The major time consumer for me in 2009 was getting my house ready for sale. It was listed once without success - a major blog entry later - and now is listed again.There are two major problems with a single comic book dealer getting a house ready for sale. 1) There is a TON of clutter - I had comics and comic book related stuff ALL OVER THE HOUSE. 2) The house was cosmetically obsolete - i.e. there was a lot of wallpaper - great at the time but.... and paint trim (some sort of light cream color - I dunno) that just was out of date.
In fact, the second (and present) realtor wouldn't list the house until we got rid of the clutter and spruced the place up.
So we did.....(thank goodness Melissa is right brained and therefore creative...)
We had a home inspection performed and while there was nothing significant, we repaired EVERY SINGLE ITEM, nitpicky as they were, and then some. We even replaced the deck (not so nitpicky...). We painted almost the whole inside of the house with a couple of the rooms just primed - removed a ton of wallpaper. All of the trim has been painted and it really pops. Heck, I even painted the basketball goal and it really, really looks great.
Melissa did a great job in staging the house - not too much, not too little - and CREATIVE! (I really admire creative people if you didn't already know...)
One of the highlights for the guys out there (and some girls too) is that we epoxy coated the double car garage floor - you know with the speckled bits and all that - it's there on the left. Don't worry, a professional painter did the work so it is top rate - you could eat off that garage floor now. The exterior paint is still within warranty and it looks good. Not only that but the house has professionally installed Gutter Guards (the real thing, not an imitation...)You want storage? This house has a TON of storage - walk-in closets out the wazoo, walk-in attic...the whole she-bang!
Another guy thing: The whole HVAC for the downstairs was replaced - new high efficiency gas furnace and new heat pump. The evaporator coil was replaced in the upstairs air handling unit so it is - for all intents and purposes - brand new as well. Other than routine preventative maintenance, it's nice to have a house where you don't have to worry about HVAC for a long, long time....
Finally the location, the lot is 1.18 acres - which is big for a city lot and it is conveniently (i.e. within easy walking distance) located to shopping, banking and the interstate (I-77). The traffic is minimal as someone needs to have a reason to go down Overbrook Drive. Rock Hill, South Carolina is just 20 minutes from Charlotte, North Carolina so you have that going for you too.
Once this palace is sold, I will write a blog entry - or three - about the whole experience. I know more about getting a house ready for sale than I EVER did - it was a hard knocks education for sure. Believe me, it is worth the words....
OK, time to get back to comics....
It was a good post of house for sale and I think it was a great property to have. Nice shots. Big thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCharles A