The rooms you posted are lovely........you don't need to change anything. You will find a buyer who loves it as is. I think those designers/stagers who want to dumb it down and make it generic are crazy. A good agent may want to tweak it some but not overhaul it as suggested.

Beautiful. Is the 4 acres zoned for horses?

Casey

Yes ...all the properties are minimum 5 acres and we have embedded trails in our neighborhood that connect with and are shared with two other adjoining neighborhoods that have their own trails.

Wow, what a gorgeous home. I agree with everyone else here. Love the beams. Can't wait to see more.

There is nothing more exquisite than seeing a vintage well maintained home that has not been updated to please the trendy masses. I don't want your choice of new bedroom carpet or paint, I'm going to change it anyway. The other things they suggested you change are hogwash!

When I click on your house ideabook link there are only four or five interior shots available and nothing else. Where is everyone seeing other pictures of,this house?

Gorgeous! I wouldn't change a thing. If there are some minor clutter items you can remove those. I would buy your house in a heartbeat from what I have seen! It is done to perfection! Looking forward to more pics!!

I would buy your home as is - in a minute! Of course I am not in the market, but the beautiful character that your home has makes it very desirable to me. You have features that are very, very hard to find in newly built houses. Put it on the market and see what happens.

Diane

Your house looks terrific.

The back of the house does have some vibes from the 1970s build date and I wonder if some of the baths and kitchen might as well. Some of the decorating, such as the window treatments and the lighting, is 1970s Colonial revival and that style has fallen out of favor with many buyers. Realistically, buyers should ignore the decorating but it does effect how some buyers view the house. I would pack up your plants and most of your accessories so buyers can see all your great woodwork.

How are the bones of the house - windows, systems, water heaters, etc? Have they been updated recently? Are your wood floors in good condition? How old is the kitchen?

As mentioned up thread, definitely get a few opinions from experienced agents before you make expensive or permanent changes.

I used to live very close to you in NoVa - just moved away from the area this year. I completely agree with the others - interview three real estate agents experienced in that area. I have a great agent in that area if you want a referral. I don't think you have to change as much as what you have been advised - replacing the carpet and paint upstairs and decluttering some may be all you need to do as your photos are already lovely.

Your house is beautiful, and if I were in the market/in my area I would make an appt to see it. As many have stated, just remove some things. Go through the house with a fresh eye and declutter areas that read heavy. Make sure walkways are clear.

I would much rather buy a house that needs some work, rather than buying one sellers just spent money redoing (not to my taste) in order to sell.

In February, I bought a 1939 colonial, smaller than yours at 1780sf and due to the highly sought-after location, within walking distance to a well-known private university and hospital, I paid a "finished" price when it in reality, it was a partial fixer-upper. If there had a been a laundry and master suite on the main floor, I wouldn't have built an addition (still underway).

Someone may embrace what you have and not change anything. Someone else may walk in and have a vision for what they want to change. Others will expect it to be modernized and updated.

I would look carefully at homes that have sold of a similar age and level of quality as yours. Your realtor should supply this to you. See what was done and how many days those homes were on the market.

1. Can we market it as modern colonial and leave the formal living and dining rooms with their colonial colors and furnishings?

2. Do we really need to change out every polished brass door handle, hinge, know, etc?

Brass -- leave it! I have original brass hardware on all my original doors. My crew painstakingly removed the hinges to paint and then reused the same hinges. Brass is durable. It goes with the house. I replaced a few brass light fixtures because they were cheap, rather than special.

3. Do we really need to paint or replace the cabinets?

Cabinets -- you could make changes that someone doesn't want; or, leave it and let the buyers redo it their way. I wish the tiny kitchen here had been left alone. It had been updated, poorly, in the 1990s. But, I still reused the cabinets in the upstairs bath to create a linen cabinet; moved a narrow upper/lower to my added mudroom; will use uppers in my added laundry room (to get it out of the basement).

4. Do we really need to paint the 200 year old wood beams?

Don't touch those beams with paint! Again, let the buyers decide if they want the wood as it is, or painted. There was dark wood paneling on my living room walls. Someone else had already painted the paneling in the dining room. My crew and I tried to revive the wood in the living room, but we couldn't bring it to life. It was too dried out and removing the orange stain made it look like ghastly pink plywood, so I reluctantly painted it.

5. Do we really need to remove the window curtains and only have wood slats?

Are the swags mounted on brackets and rods, or are those wood cornices behind the fabric? If there are no issues with privacy, I'd raise the blinds up behind the swags to allow more natural light into the room.

6. Do we really need to cover all the brick fireplaces with marble?

Brick fireplace -- leave it! I had to cover my brick with slate because it was painted with hideous black paint that we tried to strip off and it didn't look good. If it had been left alone, I would have left it alone.

7. Do we really need to remove all the ceiling fans And replace with lights?

I don't understand that recommendation. Great light fixtures can be expensive and cheap light fixtures can look cheap. I wouldn't put my dollars there. Let the buyers decide what to replace.

8. Do we really need to remove the office from the utility room and replace it with a gigantic pantry?

This one may make sense--let the utility room be the utility room. Rooms used for something other than their original intent can give the impression that there's no space for an office. I wouldn't invest in built-in shelves. Maybe just one section of shelves to "give the idea of a pantry" and put baskets on it to organize a few pantry items. Make it pretty.

9. How would you approach the sale ...major mods or small mods and paint and put on market to assess? Try and change it from colonial or mesh colonial with more modern areas of the house?

I wish the previous owners had done nothing cosmetic, and had put their misguided expenditures into fixing the electrical, plumbing and foundation. In other words, get an inspector to tell you if anything needs to be fixed and do it before a buyer tries to negotiate your price downward to fix those things.

I sold my 4000 sf house on 4.5 acres in 28 days. It was built in 2005. I made sure it was decluttered with all cabinets and closets organized. I bought a few things to brighten up the decor--pillows, orchids, and things. Whenever there was a showing scheduled, I made sure every light in the house was turned on, the toilet lids down, the dishwasher empty, dog stuff hidden.

These are my opinions and you'll get many!

Best wishes on your sale.

Also, anyone buying a house and 4 acres in FS will most likely have the funds to make the changes they want. I would do as little as possible.

Wow - thanks to everyone for their thoughts and opinions ...

We took some not so good photos this morning (updated on the http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/58005706) of the master bedroom and bath, the en suite bath (think teenager room), the guest bath (on the landing hallway), and the landing itself.

Since we are not yet even close to being on the market there is clutter ... what you don't see are the three bedrooms other than the master as they are still painted the color we had with two teenagers at home (one red and the other gray). The one room we always used as a guest room is light green with period furnishings.

Question - given the need to repaint the three upstairs bedrooms anyway, does it seems reasonable to repaint all three in the same neutral paint, likely in the tone of the paint in the master.

Question - given the probable neutral repaint of the bedrooms, should we spring for new carpet to connect the landing and the three bedrooms (leaving the master a bit different)?

Question - how should we approach the master paint to landing to guest bedrooms to flow down the stairs into the foyer? Should this be same or same tone? Could we "break" this flow at the doors going into the family room/kitchen (photos when we get the room ready)?

We're a bit overwhelmed right now - sorry for the bits and pieces of photos and questions ...we didn't really realize what a great resource "crowd sourcing" would be :-)

BTW - the "pano" photo function on the iPhone is pretty cool - BUT, it does make some things, like the landing photos, look a bit curved and sometimes disjointed ... but it shows an interesting, more cohesive view.

Your house already looks like it had a designer and a stager. Those people are just trying to fill their pockets. I think that house will have no problem selling. Any changes would be unnecessary and strictly personal taste (which is they buyer's problem if they choose to purchase) - also something you can not anticipate for your future buyers.

Good grief your new buyer is so lucky they won't have to do work on the house! Have you seen a lot of the homes on the market?

NOVA horsey-types are not swayed by shiny new things except their Landys and BMWs. Your house looks perfect, fix anything in the interfaces that isn't right, like sticky doors, keep it clean and windows washed. You'll find the right buyer.

Casey

I would just de-clutter and know that people who are looking at your home will change things to their personal taste no matter what you do. I would not waste any more money on these 'designers and stagers'. It is extremely important to have any of your updated work up to code (electric) and the paperwork to prove it all.

Our colonial style home was 43 years old and was always maintained and updated in as near perfect condition as could be for all of those years. We sold our home with 4 b/r, 2 'newer' baths, one original bath, 'newer' remodeled light and bright kitchen in great shape with 5 y/o appliances and white tile floor, 2 family rooms, 2 fireplaces (one gas one wood burning), original hardwoods downstairs and carpet upstairs, extra large deck and beauiful landscaping in less than a month. In spite of one agent showing the house and criticizing EVERYTHING that we had (all was stricly cosmetic - new paint, carpet and such and she also criticized the tree in our front yard LOL ).

Our listing agent told us not do anything that we hadn't already done except straighten up the basement better.

Our buyers were 'in love' with our house and always happy and excited and quite complimentary to us when they came in (quite a few times) and they gave us higher than our asking price because there was another seriously interested buyer. But before we moved out, the buyers came in with a couple of people to redesign the kitchen (change the walk in pantry to a laundry room) and take out the tile and put in new hardwoods in the kitchen and first floor bathroom and paint the family room and replace the carpet and also replace the carpet and wallpaper in the finished basement and remodel the master bath. And that would all be done before they moved in. Then they started on our "perfectly beautiful" landscaping. LOL. So they loved it so much (they said) but they still changed it all :)

Phew, sorry I'm so lengthy but it was such an emotional time for us (we've really downsized now!). I would just make sure your h/w heater and a/c are in perfect shape and know that they'll change up all your appliances and make cosmetic changes the minute they sign the papers. Good luck and I hope you end up having a good experience the way we did, we loved our buyers - the wife asked me about our family (all grown up and gone) and she said to me "your family history in this house will bless my family now". They have 2 little ones. It was pretty special, I thought.

After looking at the new photos you’ve added, I’d advise AGAINST the expense of replacing carpet or bedroom paint colors until AFTER you’ve consulted successful real estate professionals in your area for their opinions. In a house that size, chances are that the new purchasers would also have teenaged children with individual paint color preferences, which may be the same as yours. You never know. I don’t see the sense in ANY expensive alterations until after a professional sales person has been consulted - not a stager or designer. In a location such as yours, with a property this size, new purchasers are going to have their own preferences and the money to make any changes they would prefer being done. With the possible exception of some window treatments that may or may not appeal to another buyer, I didn’t see any red flags in any room that would turn me away.

I wouldn't make any changes the RE agent suggests either unless the house is not selling.

This is a vivid example of the waste in our throw away society. Shameless waste. Don't waste your good money either!

Truth is the young HGTV influenced buyer is not goign to be looking at a Colonial with acreage. They are looking for ultra modern NEW, no maintenance McMansions. These are the people "stagers" are staging for. I bet your home sells "fast" for your market, and yes brace yourself. The new buyer will make it THEIR OWN. And yes it is gut wrenching.

Your house is amazing! I would be afraid that if you did anything to it you might actually devalue it! I wonder if these "experts" are trying to make a buck off of you. Very nice home!

" wonder if these "experts" are trying to make a buck off of you. "

Maybe the design and staging markets are slow? They sound desperate for work.

A 1970's colonial is not a vintage home, its a 1970's colonial. That being said, Of course, you can't go and update the entire house to sell. Give the house a fresh coat of paint, change carpet where needed as most 70's homes didnt have hardwoods everywhere. Clean and declutter and thats it. Not everyone wants a newer home with gray paint and espresso cabinetry.

OK - after painful morning of cleaning, we took some more photos, including the kitchen and family room ...also a couple more "pano" collage shots of the foyer to show how it ties together.

Will take a few days to prep getting utility room sorted ...photos of that when we get there.

Basement is always interesting question ... we'll post photos of that in the next week or so, but, as with most in our area, it is partially above ground with limited lighting ...has a bedroom and an adjoining bath en suite with door to a work room (formerly the below grade garage).

There is a lot of "stuff" we have built over the years ...added a photo of the outside from a couple of Falls ago ...the sunroom is on the right side, the original garage is at basement level on the left with the garage on the left built concrete on steel above the driveway into the original garage - kinda confusing but it was clever of the builder.

In the background is another building with two double garages and MY car lift :-) with connected lanai.

Can't see the pool behind the house, but we tried to nestle everything together to look right from the street and to flow and make it fun for an active family. Sigh.

Here's the link, again ... http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/58005706

A 40 year old house is not far from vintage which I believe is something <100 but >50. Nevertheless, the house is not a typical 1970 colonial tract home. It was built to mimic a period house using antique wood for flooring, beams and other salvaged items from a 200 year old farm in the area. Being horse country, Virginia does not strike me as an area that would not have a good market for such a home.

Wow, the marble bathroom and then that gorgeous powder room. I love your kitchen. I would not change a thing with the cabinets. They look like they fit the style of house overall. I went to grad school in Blacksburg, and I am familiar with FS.

Love the built-ins in the FR.

Your home is really stunning; the more you show, the better it gets. There are people just dying to find a house like yours on acreage to purchase for their family. I hope you don't change much, maybe paint the kids' bedrooms, and let the house's new family find it.

It's gorgeous! The setting, the kitchen, the bathrooms -- all fit the style of the house. There's no jarring "this looks out of character" and so I wouldn't update anything.

Are there hardwood floors beneath the carpet? If so, that's another reason not to change the carpet. (BTW, I have no carpet in my 1939 fixer. I had all of the original oak hardwoods refinished at only $2.50 per sf. I'm using the same size oak and stain in the addition to match.)

I think you have a beautiful home and I'm certain you'll have plenty of interest. I think you are on the right track with all the advice above -- just repair anything broken (it seems like everything is quality and well maintained already), paint walls only if advised or if they are dirty/bad condition (which I doubt), and declutter.

As a buyer, I would love your property and would look forward to putting my own stamp on things. The one thing that might give me pause, to be honest, is the cooktop (with no ventilation) at the end of the narrow island. But I would leave that to the next buyer.

I live pretty much down the road from the OP in Oakton. The large lot size is very common in Fairfax Station. While the home is lovely, the competition is going to be the new McMansions being built left and right in that area on large lots. So much is going to depend on the asking price whether buyers choose it over the new builds.

Your home is gorgeous and I love the selfie in the upstairs hall photo!

Well, I'd look at comps. Here's one, 5 acres, 5900 sqft, pool, 1.175 mio, on the market for 200+ days.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Fairfax/5525-Beech-Ridge-Dr-22030/home/9687458

3600 sqft, 5 acres, 900K, 170 days

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Fairfax-Station/11204-Split-Rail-Ln-22039/home/9764697

Sold comps

5200 sqft, 5 acres, sold for 855K

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Fairfax-Station/5605-Smoke-Rise-Ln-22039/home/9687437

Just saw ALL your photos, something was wrong with my ipad----they're all visible on my laptop, and the house is GORGEOUS! Do not neutrslize your lovely home for some one mythical particular buyer who may never materialize. Your home has beautiful finishes and is decorated in keeping with the architectural style and setting.

In fact the only thing i would do is panel the back of your kitchen island.....it looks a bit unfinished. But that would be the extent of it!

Thanks, All ...we are feeling better and have started to shift our thinking somewhat.

Couple of answers to your questions:

- the gas cooktop is vented ...can't see it since it is in ceiling ...higher than the photo ...large fan system in garage attic space that exhausts out other end of the house

- no wood floors under the upstairs carpet ...wish there was

This is kind of agonizing ...while we would not have built a period replica, the original owner had a very specific home in mind and very much copied her family's historic house and surrounding historic houses in Virginia. We grew to really like the formal front while we significantly remodeled the back of the house to open and informal (the family room and kitchen were originally separated by a very poorly designed bathroom with washer and dryer and "pass through" for food from the kitchen ...all broken up ...we unified it.

I would ask a top realtor what they would do. I have seen staggers do some awful things. As a former realtor myself, I always told sellers to clean thoroughly and declutter, paint a loud colors a neutral color, and take care of existing problems (broken dishwasher,etc). By no means, should you ever take away the classic touches of a beautiful old home. There are plenty of smart,educated buyers who want that. It sounds to me like you didn't necessarily get the best advice. Take your time and pick the best agent for your area of town. They should have a good idea of what it will take to get a sale that is good for you. Good luck!

Oh my gosh! Please, don't change anything. Let your future buyers do that. I don't see anything wrong with the paint colors or the decor in the photos. I didn't see the rooms you plan to paint; only paint those if they are absolutely necessary. As long as the house is decluttered, depersonalized and clean, you will find buyers interested in that classic colonial look. Our 50s style williamsburg ranch had a brick fireplace, a seriously outdated kitchen, 70s wallpaper and paint colors. And yup, we purchased it anyway.

Forgot to add ...

There are cornice boards under the living room and dining room

Yes, we know something is needed on the island front ...didn't want to darken it further, but just don't know what would work ...thoughts?

The plants are in the sunroom because of cold weather ...not normally there

Will be replacing the dishwashers ...built in two and has been sooo great with kids!

I reviewed the photos ...I never considered doing an "album" so we could review what it must look like to others ...helps a lot ...lots of clutter!

Generated new question ...should we paint the brick walls in the sunroom? One is painted now, but we left three unpainted ....what would look better?

Dug out paint color for hallway ...it's Blonde Wood (BM) ...we were considering running it through kitchen, but think it is a little too fleshy looking for the granite ...any thoughts? The unifying trim color is Linen White (BM) thought thr house.

We really like the master bedroom color we did last year in the remodel ...Edgecomb Gray ...but, it is a little too much color ...perhaps keep same tone with 50% of that ...but if we paint the hallway that it flows all the way downstairs ...gah ...too many choices, including just keeping the blonde wood in up and downstairs hall and going with half the color of it for the bedrooms and family room ...

I'd remove the patterned chair and the Windsor chair from the family room and perhaps even the rug to lighten things up and put the love seat and other leather chair perpendicular to the soda. I agree with decluttering and removing some furniture and rugs from the other rooms.

Your house is beautiful and not what I expected when you said a "40 year old colonial". I pictured a typical 70's colonial. Its a very marketable home and any stager or real estate agent that wants you to make it more modern shouldnt be in the business. There is a market for your type of home. Leave it be, list it with someone who knows what they are talking about, because that particular agent doesnt seem to have a grasp on it.

Thanks for explaining about the vent.

As @nosoccermom showed, local knowledge is so important, we all love your house but we're not your potential buyers. Just don't feel compelled to do a whole lot of permanent changes -- like if those dishwashers work, leave them be.

If you do want to address the back of the island, you could get beadboard in the right wood species and stain it match (lifting up the baseboard). It's possible to match a dark stain like that.

The only staging change I might do is, as K9arlene suggested, to remove two chairs from the family room (and possibly the corner skirted table) and stage a more intimate grouping (closer to the hearth), so the other door to the outside is not blocked.

The only thing I'd look at are some of the brass chandeliers. I can't really see them properly. Also, I'd consider replacing the four light fixture of the bedroom fan with a slightly more "in" fan light kit.

http://www.lampsplus.com/products/fan-light-kits/

Maybe a blingie one that goes with the bathroom

Since there are cornice boards beneath those swags in the dining and living room, I would leave them. Someone could have those reupholstered or removed. To me, it's the blinds that need to be raised to be hidden from view and allow the outside view to be seen. Don't remove the blinds.

Regarding cleaning--when I put my house on the market, I had the exterior power washed; any peeling trim touched up with paint; had all windows washed inside and out (a company here called Window Gang did the windows for $500 because I had 50 windows). I had a weekly cleaning crew come in while the house was on the market. All my gardens (and, I had many) were weeded and mulched.

Actually, one of the best tips that stuck with me from an HGTV staging show years ago was to make sure your house sparkles. Not that your house looks anything but from the photos, but it was refreshing to hear something besides "paint this" or "change that". I would not paint the brick in the sunroom - it's charming - and I don't think your paint colors are off-putting. Also, having had a house on the market for almost a year, I would constantly find things that I could pack up and remove. Your house is lovely, you need a rock star realtor!

My experience in selling our house in Oct 2009 was atypical for our area ( nothing was selling in out area or neighborhood, but I think will relate to your situation. The house was built in 1990. I have not read all of the responses but here goes.

We painted the entire house to a neutral walls and white trim because it needed it. We did not paint the brick FP. We removed the wall paper in the FR but left the wainscot and folk wallpaper in the Kitchen and Bfst nook. Realtor had a cow and said house would never sell, but this still looked great. Maybe not HGTV but I was tried of taking wallpaper down...

We replaced all of the carpet- bedrooms, finished lower level and FR- with a neutral flat more commercial berber from HD. Because it needed it and looked worn. This was cheap with free install.

We had already moved out of the house and the upstairs had no furniture but all the windows all had white wide slat wood blinds. The living room had my Persian area rug and the piano. The dining room had a garage sale round dining table with a floor length canvas drop cloth for the table cloth and four black dining chairs. Oh and an ivy plant in the center. The family room had my old sofa with a white slipcover and my old leather ottoman with a copper tray on it. Oh yeah and two throw pillows.

I changed out the kitchen knobs. I spray painted the light fixtures bronze, these were cheap shiny brass.

Our house was spotless. Inside and outside and empty except for the mentioned items.

The realtor listed it on a Friday night and it was sold by 7pm Sat night to the first people who looked at it Sat am. For asking price. Within 5% of two comps.

We became friends with the buyers as we built a house on our adjoining property and they said they chose our house because it was newly painted and had new carpet so they didn't have to do that. They loved the wallpaper in the kitchen but immediately changed out the kitchen knobs. They wanted to buy my "dining set"...

This house was under $500.000 and we spent under $3,000 to do the carpet and I did the painting. I will say that if the house was a more expensive and more upscale neighborhood, I would still have emptied and minimally staged. Nobody is buying your décor and even if you have to pack up and put everything into storage and live like Spartans I would do that at least.

When we started cleaning it became apparent that the paint and carpet needed to be done. Once a house is emptied unless its newly painted even if clean it still can look grungy IMO. Sometimes people give a painting cash allowance at closing - that might suffice for some buyers.

Most of the staging/updating I believe if for a certain price point. You know to help buyers choose between several closely comparable properties. If your home is appealing to a certain demographic because of a higher price then wouldn't those buyers want to pick their own flooring, paint colors fixtures etc?

What a gorgeous home and grounds! I agree with others who have said, do basically nothing. Except, as you point out, declutter, de-personalize and spotless from top-to-bottom before calling in your realtors. And make sure all electrical and mechanical items are in tip-top shape. No paint, no new carpet, or rehab until you talk with your chosen realtor (unless something is obviously in need of paint due to chipping, disrepair, broken). Have a file available with the age of all major items (roof, heating/cooling, water heater, major appliances).

In the last 12 years we have bought 7 and sold 6 homes. IMO sales are mostly driven by how active the market is at your price point. In a hot market even dumpy houses sell well, in a slow market staging and design work can help a house sell faster, but pricing the property right helps the most.

If the market is slow in your area and you need to sell- list with the agent in your area who has the most successful sales record and follow the agents advice on how to best facilitate a sale.

If there is deferred maintenance, take care of it before you list. If the carpet is stained or worn or if walls need paint fine, replace and repaint, if not don't bother. Those are very easy items for buyers to change before moving in.

If ceiling fans are considered a desirable in your area and aesthetics are a consideration then replace them with more modern and attractive fans ( Minka is a good source) and make them a design feature.

If the market is hot or moderately lively in your area IMO your home is already very tasteful and will show well, so just de-clutter and depersonalize.

I think your home is just gorgeous as well and certainly would not be going with all of those stagers recommendations.

if I were the buyer, I'd rather be able to change up the paint color to my choices...same goes for flooring. ( esp. If there's any wiggle room on your asking price)

Good luck:)

Your house is really lovely, OP. I'm in close-in MoCo, where acreage does not exist and where your house would easily be $2m or more. Seeing nosoccermom's comps makes me want to weep about inside the Beltway housing costs. Back to your original query, it seems like getting the price right is the key; going to a lot of effort to "update" a home like this seems like a waste of money and effort.