The most important factor in a quick sale is price. Have you talked to a Realtor for guidance?

I'm so sorry to hear about your father. My condolences to you and your family.

Do you have a Realtor? They would be the best source of information for your chances of selling quickly, and what price you can expect. They should also be aware of what updates they'd like to see and should be able to recommend how much they'd like you to put into fixing it up to get a good price.

I'd focus first on repairs (looks like shutters were removed and siding needs to be patched there, for instance) and clearing the property of any junk. Take the decorations off the exterior, and update the porch light. If those columns are just decorative, consider removing them. Perhaps placing a couple of new columns to frame the entrance? If the exterior paint job isn't old, just updating the color of the fascia trim (roof line) could make a big difference. A whole new paint job and staining (not painting) the brick a different color would be fun - just depends on your budget.

What's the rest of the neighborhood look like - that would help give some ideas. Is the rock yard typical of the neighborhood?

Yes, she suggested painting and dropping the price a little, but not much more outside of that. Im fine with both, just living 12 hours away means I want to be sure I optimize my time there/projects done since I’ll be flying out to take care of it. (The market in this town is very slow too so I know we have that counting against us.)

Sorry to hear about your mother @remodeling1840. And you have a great point. Maybe offer some sort of cash allowance and word it as “price for quick sale” like you say, after making sure the interior is spotless. (Which, inside is a whole other story. Definitely needs paint, and possibly new vinyl flooring in the kitchen. Thankfully, the home is only 1050 sq ft so makes the task less daunting..)

@Gwen, thank you, yes this is in the south of the southwest so rocks are common:) The neighborhood is mixed on rocks and grass but I would say mostly rock design yards.

Do not paint the brick! It's the best part of the façade of the house.

I'd paint the siding above it in a color that blends with the brick color to make it look more unified (rather than 2 horizontal stripes of color as it is now).

It looks like the trim is blue/gray now, so I'd paint that too, to blend with the siding--probably a bit lighter to ease the transition from the wall color to the white window frames.

I'd take out the log things too, but you don't have enough time to let new plants grow in, so maybe not.

I think it is a cute house. I might repurpose the logs in a circle around a fire bowl in one square plot. In the other lots of potted or if time planted succulents would suit the house. I would also set up a porch like area to the the left and right of the front door. A few rocking chairs, a swing or conversation seats will do. Then price it right. Sorry for your loss.

To me the main eyesore is the security door - is that really necessary? It seems to say "This is a high crime neighborhood." If that is accurate, then you could leave it, but if it is not, then it is sending the wrong message. I would also get some better house numbers with a cleaner look.

So sorry to hear about your father. My grandparents lived in Ranger, Texas, and we had to sell their house after they passed, and that is also a very slow market. Ranger is about half way between Fort Worth and Abilene, and so it is not quite a severe desert, unlike areas of Texas further south and west.

I would not paint the brick either and paint the top portion white or perhaps a very light silvery gray, depending on what is popular in that area.

Definitely do not paint the brick! Many people have a "thing" against painted brick, so why go to the trouble? I agree with those who say don't put too much money into it, and keep the price low. I put a new energy-efficient furnace into my condo that I'm trying to sell and expensive upgrades in the bathrooms, only to have buyer after buyer say the place is too small. I've just lowered the price by $5,000 for the second time and am so wishing for it to sell. That's a cute little house, but it's almost certain the buyer will want to do something different.

You probably already know this, but to save time since you are flying in, you can scope out the neighborhood on Google maps. The maps of my neighborhood let me "walk" up and down the street. I can look at each house and see paint colors and landscaping. Doing that you may be able to get an idea before you get there how well your house fits in as-is and what types of updates might be warranted.

I would simply make any needed repairs as mentioned, do white trim and a warm off white for the siding. Don't touch the brick. 5 gallons of paint for the house, a few gallons for trim, some supplies and you're out of there for less than $200.

I like the green color with the brick.

But I also like the idea of painting the brick and making it all 1 color. One thing for sure is to remove the security door. I would get rid of the logs and just plant grass and maybe some cheap bushes. Maybe put some planters with fake flowers in them since you are far away to water. Stage the front of the house with a seating area. I would do a search on mid century modern home and see what you like.

No to painting the brick -t oo much trouble, not necessary, and would turn off many of us.

Yes to painting the siding - the acid yellow clashes terribly with the pinky brick. Katy's green-gray above would be good (do the eave either in a lighter version of same or a white to go along with the other white elements.) Just so you limit your colors to no more than 3 (you have 4 now). Agree that the door is

I would give it a good (careful) pressure washing. If the yellow still looks dingy, paint the siding and trim with a fresh color that coordinates with the brick.

Add a new, larger porch light.

Get two big pots with grasses or flowers to put on either of the door and a cute welcome mat that you can take after it sells.

Were there shutters at one point? I see some holes or nails around the smaller windows. That should be cleaned up.

So sorry for your loss. I agree, do not paint the brick. I would take a pic of house to paint store and ask for suggestions of colors to paint house- I would either paint all metal accessories the same color as house (railings, light post etc. , or ask paint store to select a coordinating color for you.Take down all decorative items on house,.Remove security door or paint same color as house. Use wood post in front of house - in front of cement area and dirt area. If you don’t have enough wood posts, use 3 and put planter of flowers/plants, then three more wood posts etc. Fill in dirt area with ground cover - mondo grass, Asiatic jasmine, etc. Buy bird bath for area where wood posts were. Good luck with your sale.
I have the same dilemma with a house I inherited from my brother who was killed in road rage incident.

What is going on with the posts that seem to support the roof? There appear to be two randomly space...

As I was doing this, an idea struck me that might be useful to you and to others in a similar situation. If one wants to sell the house as is (aside from well cleaned up) at a lower price, a good marketing tool for the realtor might be to show prospective buyers a few mock-ups of what the house might look like in different colours or with minor changes to the facade. Help the buyer's imagination along.

(I was thinking, good as I think Katy M's idea of green is, you could go to the expense of that only to turn off a buyer who doesn't like dark houses. A perennial dilemma because you don't know who you are selling to.)

I’d get on google maps street view and go up and down the street, a block or two over, and really look at neighboring houses to see if this house stands out from all the others in a dramatically negative way. If it does then you can pinpoint why and fix it. If not, then spend your time, energy and funds inside.

I am so sorry to hear about your Father. My condolences.

Do check with your Realtor to see what works in your area. I'm a Realtor in S FL and the exterior is extremely important to get buyers in the door. I can tell you a buyer will say: 'Let's not go inside' when they don't like the outside. You don't want to eliminate buyers before they get in the door.

Specifically in your instance I suggest the following but check with your local, experienced Realtor:

1) Remove the logs from the front. Landscape appropriately for the area, xeriscape if that is possible

2) Large address numbers in an easy to read font - not gussied up with doo-dads.

3) Remove the security door if at all feasible, it does indicate a high crime area.

4) Paint the siding and not the brick. In fact, I would paint the siding to blend with the brick to extend the height of the house. Paint the trim dark.

5) Bring your color in with a potted colorful plant in full bloom in your area. Colorful pot and colorful plant next to the front door on the non-opening right side of the door to add height and color. If you were here I would say something easy like bougainvillea. It is the easiest way to draw positive attention. I probably would use a purple flowering variety. I don't know what works in your area. The idea is to convey happy times. If the buyer doesn't like it, it is easy to move the potted plant so it really isn't an objection. But it amps up that front. This one below is way too big, but you get the idea - find something that has color for the front, but won't block the door. A colorful pot or better planter is important. Size is important. Tall but not overwhelming. Put it in front of the post. Not under the overhang. (PS, I know this one is not purple!)

Naturally, the most important thing is to have it super clean and do as many of the repairs as you can reasonably do before you put it on the market.

@laurkade, sorry to hear about your brother and thank you for that helpful feedback

@Rina & @KatyM- your color ideas are great, thanks so much for the ideas.

After hearing from the realtor today, we were essentially told that there’s a good chance if we put money into it, it still may not sell... that’s how bad the market is in that small town. So, back to square one... but I do think doing a mock up for buyers and just dropping the price would help them visualize, so thank you for that idea @Rina!

@Lars, thanks for the input. Interestingly enough, we went to visit family west of Ft Worth a month ago, low and behold passed through the one-horse town of Ranger! Understandable how that was a very slow market there but it seemed like a cute quiet little town :) Glad you were able to sell.

Condolences.

Do remove the decorations from the exterior wall and otherwise clean up and declutter the building, both inside and out, and the yard, on all sides.

Agree with others: Don't paint the brick.

Do reset the fencing on the right side of the house so it stands straight upright and preferably so that the front of it is in line with the front wall of the house. If it's 8' wide, you should use at least three treated posts -- one on each side and one in the middle. You may need to remove the fencing from any current supports and set it aside while you set the new posts and you may need a few 2"x4" treated boards attached to those posts horizontally so you can have something solid onto which you can attach the fencing. You could use the same color you use to repaint house siding to repaint that fencing.

Would probably paint the siding and fascia and metal porch roof supports and window frames/trim all the same color -- even if you use different shades of the same muted color. Two shades of gray would work; alternately, two shades of brown/tan would work. The one exception might be using one color for the siding and one different color, if it's either black or white, for the fascia and/or doors and door frames and trim and/or the window frames and trim and for the porch supports. Would not use blue.

Check for smells, inside and out. If there is something that stinks, find out why and see if you can remove the smell by removing what smells (without rebuilding part of the house) -- thinking:

Outside: remove anything that holds water that can sour (flower pots); remove any old garbage cans and any garbage or recyclables or junk of any kind; remove any pet stuff;

Inside: taking down curtains that smell like smoke; adding drain cleaner to remove gunk from a drain or overflow of tub and/or sink; thoroughly cleaning and/or removing anything in any appliances.

If you're repainting the interior (would do that with flat, water based, paint -- not glossy), first check to see if you need to add a bit of spackle or caulk to fill/close/hide a hole. It's a relatively cheap fix with the potential for a big impact. Then choose one light color for all the walls in every room and, if you need to repaint any ceiling, use white for repainting the ceiling in every room.

After painting the interior, invest in relatively inexpensive matching white mini-blinds for every window in the house, installed within the window frames rather than over/outside the frame. This could be worthwhile because it gives the place a less abandoned look both for prospective buyers and for would be squatters. You can partially close the blinds (tilt the slats) so anyone looking through the windows sees either the floor adjacent to the window or, better yet, sees the ceiling. Adding a few inexpensive solar lights (from the dollar tree) in the yard and/or inside where sun hits the windows might help in that regard as well.

Far better to leave the front yard a blank slate for the new buyers than to leave those arrangements of pieces of posts half buried in the front yard. Would remove them all and level that space.

If you feel a need to plant something in the yard ... those "pineapple cacti" grow and spread with pretty much no care -- use tongs to handle them.

Good luck.