Monday, May 10, 2010

Getting Ready to Sell

It has been a slow year on the home improvement front due to several personal tragedies over the past year - I won't go into all that here - but what it comes down to is that I'm planning on moving to Alaska to be closer to my brother & sister-in-law! I'm really excited about the move, I desperately need a fresh start. I don't have a move date yet because I have to sell my house first.

Now that I'm seriously contemplating selling the house, it's time to prioritize the unfinished projects and get them completed.
  1. Re-stain the deck & paint the exterior. I've been putting these off, they are long overdue. Re-staining the deck a darker color to match the rest of the exterior. The garage doors and the front door were painted 2 years ago, but the rest of the exterior needs to be done. ESTIMATE: $2500 for labor & materials - work to begin this week!
  2. Master bath. I don't have an estimate yet on this, nor have I figured out a budget. Obviously, I want to keep my expenses low, but nothing has been touched in there, so there's a lot to do! The hall bath cost $2200, but the master bath will take more. For example, the master bath has tile on the wall, and I need to put in a new shower door.
  3. Finish the 1/2 bath. Shouldn't be too bad, I'm budgeting $1000, but I don't have an estimate yet on this.
  4. Replace the sliding door in master bedroom? The window pane was broken when I bought the house, but I never go out that door, so I don't care, but it might be an issue when I go to sell. I don't have an estimate yet on this.
  5. Replace the floor upstairs? I hate the parquet floors, but I don't know if replacing them will be necessary to sell the house. I'm going to check with the realtor first. I might compromise and just have them refinished, we'll see.
  6. Stair Rail? The railing is not to [today's] code and the style really dates the house, but I don't know if replacing it will be necessary to sell the house. I'm going to check with the realtor first to get her opinion before doing anything.
  7. Kitchen counters & new appliances? I'm pretty sure I need to do this so the house will show at its best, but I hate to spend the money. Another question for the realtor.

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