How do I sell a house?

[Edward_The_Head]

Where at in WV? I’m trying to sell some property in the panhandle. I also know some people who are looking for property out that way. Might be able to help you out.

[Chefguy]

@Mama_Zappa

Actually, many (most?) states do require that the seller disclose any known defects with the property. We had to sign something when we sold our townhouse, stating that we didn’t know of any issues.

An inspector won’t be able to find every problem, e.g. drainage issues or other intermittent problems. An inspection does provide some assurance to the buyer, but doesn’t cover anything. They might buy the place, find out a couple of months later that every time there’s a heavy rain the entire basement floods, and come after the seller for a large amount of money for failure to disclose.

Upon reflection, I realized that I had forgotten about the disclosure form we had to fill out concerning those very things. You sign so many papers in a real estate transaction, I’m surprised I didn’t leave my first-born to some experimental laboratory.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@engineer_comp_geek

I’d be tempted to replace the kitchen floor, but I’m not sure I’d get the investment back in the sale price of the house.

Better is to decide on what it would cost you to replace the floor, and include that as a reduction in the price. Like “the asking price was $51,000, but we’re including a $2,000 credit toward replacing the kitchen floor, so the price is $49,000”.

Or if you have connections with a local floor company, you can actually pay them $2,000 in advance, and keep the price at $51,000. That steers the buyers new floor business to someone you know (and they might give you a discount on the $2,000, if the economy is depressed).

This way, the buyer gets to choose the floor that they want, and is not turned off by the flooring you picked.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Chefguy

Upon reflection, I realized that I had forgotten about the disclosure form we had to fill out concerning those very things. You sign so many papers in a real estate transaction, I’m surprised I didn’t leave my first-born to some experimental laboratory.

That you * know of*.

I don’t think I’d do the floor or even mention it unless it was really bad. If it’s just a little dated (but the rest of the house isn’t), I wouldn’t put the money in it. The way I look at it, there are two levels of renovations; the first level makes people consider buying your house (fixing a gross old toilet, fixing holes in the walls, fixing things that are completely worn out and dirty - the kinds of things that make people go “ick” and leave); the second level of renovations are the kind that actually add value to your property - a garage, a kitchen remodel, adding a bathroom, that kind of thing. If you could do the floor yourself for not much money, it might be worth it, but if you have to hire someone and put some money into it, I’d say not to bother. It doesn’t sound like a make-or-break issue.