it looks a lot nicer than a handyman's special to me.

If you are putting it on the market in the spring, you can start by cleaning everything very thoroughly. Declutter anything you no longer want or use. If you have Netflix, you can watch Marie Kondo's series on decluttering. Or borrow her book from the library. One room per week is doable for some people.

Then walk around each room looking for what needs to be repaired. Do the same for the exterior and garage.

Do you want to paint the walls and ceiling yourself or have a painter do the work? Or leave them as is?

You asked about updates. Do you have a budget range in mind? Such as $100 for DIY paint, $200 for light fixtures, other?

Clean and majorly de-clutter. Get rid of all those tchotchkes on the counters and on top of the upper cabinets. When you photograph and show the home, nothing should be on the kitchen counters. It is not worth it to do more than that.

Thanks everyone for the advice. :-)

Agree with above. Your cabinets are very nice. If you were willing to invest lots of effort and a bit of money, I’d first change the hardware and move it from the middle of the doors, and secondly, remove the cabinets over the peninsula and repurpose a set on the wall. However, this would likely require a new countertop because it’s likely damaged under those supports. If you go this route, get a CHEAP counter - formica, not granite or quartz. But even formica costs a lot.

I agree with apple_pie_order.

Your home doesn't look like a handyman's special from the pics you posted. If you use that terminology when selling your home, you will get very, very low offers.

The best way to present your home is to de-clutter and thoroughly clean it inside and out so that it is super clean. Repair items that need repair.

Hire a great Realtor.

Contrary to Dormelles experience, I have seen homes sold by owners that close at a price far below what the owner/seller could have netted after Realtor's fees. I am a Realtor for the past 4 decades and it is more common for sellers to sell for less than to net more.

Interview knowledgeable and experienced Realtors in your area. Have the Realtor present you their marketing plan, their experience and a CMA.

Don't spend large $$$ to renovate. Small changes yield big results such as the organizing and cleaning. Landscaping (usually trimming and a few strategic flowers/plants) and curb appeal is a very good way to get buyers in the door. Sometimes a little bit of painting works wonders. Your Realtor will have a plan. If s/he doesn't, find someone else.

I've had a realtor in and two contractors to look at it and give me advice. All three labeled it a handy man special. I will send more pics of my home when I get home from work and once you see them you might agree. The outside of my home and the landscaping is nice. I have a nice newly done deck out back and the yard is nice. But the inside is another story. One contractor who flips houses said all he would offer me is $200, 000. For it and he would flip it. Houses in my area list around $350,000. The realtors said it could be listed for $245,000. I really need to try and get $345, 000 for it to move on otherwise I come out penniless. I'm willing to put my sweat into fixing it up and I have sons and son-in-laws willing to help me.

But my budget is only about 3500. To start. But planned on working and saving up to move onto the next project. I admit that it does feel overwhelming because of the quantity of work to do and the cost.

If the realtor is telling you that it could be listed for $245,000 and houses in your area go for $100,000 more, then you'd likely have to put in a fair amount of money to make up the difference. I'd ask the realtor if your house was totally updated would it be listed $100,000 higher. Then you have to see how much you really want to invest. A new kitchen, new baths, etc., and how much you would likely get back.

That's a good idea. I will bring in a realtor and go through this with him or her. What I was told is that the selling market of older homes is poor and that the ones that are selling are the updated ones. He said people don't want to pay $350,00. For an older house (because they go in and think that furnace is older, etc) when they can buy a new home for the same price ( and it has the new open concept new furnace, etc) there's no extra costs to upgrade and up style.

Find another Realtor. We are not all the same. Some of us are better at pricing than others.

People that want older homes with character or location or both do not want new cookie cutter homes. These are two different market buyers.

The contractor is a flipper so his price is artificially low, by a lot.

The Realtor that made that statement to you is biased toward new homes.

Interview at least two other experienced Realtors.

You need to interview three active local real estate agents. In person, with walk throughs of your house. They will present a comparative market analysis with recently sold houses in your area similar to yours, also houses currently for sale.

you need 345K from the sale of this house and the agent is telling you she can list it for 245? Then the rest of the home must be very dated. I'm guessing nothing has been done since the 70's? That's why it's listed as a fixer. It may be nice and clean, but it's still a fixer. Unless a buyer is looking for a time capsule, it will be a complete tear-out. (that's why the flip guy is offering. I think his 200K is very low. he could prob put 60K into it and still make a nice profit. You could always deal in cash w/him and avoid the realtors fee. )

Or, invest 75K into it and bring it up to the 350K sales mark.

Perhaps contact one of those HGTV shows that help you out! (Property Brothers or that Love it or List it duo)

Are you in Nashville?

Or Raleigh-Durham area?

Other than that, there is no budget rehab you can do on this house in order to get you 345K from it.

Why don't you see what a 350K house in your neighborhood looks like (hopefully one that just sold) and see how yours compares?

@Janice Maxwell Just by way of encouragement, your house may be worth more than you think even without changes. We went through the sale of my mother-in-law's home last year, and we learned a lot from that experience. We had almost half a dozen realtors look at it. Everyone wanted us to change different things, some of them big-ticket items! Had we listed with any of them and followed their advice, they would have gotten an increased commission on the increased sale price, but we wouldn't have recovered what we invested because the average person doesn't usually recover 100% of renovation costs aside from cleaning and paint. We also noticed that every family that walked through wanted to do something different had they bought it, so who knows if changes we had made would have been ripped out.

This house was also a "handyman special" like yours. What sold it was location. The man who bought it wanted to move to be near his mother. He liked the location of the house and didn't care about much else. We netted a good price for it via private sale, better than a realtor could have done for us. Realtors will tell you they can get a better price for the house than you can, but remember, if you sell it yourself, you are saving that commission paid to them so that must factor in. Realtors can be a great alternative in many situations, but there are also so many other options out there besides the traditional realtor model, and as in any profession, some realtors are a whole lot better than others. You never know what set of features a buyer will find important and be willing to pay for if you set your own price. You also never truly know what the market will be for your house until you start getting offers on it. Comps aside, each house is individual in its appeal and you might be pleasantly surprised what people will offer.

My mother-in-law alternately sold another house she also owned a year prior to the more recent private home sale we helped her do, and she used a realtor for that and received well below market value for that house because she was intent on listening to the realtor who as it turned out priced it to get an easy, quick sale within a day of listing. People are getting wise these days to how much you can really save by marketing and selling yourself. I listed a few comments about this in my previous post, but there are halfway-type models where you can use only selected realtor services. You can also use a tiered approach where you spend a few weeks aiming for a private sale and then working upward with more realtor services as desired. There are many articles online with more detail about how to go about it, and be careful to read reviews of self-help companies because not all of those companies are legitimate.

The one thing I would do in addition to a deep clean is remove the popcorn ceiling. Hire a paint contractor to remove the texture and paint the ceilings

Your situation is a tough one. If you are in a superior location - great views, excellent schools, walking distance to amenities, etc. - than that is something to highlight.

Some people prefer the charm of an older home, but that tends to be 1920s, not 1980s. A lot depends on your area: if buyers are retirees, then they may have the cash to renovate; young families usually don't.

I actually like your cabinets, not the hardware though. The big issues for me would be the popcorn ceiling and those spindles. If you removed the upper cabinets as suggested, painted the cabinets, got new hardware and countertops with under mount sink, replaced the boob lights, that would update it, but it still won't be a new kitchen.

Put together a list of all the major updates you have done: new roof, new siding, new A/C unit, new furnace, new hot water heater, rewiring, replumbing, etc. Share that with the Realtors you consult. If you haven't made any updates, then that will affect your sales price.

If I remove the popcorn ceiling do I have just a plain ceiling or do I replace it with a California knockdown?

@Janice Maxwell Hiring a replacement of a popcorn ceiling could cost around $4 to $5 per square foot. It will need to be replaced with something else, so it cannot be left as a scraped finish. A popcorn ceiling is an acoustic finish, so you may find that the house echoes and is bad with noise control once you replace it, depending on the height of ceilings and the amount of open area you have. Some people really like popcorn ceilings due to the acoustic properties and would prefer they not be changed. I've even seen recent posts where some people are predicting a return of acoustic ceiling finishes due to the popularity of open-concept spaces where noise control is an issue. The theory behind this is that the rough texture creates more surface area from which sound waves are bounced off and diffused.

Leave the kitchen alone. Price the house to sell and don't waste MORE money trying to read the mind of a future buyer..

What you "need" from a house is not going to make it sell. You are in the best economy in 50 years. .......it's the price. It is always the darn price.

Jan is right. Stop wasting money on renovating this house. You won't see it back. Clean and declutter. Get everything off the kitchen counters.

Accept the fact that you've lived here awhile and haven't updated. Price it to sell and accept that no matter how much you "need", it probably won't be $345k.

To illustrate Jan's point, I would rather buy a house with old floors, which I would replace with hardwood. Plastic (LVP) would be a total turnoff, and I would have to factor in the cost of removing something you just spent $3500 on.

As for the popcorn ceilings - it was used in part to hide imperfections. I have never met anyone who liked them. In our area they advertise smooth ceilings. Unless your SIL is a plasterer, leave them.

Jan is correct--the market is the final determination of selling price. That means the market price is what a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree on. It has nothing to do with what you paid for your house, how much $$ you put into it, how much your mortgage is, or what you need to net to pay for your next house.

If you're in an very sought-after area, your house may sell for basically the land value, and the buyer may raze it and build a new one. If you're not, then the buyer may or may not view your home as a fixer-upper. In any case, it sounds like you should do the minimum to get it sold, especially since you state that your budget is only $3,500. Clean it, declutter, fix anything that could be dangerous (loose steps, etc.), and maybe new paint. That's all you'll get for $3,500.

And definitely use a realtor that you trust after interviewing several.

Good luck!

Are you planning on selling this spring? Please post again after you've interviewed three agents and have their new selling price estimates.

“Had we listed with any of them and followed their advice, they would have gotten an increased commission on the increased sale price, but we wouldn't have recovered what we invested because the average person doesn't usually recover 100% of renovation costs aside from cleaning and paint. ”

^^This! I would only add that not only won’t you recover 100% of renovation costs, but you will be lucky to recover 30-40% of renovation costs. Most realtors will tell you to put more money into renovations because it costs them nothing and makes it easier to sell.

“I really need to try and get $345, 000 for it to move on otherwise I come out penniless”

I am so sorry, but something has to give here. If your house is currently truly worth $100k less than other homes in the area, that is a huge disparity, and you’d have to put an enormous amount of money and time into updating not only the kitchen, but also the bathrooms, the electrical, possibly the flooring, windows, any number of things. If you are going to come out penniless, then don’t sell. Update the home extensively over the next 5-7 years so that the updates are spread out and more affordable. sell then. I am saying this without seeing the rest of the home. That strategy actually could be throwing good money after bad—hard for me to know based on the information we have here. I am mentioning it as an alternative. One thing that is certain though - a sprucing up today with your $3500 and sweat equity will not come close to bridging the $100k gap of neighboring homes. That is the reality, unfortunately.

Another alternative is to negotiate more with the flipper and get him to come up in price. Of course his opening offer is going to be ridiculously low. Or find another flipper. And as Beth H mentioned above, that will avoid the realtor’s fee, and also a buyer’s inspection.

Flippers pay the least. They have to figure in expenses to flip plus a profit. Forget the flipper. Even cutting out the agent won't get you anywhere close to actual market value when working with a flipper.

What you want to know is the actual value of your home today based on it's current condition. You won't get that information here. This is why you need to interview at least 2 more Realtors that are experienced. They can show you actual comps and determine a market strategy based on reality.

Don't put in large funds to renovate your home. That money doesn't come back to you 100% or anywhere close. Those shows on HGTV aren't accurate in any way.

@Denita - I agree with you about a flipper not paying market value. I suggested a flipper anyway as an alternative because (A) to save realtor commission, (B) to avoid buyer inspection which could discover more issues which would reduce the price further or even cancel the sale, and (3) to get the house sold faster than being on the market for months against what is apparently a competitive market with houses that are more current and sell faster than the type that the OP has. In my area, older homes that have not been updated in 30-40 years stay on the market for a year or more, while more current homes sell well. And while they’re on the market during the 300-600 days, the price gets lower and lower. Sometimes a quick sale to a flipper with no strings is worth the reduction in price. It depends on the seller’s circumstances.

You come out with 245 k less realtor fees if that's what it sells for. That hardly qualifies as "penniless" So. You either still have a significant mortgage on this home, ( for whatever reasons including those over which you had no control, or a ton of some other debt that you didn't control, or you bought at some very significant high in the market.) . Also NOOB.

In any scenario, when in the hole and deeply in the hole , cease digging.

Sorry for your plight, and especially at this time of the year. But a home is "worth" what someone will pay, While you wait for the "someone", you have the carrying costs. Get a financial planner to go with a really good realtor, who will help you "spend" only to stage, de clutter, clean etc, and make an effort to market for three months. MAX. Beyond that? Yup.........the price is still wrong.

@Miranda33 I understand your point. But there are many, many buyers that will buy a home that requires work and they will pay market value for that home based on its current condition. A home can need work and not necessarily be a handyman's special. There are first or second home buyers in the market to purchase a good solid home where they can put their own stamp on it. There are even renovation loans for those types of buyers.

The maximum price that a flipper pays is 65% of value and frequently it is much less. Flippers also do inspections and try to renegotiate during the inspection period. It is the worst way to sell a home unless the home is a burden to the family and they need a quick sale. Or the condition is so bad that only an investor could work to bring it back. That doesn't sound like the OP. She needs to explore her options.

Note: Also, there are a bunch of middle men (people) that buy from distressed owners for a very low price and all they do is clean and declutter and put in on the market for a higher price to attract those buyers that are willing to do the work. This seller should be the person reaping the rewards of the cleaning and decluttering and cut out that middleman. That person takes substantially more than the Realtor. I'm not saying that selling through a Realtor is the only way. I'm saying the OP needs to explore all of her options with available facts.

Hi Janice. Just a plain sheetrocked ceiling.

Have you looked on sites like Zillow or other to see how houses like yours (age and condition) sell for where you live?

You' re not going to sell it for more than the market. You can sell it faster if it is clean and pleasant to see, but that is all, and the $3,000 or so you have to improve will not increase its value. They may however help selling by making it more presentable, repairing what needs to be repaired, ...

We sold my MIL's house a few years ago. It was built in the 60s and, while it was well kept, she had not done any improvement in the last 10 years or so. The HVAC was from the mid 80s, the roof was 10 year old and the windows were original, I think. We had an inspection done and sorted through that to decide what really needed to be done and what could wait to see if a buyer asked for them. We interviewed three realtors, chose one who came highly recommended and looked interested in selling the house (one of them made it clear it was not expensive enough for him, one other did not strike us as being dynamic enough). We staged it and listed what had been updated recently. It took us a little while to sell, but eventually we found somebody who wanted a house in this area and we sold.

As to answering about what could be done with your house, I do not think we have any idea with that little information (and we dont necessarily need to). I think a few people gave some good ideas, like interviewing several realtors, decluttering. You could may be do some staging and professional photos, and list whatever improvement you have done recently (particularly the big item tickets - windows, heater, ...) This said, we bought a 1980s condo recently where most everything was original. The price was correct and allowed us to do the repair, so we bought it and will make repairs in stages. Not everybody can buy something that is perfect. If the price is right, somebody will buy.

As for the idea of being penniless with $245,000.00, only you can know to what point it is true as it depends on how much you borrowed to buy it and a lot of other personal information.

OP has another post going where she is deciding on flooring (to go throughout the entire floor, including kitchen)

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5838381/which-flooring-plank-is-the-best-color-choice-for-the-whole-house#24933823

If you're redoing the floors, you might as well do those ceilings. (at least in the kitchen and main living room)

Beth H., her entire budget is $3500 for changes. She did say she could save up for the rest. I don't think the budget will allow for the flooring changes or the removal of popcorn ceilings. It's just not enough money for those large whole house changes.

The flooring has been purchased at $3,500. and I just need to pick which color I want.

Denita, this is what she posted on her other post.

Ok, I was going by what she said up thread in this post less than 24 hours ago: "But my budget is only about 3500."

I know. it's a mystery. she bought the new flooring but still hasn't budgeted demo or install. and this is for the upstairs which is 1200 sq ft.

Hi Beth and Denita, I have already purchased the plank flooring for $3500. And have saved up another $3500. I did start out asked which flooring looks best but after receiving advice from a flooring person on your thread suggesting I talk to a kitchen designer first about cupboards etc. then decide on the flooring color. So I put another thread out asking for advice on the kitchen design. I feel the advice to bring in 3 realtors and see what they say. Before going any further. I was going with putting plank flooring throughout on the advice of a realtor I had in 2 yrs ago. But I like Beths idea of a different floor in the kitchen and bathrooms.

Good Janice. I'm glad you are going to interview other Realtors.

My sons and I will be installing the plank flooring if after talking to realtors I decide to go ahead with it otherwise hopefully I can get my money back and just do what Beth suggested for kitchen and bathrooms and possibly just keep the laminate that is on the rest of main floor now.

you can choose from a lot of inexpensive materials for the bathroom flooring. It's always advisable to use a nice tile for those floors in there anyway.

as for the kitchen, some like tile, some like to continue whatever flooring they have on the lower floor. it all depends on the kitchen layout.

like you said, talk to the realtors and see what advice they give you.

If you can DIY anything, it's more money in your pocket.