Some thoughts. One, I'd buy the house you posted, exactly the way it is.

I don't care for brass, but it wouldn't prevent me from buying a house if I liked it.

I don't like wallpaper, but again, it wouldn't stop me if I liked the house.

If crown molding is common in your area, I'd do it. It's not common in mine, outside of historic homes and wealthier areas.

Oak is rather outdated, but whether or not it would be a turn off would depend entirely on the rest of the house. If the appliances are pretty new, the counters look to be in excellent shape, and the rest of the house is basically turnkey, the cabinets would be irrelevant to me. If the kitchen as a whole is outdated, I'd be tempted to paint them white to modernize it a bit.

All that said, I'm also someone who isn't afraid of DIY projects and what I look for in a house are solid construction, updates on the "big stuff" (newer roof, well maintained siding/brick, updated appliances/ac/heat if the house is older than I am), and location. I would never pass on a house because the doorknobs are the wrong color.

The one thing I'm curious about is he/she's objection to the third floor attic stairway. If you mean there are actual steps leading from the second floor to a usable attic space, that would be a HUGE plus, as far as I'm concerned.

The neighbor's house looks updated, with neutral colors, SS appliances, nice floors, no wallpaper. Basically move-in ready.

The neighbors house looks updated and not 25 years older so not much in getting more for that. Adjustments in price also depends on how updated a home appears. The kitchen has a good flow and doesn't look like it needs to be remodeled. No squished sink/stove going on that is a major renovation to fix. Essentially it looks like it is move in ready and no work to do.

It appears they have already moved out from the comment and the pictures. Is that correct?

You do get some for higher square feet, but not all. Ie it isn't a 1:1 ratio and even less so if you are the largest home in the neighborhood.

What you seem to refer to as a nosey realtor is an agent doing their job. They are supposed to be aware of and have knowledge about the other houses that are for sale in the area. I cannot understand why you are complaining that She then went on to be the only realtor to show my house to two clients. What do you think was her motivation? Can't you imagine that she wants to sell houses? Why do you think she should not show your house to potential buyers? Do not mistakenly believe that all buyers have a very narrow want list; we searched for homes with a $100k price and greater than 1500sq' variation. It was a matter of value for the money, while meeting our needs. We almost purchased a 900 sq' smaller, less expensive home; and we made offers for larger, more expensive houses than the one we ultimately bought.

And yes, sometimes it is a good strategy to show your cards. Especially if the sellers are motivated to sell quickly because they want to not lose out on the house they want to purchase. No, they might not get top dollar by doing so, but their priorities might be different than yours.

Belfastbound, it would have been useful for you to have linked to your earlier thread, just so people could have a more complete picture.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2828916/home-buyers-please-vote-would-you-rather

First off you have a beautiful home and a lovely yard.

I am not 100% sure of the question being asked here but here's my experience - limited though it might be.

Any house will sell...at any time...if it is priced correctly. Agents get paid when a house is sold. Their motivation is to sell the house quickly. I, too, got a long list of updates from my agent and the stager he employs to go through his listings.

Did you make the updates suggested? I did. It seemed like a massive amount of work. And in the end, what difference does it make? I am about to find out.

I think the purpose of an update list like both you and I received from our agents is not to sell the house for more money. It is so that your home appeals to the widest variety of potential buyers within the same market range. To bring the house up to the minimum expectations of a buyer in your price range in the year 2015.

To reiterate - the purpose is *not* so you can increase your asking price X% above comps in your area. Ideally your home will appeal to more people and potentially sell faster than it otherwise would.

I have heard there are two types of buyers - those who can see potential and those who have trouble even visualizing what a bedroom would look like if the room doesn't have a bed in it. Strange but true. Your agent just wants you to appeal to both types of buyers.

So if you did the suggested updates and you didn't get any action, the problem is the price, plain and simple. There's only so much "marketing" type stuff you can do around the special features. You could wait a long time for that one person that is out there that wants everything exactly like you have it and is willing to pay for it.

Good luck to you!

asm - I think the realtor thought there were bedrooms on the third floor. She was very brief in her looking and went from room to room waving and pointing, "that's a problem", do this, do that.

nosoceermom - I was wondering what the new Ikea kitchen would look like. Thanks! I bought the old system on clearance for the new pantry.

This person was not my realtor. To be helpful, she could have said lower your price but instead gave me a litany of things "wrong" that even her own client didn't do. I felt like she was making my house into something it wasn't. After spending 50K in upgrades over the last year, I was crushed by the unsolicited advice and wondered how I would ever come up with the 20K more she suggested and how that would really put me outside my neighborhood comps. I felt that the money I had spent on a new driveway paint and floors throughout was irrelevant and I felt unsophisticated for not spending the money on hinges and ceilings instead of floors and marble vanities, new faucets and light fixtures. I suppose she didn't make me feel that way. It was just the way I took it.

My neighbor has not purchased their new home they identified last summer, to my knowledge. The market is just so slow here above 700K - the house is probably still on. I am going to the open house on Sunday and I will be looking up for those smooth ceilings and saying only nice things, naturally.

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to comment.

I just dont understand this post at all. Nosy realtor? What things did she say? Are you offended because she told you what things you could do to make your house appeal to more buyers?

I think the house link you provided lacks personality and is stark. It doesnt have warmth and it appears that no one lives there. The house does seem to have alot of good light and is clean with large rooms. For the people that can visualize, this house will appeal to them. For people that cannot, and trust me, that is the majority of buyers, it will be hard for them to imagine themselves in this home. If this is on the advice of the "nosy realtor", I dont agree with her advice. There is a difference between de cluttering/de personalizing and completely wiping out all personality of a home.

Okay, I see now that this is not your agent, but a buyers' agent. So she wasn't being nosy; she was giving you feedback. I don't know anything about your area, but for that price in my town, she would be telling the seller, "you're asking top price for this house, but top price homes normally have crown moldings, updated cabinets, no wallpaper (etc)". I have to go over this with my sellers all the time - they see the top prices that similar homes have sold for in their neighborhood, and expect the same, not realizing that since their homes have had renters who dented and smudged the entire house, or haven't updated the 30-year-old kitchen, or that the six different types of flooring throughout the house (including stained carpet in two different colors) (etc) they just won't get the same top dollar.

Where your agent has to be smart is to know which "upgrades" are worth making. Upgrading a home above the neighborhood "standard" (ie granite in Section 8) is not a good plan for resale (only do it for yourself if you want it). Or maybe you do need to make all those changes if you expect to compete with the other homes and get the same dollars. Or don't make the changes, and appeal to the buyer who wants to get in that neighborhood but can't afford it at the price for the upgraded homes.

Also, it sounds as if you are expecting to get a full return on the money you put into upgrades. Putting a $50K kitchen in your house does NOT mean it's necessarily worth $50K more than before. Which home improvements pay off?

I reiterate to post on the decorating forum room by room for advice.

Im confused too! Why is the neighbors realtor showing up at your house and bringing people through to see it. Is yours for sale, or did you ask for her advice? If so you can take it or leave it. If not - I would not have let her in. Ive never in my life heard of realtors going around bothering people and asking to look inside their houses to get comps. Maybe things are different in other places, but it does seem nosy to me.

Kasha, the OPs home was FSBO, and this agent showed it to buyers twice! When she took time out and offered the OP the advice. I think the OP is just frustrated because she is realizing that to sell her home, she needs to lower the price or update/upgrade.

Belfast, I understand the frustration, but if you want to get top dollar, you are going to need to do some work, and it would probably pay to have someone helping you market the property. Both nosoccermom and I have suggested that you get a stager to help you or at least go over to the home decorating forum and get room by room advise on what to do for the most cost effective staging for resale. Be clear that it is resale and least money for most impact is what you are after. I would look at the kitchen last.

You can do this, but you need to unplug the emotional connection to the house. You can't see every comment as nosey, mean, or personal in any way -- but people are trying to help you see how to see the house less as your home and more as buyers would look and see what needs to be done to make it their home. This is not longer your home - it is an asset and you need to maximize it's value and potential so it does the most it can for you. It isn't personal. It isn't you or your things, your choices. It is what most other people will see or want to see. And even though I don't love oak, I'm not convinced the oak cabinets are a problem, at least once you get away from GW's TKOs.

I went to the realtor's open house (my neighbor) on Sunday to be nosey :) and see what had been upgraded. Realtor said, "we did just what you did, painted and de-cluttered" (omg I did SO much more than that, but whatever). The kitchen was 1960 cheap particle board Jacobean painted white - purely done for the web photos - it is a tear down. Counters were original glossy gold and white flake formica - ok that would make them 50 years old. Tub in family bath, a rip out with iron scratches covering the floor of it. Paint job was sloppy. It was simply a tired 1960s house with pottery barn furniture. Seeing their sliding shower door I remember the realtor's parting words last summer: "And replace the shower door" and I shouted back - I already did, it's frameless now.

She told me on Sunday not to put my house on the market until May when the gardens would be a show stopper.

So I wonder if her motivation was to make me feel like the house was a piece of crap and I would lower the price so it wouldn't be in competition with her now. Oh well, that didn't work out.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I will post before and after staging photos here when done. I will put my 1990 dovetailed solid oak against her 1960 white painted particle board any day. I got a quote on swapping out the brass hinges and door knobs. $3,000. So the brass stays too. The paintings are going back up and the price is being lowered and I have a buyer coming to look the first week of April who wants to be at the end of a cul de sac. They are first time home buyers who hopefully aren't looking for a smooth ceilings :)

I don't think you need to have no-texture ceilings, but I hope you repair that bad patch. Even if your buyers and their agent don't notice it, an inspector will and the assumption will be that it was a problem. Even if it wasn't and they accept that, once it has been pointed out, they will want it fixed. Just do it and don't give them reasons to take $$$ deductions in their offer or to hesitate from making an offer.

And yes, it sounds like the other home's agent is trying to get a quick sale and doesn't want competition, but I wouldn't expect you to be priced lower. That's a big cut from where you are/were. Don't make that decision until you have done what you can to prep the house for relisting. The white kitchen didn't fool me. ;)

Have you considered taking down the microwave? That only works if there is tile behind it or you have leftover tile to fill in the splash. Many folks will not miss a microwave and those that do can find a place to put one -- the counter by the fridge. If you are working with a stager, talk about ideas that might dress the open space (a shelf, spice rack -- something that might not look as awkward at the white micro on the end. Might be a plus -- might not, but wouldn't be too hard to try and see if you can de-emphasize the range placement so close to the sink.

belfastbound, you'd be surprised how many buyers look at the Pottery Barn furniture and overlook the old furnace or inferior quality of the materials.

(As an aside, it should be cheaper to replace brass hinges/knobs than 3K; see related thread here.)

Sadly, you still appear to be defensive. You are selling a product, use all information to your advantage, this isn't about you.

$3K to change your hardware??? What's that, like $100+/door? DIY it for 1/10 of that.

Yup. A weekend or two of DIY will get a lot done, save you a lot of money and you will feel empowered rather than victimized.

It shouldn't cost that much to replace everything. All you need is a power drill, a level, a tape measure, a pencil, and a trip to a hardware store with your current handles and hinges so you can match the hole patterns. My husband did our cabinets very cheaply and it's amazing how different they looked with that small change.