I don't think I ever mentioned it here, but I had my house on the market for a good bit of last year. When I listed, I thought selling would be a snap. While I joke and say I live in the ghetto, my neighborhood is not the greatest but my house has been lovingly maintained and in good shape compared to some of the others on my street. I really thought it wouldn't take that long and I'd be closer to work, in a little bigger place, by the end of the summer. What I didn't realize was that some of my slumlord neighbors were trying to unload their investment properties at the same time. Adding those properties to the rest for sale on my street brought the total to more than a dozen. I took my house off the market in August and since then, there have been at least 15 house for sale on my street at any given time and as far as I know, none of them have sold.
So now I'm trying to make do with what I have. I don't want to make expensive improvements that won't see any return but at the same time, I want to improve my living space. I've come up with quite a list and prioritizing has been... interesting.
- Replace blinds throughout the house
- Replace kitchen faucet
- Replace shower heads
- Replace outside spigot/s
- New garbage disposal
- Replace door sweeps on front & garage door
- New main breaker box
- New master toilet
- Re-caulk master bathtub
- New oven
- Paint kitchen cabinets
- Paint kitchen
- Remove downstairs carpeting and replace with tile or alternative
- Replace counters & back-splash in kitchen
I realize those last two are probably the most pricey and give me the most pause. One of the houses for sale down the street has dropped its price by nearly 20 thousand and they made all kinds of big improvements - siding, full bathroom & kitchen renovations, etc. I'm sure they're not making any of that money back.
At least I can do most of the items on the list myself or by enticing some friends with the promise of beer/pizza/cookies/babysitting.
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