You need to paint the unfinished rooms in neutral colours, prepped but unpainted rooms look unfinished, and people want to be able to move in. That would be the most important thing IMHO. Backsplash matters less, as long as it is painted with a washable paint. If the stucco on the back exterior looks bad, it might need painting too- paint is a cheap fix and is worth doing if you can manage it, but less important than the interior. Clean and uncluttered is good, so less furniture is okay.

Get estimates for all that needs to be done, triple this number, and subtract this from the comparable sold prices.
You are out of time, energy and money... do the smart thing and price it accordingly and move on with your life. Good Luck.

I agree with 'roserobin' or else you need to lower your price to reflect an "unfinished house". Even though people may want to paint using their own colors, when a buyer is looking for a home unfinished painting looks like a project not finished and looks to them like lots of work!!
Maybe you could get the help of some family or friends?
Good Luck!

I'm just curious what your thought process is. You have five kids under 12 are out of energy/time, are short on funds and are going to sell your house at a significant loss. How did you come to the conclusion that downsizing in this market was going to help?

Seems to me unless there's more to the story, staying put and finishing the house and waiting for a better market would make more sense. Moving isn't going to change the amount of energy or time you have to do things. Keeping a house clean and prepped for showings is hard work.You aren't going to have any more funds available later after selling at a loss than you do now. The kids are going to get bigger and need more room not less.
To some degree the house is going to need things done to it before you are going to find a buyer. Since you have to invest the time, money and labor into anyways why not stay put instead of taking a huge loss?

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I guess we really do need to paint and declutter like roserobin said. In terms of why we need to go soon--I haven't told you about one of my neighbors....

If it a neighbor issue, they might move first, you never know. But by moving to a smaller home that could backfire because as your children grow, you will appreciate the larger house. Just out curosity, how bad/difficult is the issue?

"New brick outside but the top half is stucco and only the front is new --the sides and back are old stucco and don't match the front shade exactly."

Can you explain in more detail about this? How does a home get new brick?
Unless you finishe the home completely, most Buyers are going to drive up to this home and think that the sellers are broke and very motivated. Decluttering is not going to help this situation at all.
Did you and your husband do all the interior work your selves? If so, I hope you did a professional, high quality job. Nothing stands out more to buyers than a DIY job that looks it.

You need to paint and declutter. Yes, people might repaint but having unpainted walls will turn everyone off. Pick a warm beige color that isn't too light or dark and is very neutral.

Oh and Amtico is not laminate, it's vinyl, I have it in my kitchen, too. Great stuff.

If you want to share the story of your neighbors I'm sure people would be interested!

As others have suggested, you do need to finish painting in a neutral color so it looks finished...and paint is not very expensive.

Don't stress about a back splash...just paint behind the counter with the same paint as the walls...or maybe a bit darker.

CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN....and declutter. If you feel you need more furniture to complete the look of the room, maybe some relative or friend might have some pieces they would loan you...but keep it to a minimum. Perhaps you might check craigslist, consignment shops, or places that might have gently used articles. "Design to Sell" use blow up mattresses for a bed, etc. Some rent furniture, but that again could get pricey if the house is on the market for any length of time.

It is a shame you are letting your neighbor run you out of your home....but sounds like you have made some great improvements with the hardwoods and granite, etc.

Good luck....selling is hard now.....just ask me, I know!

sorry guys but I'm not looking to gossip. I guess lots of ppl have neighbor issues but since we have another option on a block where 2 of my close friends live, I don't feel like putting up with her....anymore.
ncrealetate guy--our home got new brick--b/c they pulled off the old brick and I went to the brick yard (or whatever that place was called) and I picked out a newer version of our brick--maybe it's call brick face but it wraps around 4 sides and its halfway up the entire house. The front has an extension thus the need for new stucco.
All of the work was done by a professinal licensed contractor who took us for a ride b/c we didn't do enough research (hindsight is 20/20).
I will try to take somne pictures of it to post here although Im not sure how.
We are not the DIY type.

Aliza99, thanks for your reply. It was just hard for me to picture what you meant. Pictures would still help us all help you.
Don't kick yourself to badly about being taken for a ride by a dishonest GC. It has happened to me, and I researched the scum bag.
What ever you do to the home, do whatever it takes to make the home NOT look like you started something, and then ran out of money, if at all possible. Take it from me, the Buyers will see this and salivate, thinking they can get an even better deal than what the market is already giving them.

Sorry, I tried but the pics I took are ~1.1MB and too big to post on the photo gallery.

You can upload your pictures to a photo hosing site like Photobucket, then copy and paste the HTML code into your post.

ok thanks. here's the link. An ideas of the color paint I could use for the kitchen? I'm thinking to match the cream cabinets and continue the color to the den which is attached to the dinette right next to the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://photobucket.com/kitchen-and-outdoor

aliza~~

It looks like there is some "taupe" or "goldish" color in your granite... I personally would use a shade of that color for the walls and not match the color paint of the cream cabinets...to me cream would be very boring if I were to look at your house.

Here are your pictures:

a taupe colour that picks up the colour of the seats on your stools and the granite would be nice for the backsplash area.

Hi,

I understand what you may be going through with unpleasant neighbor. I am also in the similar situation, however,stop, think, where ever I may go I may find similar neighbor, how may times can I move?
One has to be tough and ignore such people and move on.
Best of luck with selling your home.

Anna

Your kitchen is beautiful but you should paint the walls and ceiling. I suggest going a shade darker in the backsplash area then on the rest of the walls but you could paint them all the same. I would do the ceilings a soft white or off white.