When I’m working with first-time buyers, I love reading the words “All appliances remain!” especially when they’re coming from apartments and have nothing but milk crates and mattresses with which to decorate.  It does take time to build up an income to replace appliances and to take on other house projects, so appliances remaining are a huge selling point.

Sometimes, however, the appliances that remain are old.  Functioning, yes.  Attractive, no.  The good news is you can make these appliances look a lot nicer with a little ingenuity and elbow grease.  Apartment Therapy offers some tips on how.  For example,

Many appliances can be fitted and updated by changing their fronts. A great option for renters who are stuck with built in appliances like dishwashers. Contact the manufacturer of the appliance who can provide you with a listing of face panels that will fit existing appliances, and face panels that will require customization.

By the way, my friend who just moved hasn’t yet brought over her fancy new washer and dryer, so she’s been using the landlord’s old-fashioned one that has the rotator.  She said the old one works MUCH BETTER!

Photo by Lara604 via flickr creative commons.

I like the door handle the best.  Have a great WARM SUNNY weekend!

I’ve been following the experiences of Dan STEVE over at Brip Blap as he’s moved his family to Florida for the nice weather.  He posed an interesting question about a couple of homes that are under consideration for buying. One has been completely renovated … beautiful on the inside, but a little farther from the ocean. The other one is a hot mess with pet stains and other grossness to consider.

Which will he pick?  It comes down to condition or location.  This is where I apply the 80:10:10 rule.  It’s cliche, but still works for people hoping to buy.  If you love 80 percent of the home, hate 10 percent but can CHANGE it, and don’t like 10 percent but can LIVE WITH IT then it’s probably a home that you should consider.

Depending on how handy I am, I’d probably buy the home with the great location.  He says,

The second is in a nicer neighborhood, with a huge screened pool and so close to the ocean you can hears waves from beyond the tree – but the house is a mess.

I can clean.  I can put in new carpet.  I can paint.  I’d buy the second one where I could almost pay cash and listen to the waves.

Let’s have a show of hands here… you pull up in front of a home and see weeds in the flower bed, spider webs on the porch, and dog slobber all over the front storm door.  You walk inside - expecting the smell of wet dog fur - and find a cluttered living room with nail holes in the wall.  As you enter the kitchen, the counter is covered with cannisters, a knife block, toaster, blender, paper towels, coffee maker, and a salt & pepper shaker.  On top of the fridge are a line of cereal boxes: Fruit Loops, Shredded Wheat, Special K, Count Chocula, and Cheerios.

The shower curtain is drawn in the bathroom and the sink has a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, hand lotion, astringent, cotton balls, Qtips, and floss.

In the bedroom you find three dressers, clothes draped over a chair, 29 pictures on the wall of family members, one Holy picture, and a pile of magazine and books on the side table.

I wouldn’t want to buy this house, would you?  Clearly the home has been lived in - and that’s okay.  But I do not want to live in someone else’s memories, so to sell you need to provide a CLEAN, NEAT slate.

Carol-Jean Dixon of Latter & Blum Realtors in New Orleans wrote a great post about staging a home for fun and profit. My favorite part,

Consider removing (gasp!) about 30% of your furniture. This will visually open up your rooms and allow for more space, a key component of every buyer, young or old. Everyone is looking for more space when they buy.

Read the rest of Carol-Jean’s post… she’s got some great ideas that we can all benefit from!

I’m going to hurry and write about this phenomenal faux finish that my pal Ginger pointed out on her site - Ginger Snaps - before Ivy posts it on ShakHammer!  If I was to go on a listing appointment and saw leather walls in a bathroom or bedroom, especially well-done, I’d be elated!  Ginger takes us through the process step-by-step and even posts pictures!

As I said before, it’s a tedious process, so you gotta have somebody to laugh with and good tunes.  I highly recommend some good Bee Gees and 70s music.  Definitely music with a beat.  Jan about kilt me with the ballads at one point…but I forgave her because she made me laugh so hard.  I’m telling you we were like Lucy and Ethel trying to turn those ladders and step stools around without falling over each other.  It was great fun!

Go read how to do it and send me your pics!

In your new home and looking to decorate?  Through FARK.com, I found this link to the 10 Geekiest Pieces of Furniture in the Universe and nearly choked from laughing so hard.  CAUTION strong language and strong content at the site, but here’s my favorite nevertheless…

And why it may NOT be a good idea?

Once more, what’s awesome on its own becomes sad in context. The misleading photo up there portrays our noble dragon table in a palatial room serving goblets of gold. That sucker takes on a whole new light when it’s offering a 32-ounce Mountain Dew from Taco Bell in a Transformers 2 cup, next to a wrinkled bag containing bits of Cheetos dust.

Again, this is a funny read but be warned there is definitely strong language and content on the site.

I just received my magazine today for members of the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (for those of us who are designated at Accredited Buyers Representatives) and a teensy-tinsy article caught my eye.

Dude bought a condo in Denver for $45,000.  Six months of hard work remodeling and renovating - and more than $30,000 later - he found out he was renovating the wrong unit.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the court ruled against him AND said he can’t recover his improvements.  Ouch.  Next time he should read the fine print to see which unit he bought, exactly.  Ouch again.

I knew the inspection itself had gone okay because my seller was there the entire time (the buyers and their agent were absent) and the inspector seemed to rave to her about what great condition the home was in.  But when I received the buyer’s home inspection contingency removal form this morning, I had to laugh.

The top item?  Remove bird’s nest form rear porch light fixture. Okay.  This we can handle.  But what do you do if the eggs are still in it - or worse - baby birds?!   My seller’s son will look tonight.  If baby birds are present, I think we’ll probably tell the buyer NO.  If they want to be the ones to kill the baby bird(s) they can, but it’s something I’d feel rather badly about otherwise.

I am filled with righteous indignation right now.  A friend of mine bought a house earlier this year.  He was so joyful to own his own home, he has it all decked out for Christmas and recently said this is possibly the best year he's ever had.

Unfortunately, when he came home from work this morning (he works third shift), he found the side of his house and his garage door had been spray painted by vandals.  There are obscene words and one really vile picture.  At first he thought it was a personal attack, but we think it may have been a random act of violence.  School is out and crimes like these always spike during the holidays and in summer, according to the police.

The other reason my friend is upset is he didn't know how to remove the paint.  I consulted a friend who is a home care expert and learned that you can paint vinyl.  If possible, remove a little chip somewhere where the missing piece won't be noticed.  Go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or another paint store and ask the clerk for Kilz that will work on vinyl, along VINYL exterior paint.  The Kilz should prevent the graffiti from leaking through.  In addition, they should be able to match the color with the sample vinyl you're bringing in.

I would also wait until the weather gets above freezing to paint.  (Temperature now is about 10 degrees - ugh!).  Finally, I advised my friend to install motion sensor lights and a motion sensor camera so he'll both feel safer and to potentially scare off future vandals.

Merry Stinking Christmas indeed.

Photo by Brad-514 courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

I love it when homes have gardens featured on the MLS. Here are some of my favorites!

The Fountain View.

The Lake View.

The Pond View.

Rock Walkway.

The

The Night View (and kudos to the agent who did this!).

And finally, best landscaping garden in the front…

Have a wonderful weekend.