I wasn't saying it HAS to be done for selling - I bought a dated house myself.
But it seems that way too many buyers want the granite and maple kitchens, and bathrooms with jetted tubs, now. And seeing the potential - and the lower mortgage - of this cute little house, might just be more than they can envision.

Personally, from where I sit, for $380K the house better be near perfect. But that is HERE.... which is far different than THERE.
I would have a hard time buying in that area because things are so so much cheaper here. $380K is WAY more than I would spend, so I wouldn't be spending the $500K either!

If the house is priced right for the area, if it's sound and clean but just needs some updating someday there's still plenty of people who will buy it because they don't need that glamour kitchen/bathroom right away. Heck some may be content just the way it is, they just want to get the house and get started. Again I think too much HGTV real estate and home improvement shows skew the real picture. All these people walking thru homes saying "oh thats so dated" just for the sake of saying something because they know they're on tv or saw it on tv and they probably don't have a pot to pee in themselves LOL
The reality is, most people don't live in HGTV prepped homes, they live in ordinary houses like on the Connors on the old Roseann show or the Wonder Years or Married with Children, that's reality for most people.

rosie-
We're moving from CA to FL this summer and have renters in the MD house, so we're pretty much stuck with selling "as is". If it doesn't sell, I'll have to head up there and fix up whatever I can later in the summer. Hopefully yardwork is not one of the issues.
I'm worried about the dated 1985 wallpaper that is covering nearly every single wall in the house (ex-model home).
Thanks for the offer, though.

I would get some flowers or something to brighten up the outside in the main shot. Retake the backyard looking out shot without the barbeque in the way. Lose the shot of the back of the house pointing up, makes your yard look small. Retake outside shots on a sunny day. Makes the house look dark

What about repainitng the kitchen cabinets and changing the hinges? Is that realistic? I agree there is a big difference between new, older but serviceable and I have to change everything before I move in. My goal for my kitchen is old but serviceable

Thanks for all of your comments. As for the admitted outdatedness, the bathrooms have the original tile around the tub and floor, the rest of the walls are drywall. One bathroom is banana yellow (toilet, sink, shower stall, the other is green. We replaced the sink in the main bathroom and it has a granite top. The third bath downstairs is completely white, with blue accessories. All three bathrooms are sparkling clean, all have been regrouted. DH was a plumber (now retired) and replaced all drains, etc. As far as the kitchen is concerned, I painted the insides of the cabinets with cabinet paint and they look brand new inside. They are some type of formica "wood look" which you can't do much with. I fear I'd make it worse by trying to paint them. I did replace all knobs. I knew the fireplace brick needed cleaned when the agent took the pic. I have since scrubbed the brick three different times with various products. It looks a lot cleaner and I cleaned the fireplace doors very well. We are finishing off the 8x17 laundry room. Two walls were just studs, the rest brick. We painted the brick walls and DH and I started hanging drywall last night on the two undone walls. He will finish hanging today and I will tape and mud the walls tonight and he will paint it tomorrow. The backyard is a lot bigger than that corner pic showed. Grass has greened up, trees are leafing and the world is grand, ha ha. We just power washed the deck and the sealer made the wood turn darker, which I don't like. I think it will look better if I remove the picnic table. Can't move the grill as it's terribly heavy. Maybe I'll just remove the cover so you see the stainless steel rather than black cover. We'll get the chimney sweep in next week and also have all vents cleaned. There's not more we can do, except lower the price, which DH doesn't want to do. He's got to face reality...

Play around with the search feature on the listing site. I have a search going:
Property Type: Residential
Price Range: $350000 to $400000
Zip Code: 20772
State: Maryland
Min Beds: 3 Min Baths: 2
Year Built: Not Older Than 1985
Acreage Range: No limit

Your house should come up but isn't. I'd done a few other searches where it should have come up but didn't then either. Wonder if that's part of the problem.

roslvr, I didn't try it but will. You have 1985 for year built...house was built in 1965. I'll go to the site now. Thanks.

Guess I needed more coffee lol. I even rechecked the listing, the 8 looked like a 6

Rosie,
I would consider painting the brick fireplace a creamy white. Not everyone would do it, but it would hide the soot and brighten up the room.
Jo

Rosie, I did what Roselvr said and there are a TON of houses in your immediate price range - (say, $390k-$375K) in the Marlton development which would be your "competition". I think just the inventory may prevent a quick sale unless you get lucky. Your house doesn't look out of line with the houses I browsed - yours may be a bit older but most of the houses were built in the 70s through mid 80s (I guess that when Marlton was developed?).

Well, still no lookers....not one. Realtor took new pics of front yard with azeleas in bloom. Link is above. I don't know why she put so many pics of the front on the MLS. We were out of town when she took them so she couldn't take inside pics. We had a 17 foot trailer this weekend, filled it to the top and unloaded it in our rental hosue in PA. Visited our property while there. It's so tranquil, we walked through the woods for about an hour, met one of our soon to be neighbors. I didn't want to leave.

Rosie,
The new pictures look terrific. The azaleas are gorgeous. Hope you get some activity really soon....

Rosie - what do you mean the realtor couldn't get inside to take photos? Isn't there a lockbox? She should have access to your house.

I looked at your photos and while the yard is gorgeous, everything in the interior photos are "dated" with a capital D! Because of the datedness, I wouldn't want to look at your home because none of the photos draw me in and the multitude of exterior photos are a turnoff.

If I saw a listing with so many outside photos, I would skip it because I would wonder why there were so many exterior shots and so few interior. I'd wonder if something is wrong with the house. There are just too many outside photos.

Someone suggested you paint the brick around the fireplace. I wouldn't do that because most people like the natural brick look. I think painting the panelling a neutral colour would do more than ruining brick by painting it.

Also, you mentioned your bathroom is banana yellow. Can you paint it a much more neutral colour? I would be turned off by that colour.

Again, I have to ask, why couldn't your realtor access your home to take photos inside? If you don't have a lockbox, that could be the problem.

1st thing I wondered also was why they couldn't get in.

Looking at the pics, there are 3 of the same azalea shot. I would also invest in some neutral paint for the kitchen & bathroom.

I too would lose some of the outdoor shots (not the backyard one though -- that's great!) I just looked at an ad for a house in the area where we're moving and there were three or four pics of the home, plus six close-up pictures of butterflies on bush branches. (What's up with that??? Am I buying butterflies?)

Sorry for the sidetrack. I've looked at too many MLS listings in the past few weeks.

About your kitchen. It's probably the number one issue for most people. Is this an eat-in kitchen? I'd love to see the layout/area of the kitchen. I personally could deal with the cabinets if the space was good. If it is, can you take the picture so it gives a more panoramic view of the kitchen and not so much a close-up of the cabinets?

Do NOT paint the brick fireplace!!! DH and I have walked out of several houses because people have done that (fireplaces are a big deal to us). A buyer can paint the fireplace if they want, but they can't un-paint it.

A lot of people are in the same boat. I sold a house this past week...it was on the market five months. My husband and I have our current house on the market. We got one offer after only three weeks but the buyer backed out of the deal. We dropped our price today. Fortunately, we are getting several showings. One person even came back twice (but hasn't made an offer as of yet). It is a long tedious, frustrating process. Hang in there and know that there is a buyer out there somewhere!

I agree with akkw -- don't paint the fireplace, we've also passed on several homes because of painted brick fireplaces. Clean it and leave it.

Agree about too many of the same exterior pics. Exterior (main), #2, #3 and #4 are all pretty much the same shot. Exterior #5 and the deck picture are also the same. The house does look pretty dated.

Two things I would do that I think would make a world of difference (and not cost much):

1) Paint the kitchen cupboards (white) and lose the orange/rust color of the walls (paint the kitchen a light beige, maybe). I know you said that the kitchen cupboards might be hard to paint, but there must be some way you can prime them or rough the surface up a bit so paint will stick. Others may know more about this.

2) Paint or otherwise cover the paneling in the family room.

I think those changes would go a long way towards giving a more updated feel.

It's not that the realtor "couldn't" get in, she was afraid to go in. We were out of town when she came by, but my 21 year-old son was home from college. She heard the dog bark as she came to the door and thought it was loose, rather than in its kennel. He was in his kennel, so my son said. With respect to the kitchen, it is small, but it's an eat-in kitchen. I have a 50" square table in it. I'm not going to paint the fireplace as I cleaned it several times and it looks better. Soot would cling to paint...can you imagine what the new owners would end up with...dirty fireplace and pealing paint after they tried to clean it.

What color should I paint my yellow bathroom...yellow toilet and sink, yellow border around shower. Rest of tile is white. The main bath is green -- green toilet, tub and trim around tile in shower. Walls are painted a very pale gray. Leave it gray?

My downstairs bathroom is all white. It's a new bathroom,DH being a plumber, put it in. I have it trimmed in blue accessories, but walls are white.

The kitchen is not orange but a pale pumpkin with white chair rail. I thought it would add a splash of color because the floor and countertops are beige and the appliances are buff. What color should I repaint it? All of the other major rooms and hallways are either antique white or varying shades of beige. Laundry room is white.

I'm not going to paint the fireplace as I cleaned it several times and it looks better.

all the more reason to get those new pics up. Good luck!

If your son was home and the dog was kennelled, didn't he let the realtor in?

You really need more interior photos, especially since you stated you can fit a big table in the kitchen. That space should be showcased in the photos.

As for the yellow bathroom, remove the border and paint the walls white or a much paler yellow. Sounds like there's alot of yellow in that room. Same with the green bathroom, paint the walls neutral.

sparksals, because she didn't knock. She heard the dog and turned around, took pics of the flowers and left. He didn't even know she came by.

Is the dog going to be an issue at some point? What if other realtors do the same thing?

I have a 21 year old son also, I doubt he would get up to look outside if the dog was barking. Shame that he didn't...

I noticed your listing indicated hardwood under the carpet. Do you know the condition of the floors? If so, and it's good, consider removing all the carpet. Those floors will make a huge difference in the way your home shows. Just another little thing---do you have blinds on the front windows? If so, I would recommend removing the dark, heavy looking window treatments, at the minimum remove the panels. I think it will brighten up the LR space. Same thing in other rooms. Also consider removing the plant from the kitchen. It's probably just the angle, but it looks odd in the picture and seems to block the window. You want people to be able to see out that window!

Realtor came by yesterday and took new pics. See link above.

Here is the link again.

I am not an expert by any means, but I think in your case, too many pictures may be hurting you. I don't understand what the purpose of some of these shots is - the hallway, corner of the room, the master (?) lamp, the washer and dryer?? Some of the shots are fuzzy like the kitchen table area.

I think with much better and many fewer pictures, you would be in much better shape. You aren't giving people a reason to come see the place as they have seen every inch of it.

Nice clean house. You should paint the kitchen and bath cabinets. You can buy a primer made by Zinser that will work on formica or similar smoth finishes. Will help the paint stick.

From my experience, painting out the wood or woodtone cabinets will give your home a more updated look. Really freshen it up. I know I hate painting cabinets but that's my two cents.

The other problem you will have is the split foyer. I simply will not look at a split foyer. No matter how you enter a split foyer you have to go up or down stairs and I found that simply a pain. I never liked the split foyer for that reason. It really has the effect of making a house feel smaller even though there may be a whole other house downstairs.

Just a matter of taste. Nothing you can do about that floor plan but make the parts that are most used more desireable.

Those are the new pictures?

I don't understand why half of them are up. I don't need to see pictures of your beds, the hallway, a corner of a room! Quite frankly I wouldn't visit your house after viewing these pictures. It looks dark, dated and cramped. There is too much furniture in many of the rooms. That cannot possibly be your picture of a cleaned fireplace in the family room?

One other question - at what value range are searches in your area preformed? You are listed at $380K. If your area is searched every $25K dropping to $375 might be a good option. You'll catch people in on the $350 - $375K search as well as the $375 - $400K search. If your area is searched every $50K this suggestion is useless.

Nice clean house. You should paint the kitchen and bath cabinets. You can buy a primer made by Zinser that will work on formica or similar smoth finishes. Will help the paint stick.

I wouldn't paint the cabinets, they look like wood. The next person may want to lighten them.

I still would lighten / neutral the paint in the kitchen. I think that it would give it more appeal. My parents had the same color cabinets at the old house we sold, IIRC, I used a color called french bread by Bear. I also repainted the hardware.

The only other thing I would do (looking quickly as I have to get back to my own painting) would be to get the photos in order. You have a few of the kitchen that aren't together.

I looked at all your photos and whar I saw was a 50 year old house thar looks every bit of it. The floor plan is no longer popular as people have realized the negatives of split level living. The old kitchen and decor would be show stoppers for me.

Your best bet is to emphasize the positives. Buyers are looking for hardwood floors, so pull up those carpets and make the flooring shine. Remove outdated window coverings and let people see the view of the lovely yard. And consider offering a large renovation allowance. The kitchen especially needs major help far beyond painting the cabinets.

Show fewer photos and only those that illustrate the positives! Right now what I see is how much work and money it's going to take to update this house, and that alone would scare me off.

Rosie Im not surprised no one is looking. There are way too many pictures. Buyers are looking at those pictures and thinking, WORK! Take out as many pictures as you can get away with. The outside is lovely, put a few of those in, you have to put the kitchen in because people think if you arent showing it, its really bad. Put the pic of the livingroom since it shows a beautiful new window and a fireplace. Get people to at least look, maybe they'll fall in love with the big rooms or the neighborhood or the yard, but they arent going to fall in love with those pictures. There is no reason for anyone to come and look, they have seen the entire house! Why in the world is your agent showing a picture of your microwave and fridge, or your washing machine or a sink?? I also noticed when I searched realtor.com, your picture is of your diningroom, not the front of the house, what is the point of that?

Its clean you have that going for you, but you have to get people in that house and that isnt going to happen with those pictures.

Sitting down before the 2nd coat, just looked at the "virtual tour" slideshow.

For one, I would take pics out of the slide show. I wouldn't need to look at your house since I already saw it. Have to agree that the realtor has too many photos. I would leave the yellow bath, take out the teal one.

You're house needs a little appeal, now, remember I am also getting my house ready for sale, so I'm giving you advice I've already taken myself. The bedding on some of the beds are dated. I think to give more appeal you could shop at JC Penney's online outlet and pick up a few things that would update everything without breaking the bank. I picked up a really nice comforter for my daughters room seen here while my daughter doesn't like it, it works well with the neutral walls. The bedspread on the daybed is too dark for the room next to the walls. I then picked up a scarf from walmart. The scarfs at walmart are decent for under $20. Putting a scarf on the window by the table will brighten the room also, instead of the drap or heavyish curtain. I also purchased new towels from target fairly cheap, what a difference it made in the bathrooms. JC Penney also had pictures on sale 1/2 off, I can't tell you how much it helped at my house against bare walls.

With the kitchen, I think that since you have chair rail and you absolutly do not want to change the color, why not keep it for the bottom color and lighten the top, then possibly change the white rail to a similar color? I don't doubt the kitchen color looks good in person, but on the photos (which I think should be by a pro as some shots are cloudy) the color is not appealing. Myself as a buyer am thinking, hey, I have to paint to move in.

If you do paint the kitchen, remove the plant from in front of the window when you take a new photo. My son noticed it before seeing anything else

I was also thinking that you may want to ask the realtor to look to see if and what in your area sold or has gone up for sale. See what's different about their houses. It may be time to reduce, I don't know your area.

I also want to add that my neighbor sold his house in Feb after it being on the market for close to 6 months. People would come to look, I'd see them from my computer room window. They would do a quick look of the yard (messy / no grass) then go inside. They would be out in less than 5 minutes. I knew exactly why. They didn't take the time to paint, nor declutter. The house was listed for $235 IIRC, by the time they sold it, it went for $185. That's a huge drop due to them not prepping. I don't know what advice their realtor gave them. I've seen what the new couple have done, they surely can relist the house and make $40k+ on the house just due to painting and cleaning.

You've had a lot of input in this post, everyone pretty much sees the same thing; we're all looking at the same photos as are any people interested in your area. If the houses for sale there are the same as yours (needing updating & possibly paint), it's possible they are looking in another town. I know that right now, as a buyer; after prepping my house, I would not want to take on something that I couldn't move right into. One house we looked at last week had hunter green carpet with matching green walls. There is no way my stuff will move in with something not neutral. I can live with the kitchen cabinets you have and also the fireplace, saving it for later to "doll up" or change, but the paint, no.

We have a lot of bilevels here, they are still popular. BTW, not sure if I've said it in one of my other posts, but the outside of your house is great.

The OP has gotten a lot of good advice about cosmetic upgrades here, but I can't resist giving my two cents...

Are there mildew stains on the roof, especially the front? Can they be cleaned off? My first impression was that the house might need a new roof.

The wooden storage unit surrounding the toilet is a turnoff. It's crowding the shower stall, and makes me wonder if there's enough storage in that room.

"My first impression was that the house might need a new roof."
I agree with the roof thing!
I also agree with those who suggested showing off the hardwood floors.

In regards to the new photos---

Dining room: I would center the table under the chandelier, lose the spare chair and take a clearer shot.

Kitchen: Re-take the Kitchen #2 photo after removing the MW/cart; Group the two kitchen photos together.

Master bedroom: Re-take the photo! The lamp glare is annoying.

Master bath: Remove the fuzzy cover!

Bath #2: Remove the wooden contraption around the toilet and remove the fuzzy cover. I can't see if there's a fuzzy cover in bath #3....

Den and hallway: Delete these... they tell a buyer nothing.

My .02:

I think that your house probably looks better in real life than it does in these photos - many of them are too dark, and some of them are pointless (empty corner, for example). Make your broker remove those that aren't accomplishing anything and retake those that are essential (outside front, deck, living room, family room, kitchen including one showing table, one bathroom - I would show the white one). Putting them in a natural order would help - outside front, living room, family room, kitchen, master bedroom, bathroom, deck. Fire the broker if she won't cooperate - if she *likes* these photos she is incompetent.

If you can make some changes here are the ones I'd recommend.

Kitchen: if cabinets are laminate and not wood, paint them, using a high-bonding primer. The very best paint for laminate cabinets is a brand called (surprise) Cabinet Coat, but it is not easy to find everywhere. Also paint the upper part of the walls a lighter color.

Dining room: replace the dark curtains with something more in line with current taste. A decorative rod with simple panels hung outside the frame (not covering any of the glass) would be find, or even white sheers.

Yellow bathroom: paint the walls white and use a hotel-style white shower curtain and white towels.

Blue bathroom: remove the space-saver - it suggests that there isn't enough storage space, and it would remind people of the temporary expedients they might have used in awful rentals. If the storage space is absolutely essential, replace it with a white wall-hung cabinet, mounted permanently.

Bedrooms: as already suggested, put on new bedcoverings. Last year's style is perfect, since it will look fresh but not shocking. Also, the bedrooms seem "undecorated." While it is generally better, for staging, to have the minimum of furniture and accessories in bedrooms, especially if they aren't large, an inoffensive picture or other decoration would make them look less plain.

In the living room, I think that a picture or mirror above the fireplace would be good, too. The flower arrangement in the picture isn't big enough for the space and the room needs a little drama.

Thank all of you for your comments. I can't remember who made what suggestion without scrolling back and rereading, so I'll just comment on what I can remember. With respect to the bedding, it's all brand new from Macys. The white one was almost $300. How can they be dated when I just picked them off the shelf? Grant it, the day bed cover is dark, but I was in a hurry and didn't have a chance to shop around.

You see no pictures on the walls because when my husband prepped the walls before painting, he spackled all the holes. He didn't want to put any new holes in the walls for future owner. In any event, when I decluttered, I wrapped all art, etc. and shipped them to my rental house in PA.

The house doesn't need a new roof, we had someone from a roofing company come by and inspect it. That square thingy that shows in the picture is actually a build-up of sap from one of those large trees in the back. Someone is going to power wash the roof for us.

We have been reconsidering selling. We decided to keep it on the market until July 1. If it doesn't sell, we're giving the house to my daughter and we will build our new house with our savings. This selling stuff is too stessful.

As far as pictures go here's my rule: If a picture doesn't show something positive about the house don't use it.

Rosie, sorry. From the photo it's hard to tell about the bedding.

I wouldn't give it to a relative. If you want to keep it, rent it and let your family inherit it later. That way the house will be re-assessed at market value THEN. If they sell then they won't have to pay capital gains on the difference between what you paid and the (then) current value. Or, after renting it you could sell it and do a tax-exchange purchase of another rental (still avoiding capital gains). Very best: lower your price and SELL now.

I'm wondering if you don't need a new realtor.

Frankly I couldn't believe that people were actually telling you to change out the bedspreads because they are "out of date". I can barely see the bedspreads in relation to the room, certainly not well enough to decide that they are dated enough that it is affecting your being able to sell the house. How could anyone else see this?

I think people are focusing on small details when there are bigger issues. Maybe the agent. Definitely the kitchen. I said it before and say it again -- you might consider putting some money in updating it as much as you can. It might come out to be the same, or even less money, than lowering the price, if that's what you have to do to sell it. I think for a lot of people the very dated kitchen is a deal breaker. Paint, bathroom fixtures, etc are less so (or for fewer people).

All in all, I think it's a great house, actually. Fabulous setting, good neighborhood (according to what you say) and it might be worth putting some kitchen upgrades in to get the house sold.

Frankly I couldn't believe that people were actually telling you to change out the bedspreads because they are "out of date".

From the photo link, yes they look dated. When I went to the virtual tour, I was able to see the white bedding better. I then went to Macys.com to look to see what they did to make it stand out, they had colored walls. The bedding is beautiful btw, but from the photos the realtor took, you aren't able to see that. This IMO would be the perfect room to stage, add a few accessories to play up the eyelet set, maybe a nice pillow or two with a little color, a large painting hanging over the bed. I could also vision a gold lamp, with a colored shade and some beading to dress it up. Of the 2 photos of that room, one focuses on the bed, make the bed shine. The other has a lit lamp, which I would have moved for the shot, plus you see an orange lamp and nothing of interest on the dressers... I would pick one angle, and focus on staging the area for the shot. Same thing with the daybed room. Looking at other houses in her area, others staged a daybed with a comforter not as dark and some nice pillows to make it look inviting.

There have been various posts where people also say dated, I picked the bedding to single out because there's a lot you can do with a neutral room with bedding. Adding a slight touch of color on the bed makes it inviting. Go to any catalog site, see how they make a somewhat boring neutral room shine with the bedding & accessories.

I went back and did a search in the $200,000 to $400,000 range in this area, (different subdivisions, same area code) no age selected on house. From what I see, she has competition with homes that do have an updated kitchen and / or bathroom in her same price range. One house in particular, here is in the same development, same age, yet it is $370,000. Pictures are horrible, but I don't doubt this house also needs updating.

Here is a link that might be useful: $200,000 to $400,000 range

roselvr: I didn't look at the virtual tour so I don't know how the bedding looked there. I only looked at the pictures.

My point was that it seemed like concentrating on bedding and/or staging a room are really not the right focus for a house where the primary problem is that it needs a great deal of updating (yes, or else perhaps lowering the price to compensate for that). I don't think staging a bedroom is going to fix that. But what do I know, I could be wrong, it's just my opinion for what it's worth.

Thanks to roselvr for the links. The other split level is listed by the same agent. Common thread? Awful photos!

Six weeks without a single showing is sad, but this has been a rotten spring. Still, I think the house needs more work (and better photos!) before anyone is going to choose to see it -- at this price.

The kitchen is dated and cramped. At least paint the cabinet exteriors a light color. Remove the M/W and stand and the too-large table (at least for the photo).

Those paneled rooms look like CAVES! Whitewash? Drywall over? I don't think you can get enough lights in those rooms to make them look cheerful and bright.

The best things about the house are its size, location, deck, three baths. Do show the front (minus the truck), the view of the yard from the deck (minus the BBQ cover), the (painted and decluttered) kitchen. A floorplan would be a good thing here. You mention a neighborhood pool? (Show it.)

No photos of laundry room, bath w/shower curtain drawn, hallways, bath with space-saver storage thingie over toilet, cramped-looking BRs. I would not mention "sump pump" either -- why introduce that worry?

Why did YOU buy this house? What have YOU enjoyed about the house, the neighborhood, the location?

I'm still concerned about the realtor's lack of good presentation. Could be the house will show better after you've packed and gone! Save your sanity. Let a painter come in then and spiff up the kitchen and that panelling.

Last thought: Have there been teardowns in your neighborhood? What is the value of the lot alone? (Teardown Queen speaking. LOL)

chisue : I would not mention "sump pump" either -- why introduce that worry?

Not sure about Rosie's area but I know that several municipalities in my area of NYS do not allow a house to be sold without a sump pump. I wouldn't list it, but I don't consider it a worry either - just an ordinance that you need one installed before the house can close.

roslvr, the house you refer to is a foreclosure. Not my agent's house. I think it was bought last year by two prison guards. The prison just closed and I think they are trying to sell pre-forclosure. They have totally delanscaped the front of the house and I don't know what they have done to the inside.

My basement is, contrary to pics, not dark at all. There is a sliding glass door that gets morning light, a regular size window on adjoining wall and a large picture window in front. Some people love knotty pine some don't. I was told by several neighbors and my realtor not to change. I'm not changing it because it's too much work to cover. All rooms in basement have full size windows except for laundry room, which has a long slender window and a smaller window on adjoining wall. Another house 4 doors up from mine was just taken off the market (priced at 395,000) because I put mine on at a lower price. My son said he has been in that house several times and it's a mess compared to mine. Go figure.

We seem to be rehashing old comments on datedness. I've gotten the point. I don't this thread to turn into an argument. Please, let's end the thread. Thanks for all of your comments.

rosie,
Another thing to try is militarybyowner.com
You could put your house up on there for sale or for rent and possibly find a buyer or tenant from Andrews. That's how I got my current tenant and it's great because you know they'll stay put for a few years. If we can't sell, we'll do the same thing and try to get a 2- to 3- year tenant. Our townhouse tenant (govt civilian) has been in there for 11 years and the place is almost paid off!