Well the house went under contract in early May, but we got the word on Wednesday, August 17th, that the buyers were pulling out due to "personal issues". I certainly don't blame them & am surprised they hung on as long as they did. We kept waiting & waiting on the bank. They kept asking for more paperwork, all of which we sent to them immediately as they requested it. We often had to re-submit paperwork that they already had and/or update it because of their delays. I truly believe there's no reason that the bank wouldn't have accepted this offer, as we had a cash buyers, and a decent price, but IMO the back screwed this one up. Even the attorneys were frustrated, but I guess this is just the nature of a short sale. Our RE listing contract ends August 31st & the bank thought we would have our answer by September 1st. I just wish we would have found out what the "golden" pricing number was to see if it would have gone thru as expected. As they say Everything happens for a reason. We are going to try some other options, so we won't be re-listing, at least not at this time of the year. Might have to start the process over again in January if the other options don't work out. So, this one falls in the "Never happening" category.

Other than the fact that it is a bit stiff, is there anything particularly Wrong with it for a 44 year old room? If so, what changes would you make? It's too cluttered, fussy and rigid. It has a good traffic flow. The mirror would go, not because it's bad, but those warped reflections make me nauseous (it's an optic thing). A flat mirror with good glass clarity in that spot would be fine. Assuming it has colors I liked and comfortable seating, I would clean off the tables, rip out the carpet and use a nice oriental rug on polished hardwood. The lambrequin might go or be recovered with something less formal. Lamps are OK, would replace scalloped shades for less formal linen ones. Because the colonial era was a big trading era, I would invent a family member who "was in shipping" and sent back interesting things. I would hang more paintings, fewer non-paintings. Mirror on the right would go, hang a nice landscape instead.

My first "projects" were always organizing closets and bathroom & kitchen storage. It seems like I buy from people who have no clue how to set up closets, bsmts and laundry rooms. I also usually get a new shower curtain asap. Just the whole packing, moving, getting a mortgage, change of address and possibly selling part of moving takes a while to get over (emotionally and financially). You then move in and then try to unpack to make life normal. It can be a while before you are ready to tackle big stuff, or the adrenalin will take you onwards for a bit. We moved into this house all set to get it fixed up asap. We had the architect here the morning after closing. One thing led to another and the work is finally getting done, just 4 years behind schedule, lol. A lot of what we wanted to do was tied in to the good sized reno we are undertaking, so it made no sense to do things that would be disturbed by the reno/extension. We thought we'd tackle the reno the first year, but budget concerns (like having one, lol) interfered with our plan. I still have many things in boxes and never unpacked or put up any pictures, knick nacks or anything decorative. It felt like our house but not our home for the past few years. Now, I am excited to get my colors on the walls, my lighting, and basically make the house look nothing like it did with the p.o.. I can unpack things I have not seen in 4+ years or that I bought along the way and put aside so that will be new and exciting for me ;) A big thing I did was 2 years ago I painted the siding in front. We had cedar planking in the front in a "natural" stained color and it basically looked like someone pooped on the front of our house. There was white vinyl siding on the sides and back and white painted brick below, but the first thing anyone would notice is our yucky brown wood on the exterior. I decided that it could be years before we re-sided the front because the reno was on hold indefinitely, so I figured I'd paint it myself until we could do the work. I figured I'd paint it something fun and not a color one could get in siding, so we went with lavender (a trusting husband that time). It transformed the look instantly into charming and nice from yucky. It looks clean and crisp instead of worn and dirty. Once I was no longer disgusted driving up to the house, that helped a lot. In fact, we are doing the big project now and are not re-siding the house because it looks very nice as it is, IMHO. It took many coats of primer and paint, but the cost was less than $100, plus my labor. It also is not like any other house in our development. It is a mellow color, but still different. Before: town picture and few years before we bought. The siding looked worse by the time we moved in. before pic, but while in bloom: After: new roof and eyebrow window during installation, no gutters and soffits yet here: As you can see, it is not a huge expanse that I painted, but it made such a difference (esp when our trees were in bloom, since they have a lavender/pink tone to them). We also put in a prettier front door. I think if you start by organizing, that will make life run smoother and then you tackle other projects. I'd take down the border in the kitchen and prime the walls. Even if you live with white primer for a while, it will be your white primer and not the p.o.'s and you will have cracked the ice and will have something to build on. We set up and painted our bsmt playroom and sons' room first because those areas were not part of the larger reno and we wanted them to feel at home first. It was nice to have 2 rooms with color on the walls. The p.o.'s had whitewashed the house in all actual white and it had no personality. I think they did it to sell and it was done poorly over bad sheetrock, so I have left it alone for the most part figuring that once the work was all done, I could finally paint knowing it would not get messed up. I had been tempted to do our living room and yet they ripped up 3 long panels on one wall for electrical work, so I am glad I had not wasted the time. I had tackled the hallway and painted it a pale yellow, but that got messed up as well. At least the parts we are keeping now have smoother sheetrock due to all the many layers of spackle, primer and paint. I did the parts I knew would be torn apart less carefully, but it looked nice for over a year, so that counts for something, lol. Each house has its own to do list and you may adjust yours as you go. I think the problem comes when you try to do it all too fast and you make hurried decisions. As previous posters here have all said, let it marinate in your head a while, live with things to see what works and what doesn't and give yourself a break. Everything takes me longer to do than I expect yet I am always pleased I did it once it is done. No one does things as carefully as when we do our own house. I am proud of my parts of it and excited to get back to working on it again this year. You will get there, but it will take time. I am headed to IKEA now to order my master bedroom closet organizers and buy 2 cabinets for our bathroom. I am happy to cross anything off the to do list, so this is a good thing ;)

We are in a rural area, one large employer in the county. Our neighborhood is desirable, and this has been a pretty Spring. Only 10 days from listing to ratified contract, full price, this week, yay! Part was luck: our local market had been slow since the downturn, so we gained an advantage from pent-up demand. And just recently, four homes in the neighborhood sold, providing a solid basis for pricing our home fairly. Part was standard preparation: we decluttered, cleaned, bought fresh kitchen towels and pretty shower curtains, and did some very minor repairs. Didn't go overboard with updates, other than a new medicine cabinet & light for the master bath, so some flooring and fixtures are obviously 90's vintage. I don't know if our floorplan helped or hurt -- our rooms are generously sized and flow well, but not "open concept" and no first-floor master suite. We had five showings. Two said no right away, two were non-committal. But the right buyer came along, they are truly looking forward to living here. Fingers crossed for a smooth closing.