The strongest potential buyer confirmed an offer is processing after they had their third showing today.


We also received a request for a last minute showing for 1 pm this afternoon. In a wonderful turn of events, that individual also indicated that they are planning on placing an offer, and presented us with their contingencies while putting one together. They wanted to make sure that their terms met/could be worked around with our expectations in mind before submitting anything. their offer is apparently 311k, we pay for 2 inspections due to the age of the house.

We're fine with that.
Things are going really well this week.
That's said, I feel like we are so close, but far away at the same time.

As we are planning on closing on the new home June 1st, we have to keep in mind that an offer could fall through at any time, and we still have a long way to go in terms of negotiations and inspections.


We discussed this last night and decided that we were going with our hearts (which is not usually the best idea with houses). Since the home has quite a bit of equity from a short period of time (paid 200k after 65k down in 2009), we are willing to be more flexible if it means that we can move into our dream home on the schedule outlined in our offer to the owner of the new digs.


My husband is planning on putting any equity gain into repairs and down payment. Since he is the homeowner here, I plan to meet him 50/50 in those areas.
The "divorce house" we are hoping to close on was appraised at 335-352k...we are locked in at 290k now.

Hoping this streak of luck keeps up.

I started stripping and painting the insides of the cabinets. Unfortunately, whatever his ex used to paint must have been industrial grade, nuclear war proof paint.
I was really stressed about the idea of painting the insides of the cabinets too, but it gave me a good place to start testing for cover.

We had our house on themarket after flipping it in 09. Finally took it off the market. Two years later an agent asked to show house, we said fine and then the agent wrote up an offer without asking us if our price had changed! Agent came in saying oh this is a great cash offer 12000 less than our asking price two years earlier. It also came in on a Thursday night while I was at work. Agent left it on the foyer table as she still had a key. We had 24 hours to respond. We countered and split the difference but the couple just walked........we were so glad they did and we have since struggled to keep the house but in the last two years we are getting ahead and the house is increasing in value. But yes, it is a business agreement and if it goes your way it is great, if not it is sour grapes. Difficult, but you really should not insult people with a low offer but offer on a house that is worth what you are willing to pay. Crummy offers come from crummy people and it is difficult to associate with that. Hopefully you will find a buyer. And I have learned that there is always another house for sale that can be just as wonderful as the one you didn't get....sorry to be so wordy. How are the cabinets coming? Well I hope.

Heather I just read your very interesting post. What's up with all of the contingencies in your town?

Be careful discussing numbers in a public forum, your deal is live and you are giving up some big info! One google image search with your MLS photos and your secrets are discovered. This is very sensitive info, agents don't talk about deals during the process, big no no.

Another thing that struck me was when you said " They have had many interested parties, but after inspection others have
turn down forward-moving action. We have a good relationship with them
as well now, so they have made it very clear that they are willing to
amend any agreement that we have with them as long as we are still
working on selling this house, and interested in theirs" Do you mean that other buyers had gotten to inspection and found the same problems and bailed? Did you get a Seller's Disclosure? If so, they are required to disclose known problems with the home not just hope you have a bad inspector. Their agent knows that too.

Heather I know the price they offered you is offensive but I would still counter with something that is not-what have you got to lose? Maybe they don't mean to be low-balling maybe they are from a different area where it would be a fair price. I truly think no matter how offended you are you should counter with what you consider a fair price. This also shows your real estate agent where you draw the line as well.

Agreed. We did counter with a split the difference price but they walked because they didn't want to come up with 5,000. So we honored the contract and did our best, but things just don't always work out but you know you are still in the game. Good luck.

Yes, never hurts to counter. I know some buyers make offensive offers to start just to see what you'll take. Our first offer on our recent sale was ridiculous $12,000 below asking, the refrigerator, and all closing costs. I was surprised they didn't ask for my first-born to be too. The buyer just didn't have the money and shouldn't have been looking in our price range so we declined the offer. Within 2 weeks we got another low-ball offer. Our realtor let their realtor know that we just did that dance and wouldn't deal that low. They came up over $10,000 to nearly asking price & asked for little else. We got exactly what we had hoped to. They were just fishing because who wants to pay more than they really have to, right? It's frustrating but maybe it can be worked out.

We have found that splitting the difference usually works, get the ball rolling and only takes one transaction. Countering back and forth gets kind of Mickey Mouse. If they want it they will deal and if you want a specific price don't consider anything else and everyone should be happy to seal the deal.

We had a home that we were working on, took an offer to finish at a certain time on the fixing we were doing. But hubs broke his arm and was delayed and at walk thru house wasn't done. The buyers started having a hissy fit about the 'state' of the house, believe me minor trim work that would have been done by move in, but he was a real piece of work. Demanded a lower price etc. Our agent whom we had always worked with in the past, gave up her commission so we could finish the deal! She was amazing and finished the deal for us so we could be on our way. Hubs was working in a different state and could only come home on weekends....it was crazy but doable. haha

My husband always says A house is only worth as much as it will sell for.

Heather, I think your "gut" is right on the contractor's low ball price. And, for SURE never to agree to the seller (you) to pay and fix any inspection concerns. Negotiations can occur on that issue after the inspections. An inspector may recommend all new updated "safe" electrical (it could be big bucks) and you've committed. I think the contractor's idea is buy and then do a "contractor" spruce up and resale for $350k. You may even want to get a home inspection yourself so you know any issues and you can even advertise "Home Inspection Available for review". If the potential buyer wants their own inspection, fine, but they should pay for it.

Good luck! Baby grand for the foyer.

Ditto! Great job!!!

Fantastic! Keep us posted

I am so excited for you Heather!!! Great job! And I do mean job-this sounds like it has been so much WORK for y'all!!!

We went "offer-show" on the listing yesterday. :-)

Also, loveluxe, I appreciate the post and the points made. Though I don't know what secrets I have "to be discovered"...:-)
The home we are closing on has had other interest, but needs 20k in new windows. It is structurally sound, though there are huge concerns with the windows. We paid for two inspections, as well as a contractor to review electrical and windows. We met half-way on the windows, but at the end of the day, we put a considerable amount of money and effort into making the deal work, as did the seller. They had three additional contractors go through to vet the window concerns.
We did indeed get their disclosure.
The bank's end appraisal, with window concerns included, was 40,000 under the final sale price (without our down payment factored).
Happy Friday!

Am I missing something? How will the bank make a mortgage on a house that appraises less than 40,000 below appraisal. Did you put down the 40,000 cash and getting mortgage on the whole price of house? I know I am missing something, but not sure what?

So you've been living with the kitchen for how long and only just thought of painting it now with a deadline of 2 days? :-) Paint it all white - quickest fix, then assess for anything else you can do with accents & accessories etc if you have time. Good luck.

Whoops, didn't realise how old & long this thread is. So you didn't change them in the end?

Wish I had read this a month ago...have you sold? If not and are still doing cabinets, YOU DO NOT NEED TO SAND!!!! EVER!!!!!!!! My husband and I sold our house in January 2015. We put it on the market the year before. Long story, but it wasn't priced right, and we ended pulling off the market, re-listing in January with a new agent, and sold 5 days later.

With all that said, my kitchen was dated with honey oak colored cabinets. It was dark, and I wanted to paint the cabinets for YEARS! I found a paint called Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. No sanding required. They sell special brushes for the brand to make it look antiqued, but I wanted smooth cabinets, so I bought foam rollers at Walmart and went to town. I finished within a week. I didn't even take the doors off. You can paint over the hardware if you want. I sealed with a polycrylic that dried in about 20 minutes. I did 3 coats, but since you're selling, I would only do one coat.

You should only need 1 can of paint to do your entire kitchen. It has amazing coverage. It took 2 to do mine.

If you can't find an Annie Sloan dealer, look for milk paint. That doesn't need sanding either. I have used both and like both for different reasons.

Attached pics of before and after of my kitchen. I only took 1 or 2 befores.

Good luck! Selling is so stressful!!!

Heather, I feel like I know you and a lot of the other posters too. I so wish you had painted at the start. I can't believe a realtor would tell you in good conscience it doesn't matter. We are selling in a year and have already got a list, paint kitchen cupboards and they are only oak, paint all baseboards, trim etc. In my heart of hearts had that monstrosity been painted white it would have long ago sold. People will look at it with a different mind set if is something they can live with for a few years as opposed to, this would have to be done before I'm ever moving in here. Good luck and all the best.

Labincurlers sometimes it really doesn't matter. It depends on the market, the inventory, the price point, the nighborhood, the condition of the rest of the home-so many factors.

Congratultions! Low stress is so much better than high stress; I say that because you had questions about what to do with the new house and I hope that is low, fun productive stress!

Just add a fresh coat of white on the cabinets! Cant go wrong there!

I would leave it alone. Chances are the new owners would remodel anyway.

Colemaryj: Did you even read the thread or look at the dates? She's gone, been in the new house for months.

Hey Heather! I just happened on this thread and want to congratulate you on selling your home and moving into your new digs! Aren't you glad now that you didn't spend any time or money painting those cabinets?

Good luck in your new decorating adventures!

Congrats on the new digs. I just wanted to say that I apparently am a rare breed that can see that paint is an easy fix & would've bought your house with the crazy paint...just because paint can be fixed...those windows of your new house? Not so easy. Glad you negotiated on them though.

I agree with lefty47 about painting the cabinets white. The grey back splash and beige floor will harmonize very well with white cabinets, and the look of simplicity will make the kitchen very pretty.

clean white will make the room look fresh

The house has been sold. The owner has moved on!

I just like the vomit description. I too have vomit color cabinets!

Don't touch anything else but the cabinet color. Cabinets should be white and keep the wall color. I think the wall color is nice and will add to the room especially if you accent with a glass vase or canisters in that color/shade, or a nice antique turquoise glass water pitcher... White cabinets, and I like the current door color too. Maybe change the cabinet knobs to something in keeping with the architectural style of the home (you don't say what it is... Victorian, Craftsman, Foursquare, Cape Cod, etc. I imagine who ever buys it will live in it for at least a year before they make any major design decisions. White cabinets will be neutral enough to tolerate. You may want to consider putting a stove vent over your stove to make it pass a home inspection for building codes. And some pictures to accent the color of the wall - personally I do not like the gray tile & gray counter-tops, but the new owners will likely change them anyway. It would have made more sense if she has installed the turquoise tiles in keeping with that time period, and the black accent tiles with that wall and door color, but the gray seems completely out of place. Too bad you couldn't put in black quartz or granite counter-tops to coordinate with the black tile. It would still look nice with the white cabinets. Maybe even a cheap laminate black counter-top would look nicer than the gray one that is currently there. Another option would be to match the turquoise on the doors and just paint the coral face frames the same color... that would be quicker than painting all the cabinets white! And that would also look nicer than what it is now.

IF you only have 5 days... then ONLY paint the face frames the same color as the doors. You may get some buyers who like this... nastalgic color! It will take you way more than 5 days to paint all those cabinets RIGHT, so they don't look terrible. But you can easily paint the face frames in that many days or less! Besides I don't see anything wrong with turquoise in old homes... it is expected!

just realized - this is from MARCH 2015... this house has likely already been SOLD! They really need to delete OLD stuff!!!

True, but it has been interesting to read the entire Saga of Heather's House in one sitting.

I know this is an old thread but for those with a similar dilemma in the future, I just want to chime in with my own anecdote. We recently sold a duplex condo. Our neighbors were also selling at the exact same time. Our condo was slightly smaller and less desirable unit as half the living space was below grade (finished basement). It also had pink kitchen cabinets where the other unit had much more appealing cream cabinets, and our condo had a small deck and the other had a mongo-sized deck.

What's more, we had painted the entire house in lively, bold & rich colors. Got a little carried away with it, but it suited us over the years. In fact, the whole house was a riot of color -- yellow, orange, green, and lots of red. Each room was different, in fact, though all the colors did work together. We painted it this way because the condo had a PINK kitchen and PINK marble baths... I hated the pink so much. The color scheme made you not notice the pink so much.

I was worried it would turn off buyers and impact our selling price. We debated painting it all neutral before listing it, but our realtor said not to bother, and instead helped us stage it to work with the colors. The realtor did a fantastic job with the staging. Meanwhile the other condo had someone come in and professionally paint the entire place white, and paid for a professional stager as well.

We had simultaneous open houses and a lot of traffic. We rec'd 3 offers within a week, all around asking price. We took the one that had no contingencies. The other unit languished for 6 weeks more without a nibble and minimal traffic. They dropped their price. Then finally received a low-ball offer with every contingency you can imagine. We were told by all the realtors that walked through both units that despite ours having less desirable features, it showed far better than the bland all-white, blank-slate unit... which effectively looked like a rental not a home, with all the personality stripped out of it.

Ultimately we sold ours for $386/sf and the other unit went for $285/sf with an additional $20,000 cash to the buyers, i.e., we cleared $180K profit and the other unit barely broke even (we'd both bought around the same time).

What's more the new owners of our place have not re-painted and don't expect to.

You just never know what will appeal to a buyer!

Meanwhile on the flip side, the place we bought has a white kitchen and I hate it. It's getting ripped and replaced. There was another identical unit for sale at same time, in which the owner had put in $85K of renovations. We did not care for their renovations so we bought the property that hasn't been touched in 20 years, because we want to do our own renovations.