - they really brighten her day.

I don't think I have any recent pictures in digital format, but have to go over the the condo tomorrow to take a measurement. I will take the camera along. The wrought iron is really horrible. You will laugh at this when you see it. But she thinks this is the be all end all of fine living. At least she spent many happy years at this place thinking it was all that.

Stay tuned for pics.

Sorry about your grandpa.

Can't wait to see pics! I, myself, love wrought iron, but have to agree that there is some that is tacky. It seems in this area, houses aren't moving so quickly. Condo's might be different. Is the condo near a university? If so, that might help you sell it faster. I think getting rid of the wall paper and painting to a neutral and getting neutral carpet will help tremedously. It might even make the wrought iron not seem so bad. I don't think I'd paint the wrought iron, but might change my mind after seeing it. Also, if the light fixtures seem really out of date, you can pick them up pretty cheap. Surely it has appreciated enough in 30 years to make some profit, but you might have to put a little work into it first. Good luck!

Sorry about your grandpa. It's not easy to have to deal with all of this around the holidays.

I would call a few agents, getting them in to look the place over, then have them recommend what to do. If they know their market they should be able to tell you if there is more market for this or whether putting some money into it is needed.

When we sold my dad's old place, he had a number in his head. We actually had a buyer. A painter I called wanted it. Long story short, I should have gone through an agent instead of wasting time with this painter that was sure as we wasted months. I will never forgive him for what he put my sick (cancer) dad through, then 3 or 4 months later dropped off of the face of the earth.

Anyway, we used an agent that came highly recommended. I am over an hour away, an agent friend of mine down here knew about her. Don't regret that decision. She was honest with dad the whole time, telling him, ok I will list for the price you "want", promise me we will see how it goes then we will drop it. Zillow isn't up to date so I have no clue what the estate eventually got but it did sell.

Having been in a buying situtation 4 years ago, I am not as up on the market as I was but, I was in an old housing market.

Telling your grandmother that she needs updates is not going to work. Telling her she needs this painted, and that replaced etc, even fronting the labor and some of the money isn't going to work if she isn't open to it.

Best bet is get a RE agent in and probably sell as is.

She will probably leave some money on the table, As long as she can afford the new place and move out first, you may have a chance of updating somewhat, but most people old or young, can't see past their own lifestyle which may leave a place in an offensive condition, clutter, color pallet, decade etc. If they're not open to it, you're fighting a losing battle.

My grandmother hasn't updated since 1970 and wanted top dollar for her place. When she finnally dropped the price to a reasonable amount, they had a small flood in the finished basement. According to the buyers inspector the flood didn't do permenant damage, and being that it only happened once in 30 years due to a terrible storm isn't an issue to him. This didn't stop the buyers from bolting. She still refuses to paint the basement to repair any discoloration, not her physically, but letting someone help.

they still live in the house 2 years later, and took it off the market.