Clean like your life depends on it. That includes having the carpet cleaned.

Do the minor repairs, since you called them repairs. That means something needs to be fixed. Old and in working order is fine; old and needing repair is not because the potential buyers wonder what else you've not maintained.

After you do that, evaluate where you are. Any new carpet you put in is likely to be ripped out by the new owners anyway. A fresh coat of paint won't hurt, at least in the rooms that need it most, but keep it the same off-white that has worked for you. Don't suddenly switch it to gray.

Price accordingly. What's it worth for you to spend $10,000 to get $10,000 in additional sales price? Nothing for you, but $600 to the realtor. Before she splits it with the other agent and her broker.

There is no need to do all of those things unless you plan to remain in the house since your tastes are not the tastes of other buyers. Your return on your upgrades is not likely to be as much as you spent both money and time. It is probably one of those regional things but houses have started remaining on market longer. I have also noticed that the various estimators such as zillow have reduced the suggested sales value so best to not expect to have much of a bidding war in a couple of months when your house is ready.

What do the houses in your neighborhood look like that are selling? You don't need to go trendy or too taste specific but it needs to be clean and not look like it needs immediate work. Carpet is definitely not for most people in this day and age but if it doesn't look gross it should be okay. I probably wouldn't invest in new carpet if the next owner plans on just ripping it out. Paint is also very taste specific and easy to do yourself so as long as it doesn't look dirty the next owner will probably just live with it until they decide to paint it their preferred colors. Make sure your house doesn't look worse than the rest on the market in the area or people may want to put in a lower offer because they think they're getting a lower end house compared to others.

Austin market is hot too, two dozen offers on a builder grade house from the 90's and 96k over asking.

An easy way to fix paint scuffs is to take a sample to a paint store and get a small amount of matching color and finish. Then, take a swiffer floor cleaning sheet (or equivalent), dip it in paint, and dab just a tiny bit on the scuff. Pat it in, on, and around the scuff, without dragging, so that the texture matches when it dries.

Thanks for these thoughts, folks. We have a neighbor who has lived in this community a long time and is an experienced realtor. I'll seek his advice (and probably use him as our seller agent) before we list No doubt he has some insights on the buyer pool and expectations.

We aren't inclined to buy a new place in this crazy market, so we have some time to look into costs and make some choices. Our plan is to buy a retirement home out of state and move many of our things before doing the work on this place and putting it on the market. Since this home is paid off, there is no dual-mortgage problem (a benefit of staying in the same place 20+ years).

As a retired appraiser who appraised in your market, I would advise you to clean and declutter as if your life depended upon it. Repair anything that needs repair. Don't bother with changing the carpet or painting the walls. Wash the walls and plate covers. Some scratch cover on the hardwood floors will perk them up. Clean out your closets and start getting rid of extra furniture. Pressure wash the house, wash the windows, trim all the landscaping and paint the front door.

Buyers are not going to pay you for any additional work. It will be wasted effort. Clean and clutter free, that's the mission. If it's in a good location in NVA, it will sell itself.

Homechef59 (and others) I am wondering about this: We live in a townhouse community and many newer communities around us are significantly more expensive (I'm talking townhouses that are $150K to $200K more). As a result, our community is attractive to first time buyers. I'm wondering if the carpet replacement would make it more "reachable" for new buyers who won't have extra cash for that?

I have to ask. How bad is your carpet?

Go back a year and read the naysayers insisting that the pandemic was going to destroy property values. To find those threads, search on the names of some of the posters above. lol

Incredible!

Maifleur03, LOL. Looking at it more today... The carpet on the stairs down to the basement and the basement family room are in much better shape and a good cleaning may do. But I think that the carpet going up the stairs, the bedroom level and the upstairs hall/bedrooms definitely must be replaced, to avoid a bad impression. (In between, the first floor is hardwood and porcelain tile.)

Stax, yes, I know the crystal balls about the pandemic failed.

Oh, and Homechef, it's not NVA, it's MOCO, outside the beltway.

Mary - why don’t you do all the things homechef59 has suggested, list it, and see what happens? If you receive negative feedback about the carpet, you can always either (i) add a carpet/flooring allowance, or (ii) install new carpet at that point. If your house will attract first time buyers, most (if not all) of them will want hardwood floors (or perhaps some wood-looking “water friendly” alternative).

My daughter does marketing for the number one residential real estate group in our metropolitan area (midwestern large city) - the other day she told me that I would be shocked if I saw the inside of some of the houses that are being listed currently. And they all are ”under contract” in less than a week!

I will add that from other threads many even starter homes are being purchased then gutted to meet the buyers wishes even if the home is in a immediate move in state. I understand the mental desire to leave your old home perfect for the new buyer but your perfect is not theirs.

While I agree with much of what has been said, the one thing I would have a problem with is dirty, torn, or ratty stair carpet. Just going up in that confined space, staring at bad carpet the whole way up, will really give me the ewws. If the stair carpet can be cleaned I might be OK with that. Also, the stairway walls are something to look at too - scratched, dirty? you might want to repaint that.

( But then, I'm not desparate to buy a home... any home.)

I've been reading Real Estate marketing research from these guys for many years, specially when we are selling/buying. Just got their weekly update today and they talk about "immediate" sales numbers and the trends they are seeing. Might be of interest to those of you looking to list or buy.

Altos Research

I would clean it up and get it listed!

Again, thanks for all these comments and thoughts. We aren't listing immediately; in fact, we are in no hurry. Our plan was to buy a retirement home, have a year of overlap. and then list, doing the work (or writing checks to have it done) in the overlap year. But we might start some sooner, certainly with repairs; painting and carpet can wait until we've most move of our stuff.

As to buying the retirement home... we have been looking in NC, but suspended during the pandemic, though we monitor online. Something about NC is that there are two checks with an offer -- the earnest money (escrow) and "due diligence" money, which is basically paying to have the house off the market during inspections and appraisals. The due diligence money is nonrefundable; a credit at closing, but forfeit if the buyer walks away based on inspection or appraisal. Before the pandemic, this was $300 o $500. Now, sellers are asking for and getting $2K and $3K and $5. No way am I going to pay that amount of nonrefundable deposit pending inspection and appraisal. (We hear in some markets like Raleigh, some due diligence checks are $10K. No way!

I would replace the carpet unless it looks new. Carpet is just gross to me in general and I know many are like me. If it looks new it is something I would feel I could live with and replace at a later point, but you don't want any buyer to have a negative reaction. I agree the stairs and upstairs sounds like it need replacing.

Have you considered getting ready to sell now while the market is hot and moving to NC into a rental house/townhouse/apartment. This will give you a chance to test live there before buying and you will be nearby if you find something as well as for any renovations you may do before moving in. You could put the money you're saving from having to go back and forth into the rent. Also living in the area you are looking will give you a better idea of the area to narrow your search further.

I would put it on the market now. Find a rental in NC. Downsize.

Doing it this way will place you in a position as a buyer in NC. You can also explore all of the areas of NC. It's a state with a lot of variety.

It's a seller's market in most of the country. The days on market and available supply are at historic lows. You should take advantage of this market and get liquid.

The danger is that the market can cool while you are prepping your home. You can put stuff in storage and deal with it later,

If hot/hcol market like where I am (close suburb of Boston; people make offers here with no contingencies!) I'd just clean and declutter (I'd move out most of my stuff into a pod) and that's it. I look at so many homes on the market in my town and think "well, I guess no need to do xyz upgrade." But of course real estate is so local, so best to ask your realtor friend. I'd only replace carpet if it had really bad dog/smell stains.