65. Real Estate Reality Check- What Actually Adds Value

You've probably heard it a hundred times: "Granite countertops add value!" or "You need to redo the kitchen before you list." But here's the truth most sellers don't find out until it's too late — a lot of the updates people pour money and energy into before selling? Buyers either don't notice, don't care, or actively don't want them.

In this episode, we're doing a full myth-busting deep dive into what actually moves the needle when you're preparing to sell your home — and what's just a whole lot of effort for zero return.

We'll walk you through:

• The #1 thing buyers care about (hint: it's not your faucet finish)
• The high-return updates that consistently pay off — including one with 100%+ ROI in many markets
• The common upgrades that feel smart but rarely return a dollar
• Surprisingly powerful free or near-free moves that outperform expensive remodels
• A rapid-fire myth-busting round covering granite, gray paint, wallpaper, appliances, and more
• A simple 3-question framework to help you decide whether any update is worth doing before your listing goes live

Whether you're thinking about selling in the next few months or just want to stop wasting money on the wrong things, this episode will save you thousands of dollars and a lot of unnecessary stress.

Because selling well isn't about perfection. It's about preparation — and we'll show you exactly what that looks like.

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Transcript

Jodi Rosko 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast with your hosts Jody Roscoe and Heather Fisher. We're talking about all things downsizing, from our own experiences with clients to guest experts. Let's make downsizing easier, one conversation at a time.

Heather Fisher 0:17

Hi, welcome to the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. A little bit of a real estate reality check today. Yeah. So we um are always talking about downsizing and getting, you know, the home ready for moving on to that next stage. And today we're just going to talk about what that means with the real estate of that property, what to do to get ready, what not to do, um, you know, kind of talking through those projects. Yeah, I'm Jody Roscoe. I'm Heather Fisher.

Jodi Rosko 0:47

Yeah, I think we get this question, I mean, all the time, is, you know, what should I be doing? You know, and we are happy to talk to people like a year in advance because I feel like that's just part of the process and needing to know like what is it that I should do and what is it that I shouldn't do because we don't want you to be spending money on things that you that won't get you money back when you go to sell the house. So I think it's super, super important to talk to a real estate professional. I'm just gonna start it with that. We're gonna give you lots of tips and stuff today, but I think you know, having somebody with fresh eyes, that's their job to go come and take a look at your house and and really see um because we've watched people spend money where they didn't need to, and we just don't want that to happen for you.

Heather Fisher 1:27

Yeah, some some updates are for your own enjoyment. Yeah. And some updates can bring you that return on investment when you sell. I think the problems come when you don't do them for your enjoyment, and then you are getting ready to sell, and maybe you're choosing those, you know, your own choices type updates instead of uh what brings that return on investment or expecting something will bring you that return that it won't. So we'll talk about the difference between those two and what maybe to do at different times. Right, exactly.

Jodi Rosko 2:03

So yeah, so um, you know, you can you can save thousands of dollars with stuff that you don't need to do if if you you know, when we have a conversation around what that looks like. But I think the number one thing, you know, is that the myth is that the buyers want everything to be perfect, right? And so um it doesn't have to be perfect. I think the number one thing that they need is it to be clean.

Heather Fisher 2:25

Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that, and that's definitely definitely the answer. Um, you know, for any move, this applies um not just a downsizing move. Um I think in downsizing some of the um factors that come in might be a time frame and the finances and things. So um just starting with which projects and starting with clean.

Jodi Rosko 2:51

Yeah, I think um everybody wants to move into a clean home. I mean, if just think about where do you want to move and what does that look like for you. So um and everybody's kind of idea of clean is different. And when we're saying clean um for selling the house, that is things that you just don't think about. You know, we live we live and you know we think we're cleaning and we wipe the countertops and we do all those things, but I'm talking about like making sure all the grates where the you know air intake is is clean and all you know, wiping down all of the baseboards or possibly painting them just because that gives it the really fresh, you know, look and um your fans, you know, things that you just don't clean every day. Um, but when you start looking at properties, like somehow that just pops out, even though that's not what you look at in your daily life, like people feel that.

Heather Fisher 3:40

Yeah, especially um as you start moving things, furniture out of the way, and packing boxes. You know, in our day-to-day life we're cleaning around the things that are there, and as soon as you move couches or tables, dressers, um there's just dust and things that accumulate no matter how tidy and clean your house is on the day-to-day.

Jodi Rosko 4:04

Yeah, that is so true. Um the other thing is it as neutral as you can make it. And again, I would have a real estate professional come and talk to you. If you need somebody to connect, we need to connect you with somebody, we're happy to do that. So reach out to us. Um, but if if you are going to be repainting, then let's repaint it a neutral color. Um if you don't need to, and you know, the paint still looks okay, you know, then maybe it's okay to leave it. But um, clean and neutral are probably the number one things and well-maintained. People, if they start to see um deferred maintenance, you know, things that haven't been done, things that are broken, even if it's just one or two things um that you've lived with forever and you don't even see anymore. I know I've told you this, Mark, you know, fixed our shower uh head and like seven years later I hadn't painted around it again. And so um there's nothing wrong with it, and it's not even broken, but it looks like we don't care, you know, about the house. And so then people spiral, they start to think, oh my gosh, if they didn't take care of that, then what else have they not taken care of the house? And it's irrational. But if the everything is in working order and looks like it's really been taken care of, um, they just have a much better feeling about the house. And buying a property is very emotional. And so people walk in and make a decision within the first couple seconds of whether they feel like, oh, this could be good or this could be, you know, isn't good. And if the first thing they see is something that is either not clean or feels broken, they're already have, you know, the wrong emotional re response to the property.

Heather Fisher 5:37

Yeah, closing that loop on a repair um is something we see so often, you know, m small repairs, but then that finish touch-up paint to fix the spot after you've had, you know, whatever, the faucet or whatever um fixed, all of us have been there. I know you've told that story, and I had a similar story at you know my previous house, and we all are like that, but uh you're right, when it's just that one little thing, the amount it would cost you to do it versus the amount a buyer is going to attribute to it in the scope of oh, this needs so much, uh, is you know a huge difference.

Jodi Rosko 6:22

I think the one I see the most is the roof leaked, they replaced the roof, and so no problem at all with the house. But there's still some kind of water stains in, you know, upstairs bedrooms, or you know, there's still some kind of water stains from the roof leaking, maybe it's you know, somewhere else, but or even in the garage ceiling, like you if you see water stains, you're thinking, oh my gosh, this house is you know a problem. And even if you've replaced the roof, even if you say right in the paperwork, we replaced the roof, you know, um finishing that repair, which is repainting the ceilings, um, makes all the difference because it just causes people to worry.

Heather Fisher 7:02

Well, yeah, you're taking something you have spent a lot of money on that new roof, and instantly it's a subtraction instead of an asset to that bottom line on a buyer, because mentally they're like, Well, is there a new problem? Are you sure it's dry? Right. Are you sure that's old?

Jodi Rosko 7:20

And yeah, you know, relatively small fix. And most people are like, oh, that's no problem. Like we fix the roof, it's fine. And it is fine, but you need to make it just a non-item. Like you just need to make it where they're not even thinking about the roof. You know, you've you've got it, it's newer, and you're good to go. So and I think honestly, I think sometimes the smaller repairs are the ones that need done the most. Like, you know, I think those are the ones that make people think, oh gosh, they couldn't even repair the smallest thing. They probably don't repair the big things. Right. Which is not true. Usually, yeah, yeah, it's usually not true. But that's just what people think.

Heather Fisher 8:00

Because we live with the small things for ourselves. Right. We just are like, it's fine.

Jodi Rosko 8:04

Yeah. So um, yeah, they they won't notice, you know, probably if you know the the faucets brushed nickel or if it's polished chrome, you know, it's not like we need to change out every little thing. Um if all of the finish is worn off of it, you know, they may know they'll they'll notice that. Again, that looks like maintenance that you know things don't get taken care of. But um I wouldn't change out fixtures just to be the current color. Yeah, exactly.

Heather Fisher 8:31

Yeah, if it's well maintained and clean um and as neutral as as possible from that last choice, that's totally fine.

Jodi Rosko 8:41

Yeah. And on and honestly, it also depends on what price point your house is at, you know. When people are you are looking in different price points, they have different expectations. So, you know, it's like, do I need to have granite countertops? Well, I mean, I don't know, are the all the comps in your neighborhood have granite countertops and you don't? You know, what does that look like?

Heather Fisher 8:59

Yeah, that's a a great point because you can also price yourself out of that return by overspending if you're in a community with all laminate countertops and you go for the highest of the high-end um, you know, choice, you're not gonna get that money back, even though it's a great feature. Right. Um, in theory.

Jodi Rosko 9:20

Right. And mostly people um even if there's some things that are outdated, kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, um, they will look over that and be like, oh, I can do that, versus looking over things that are broken and not repaired. That makes them feel very nervous about the house. If they can tell that the house has been very well taken care of and it just hasn't really been updated, then that's a different feeling than if it feels like it just hasn't been taken care of. And that also goes for outside, like, are the plants all overgrown? Does it feel, you know, just have somebody maybe come and trim that up or lay some mulch or you know, clean out the weeds, you know, whatever that looks like, because that can that can also, and it's their first impression when they walk up and they're standing there waiting for the door to be opened.

Heather Fisher 10:08

Yeah, that first impression curb appeal and that front porch really sets the tone as to whether people are going to be adding uh, you know, value to every step of the tour from that moment forward, or if it's already a subtraction list and they're going to just be dinging it each step through. Um I looked up an interesting study. Um it was from some information that Zillow pulled, um, but they did a study analyzing more than 135,000 home sale photos, and they found um that homes with black front doors sold for $6,499 more than expected on the you know the estimate before going uh compared with similar homes that had different colored front doors. That is crazy. If we're talking about updates, I would say paint your door black. Paint your door, but paint it black maybe if it goes with the rest of it. Um it they found that buyers felt it read timeless and high-end and updated but not trendy, and that it photographed really well. Interesting. So I think that that um that last trip, that uh tip that photographing really well is something to think about if you're making choices specifically to go on the market. Um and again, that's something you're you know, your real estate agent that we can we can help you with.

Jodi Rosko 11:37

Yeah, so I mean, starting with curb appeal, when somebody comes to your property to take a look at it once you've put it on the market, um, that's the first thing they see, right? They're pulling up to it, they see the yard, whether it's, you know, in you know, a bunch of clover and leaves, you know, or whatever that is, or whether the yard looks m maintained and taken care of, same with the beds, um, you know, any the if the bushes are all overgrown and all of that, that's what they see. And then secondly, as you walk up, often you're you're arriving with your agent. The agent is now working on getting the door open, right? They have to usually have some kind of lockbox where they get the key out. So what so they're standing there looking at the front door, waiting for that to happen. So we often, often say, you know, paint that front door, give it a really fresh look if it's faded, if uh any of the paint around the trim is peeling, because that can happen, you know, a lot. And honestly, a lot of people don't ever go through their front door.

Heather Fisher 12:38

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 12:38

You just don't even look at it because you drive in your you know, garage and you go through that, and so go out and take a fresh look at what the whole front of your house looks like. And you may find that your door is faded or there's some peeling paint out there. And honestly, that is some of the best money spent just because first impressions, they're gonna make up their decision about your house in the first few seconds, outside and inside, and it doesn't cost a ton of money to paint the front door or you know, write around it, and they're definitely gonna be spending some time out there looking at it specifically, waiting while the agent opens the door.

Heather Fisher 13:16

I think it's true what Jody said. We go through our front doors so you know, never.

Jodi Rosko 13:22

And there's so many people who don't even have a key. Off I mean, you would so many people when we go to list their house, they're like, I don't know where the key to the front door is.

Heather Fisher 13:29

Yeah, we were in that boat when we sold in the fall, and and I never had a key to it. My husband thought he did, and we we didn't really find any key uh for the front door, so we changed the lock. But um but standing out there, uh don't just stand and walk through quickly, stand, look up. I think cobwebs, if you have any kind of a cover, awning, anything, um looking up to those corners for cobwebs and debris and and just leaves in the crevices, all of that is so simple to sweep out, power wash or wash down, wipe down, whatever needs to be done, because uh like Jody said, that buyer's gonna be standing there with nothing to do for a moment and their eyes are gonna travel the whole area.

Jodi Rosko 14:21

Yeah. Um and the other thing is walk the walk, right? And so uh so often the bushes have grown over the sidewalk partially or halfway, or you know, and so you're squishing around trying to like get around the bushes just to walk to the front door. Again, we don't do that ourselves.

Heather Fisher 14:39

So the grass, yeah, it's overgrown. Uh that width of the sidewalk, you can gain eight inches. Yeah, if you trim both sides, right makes a huge difference.

Jodi Rosko 14:52

So yeah, so um so curb appeal is super important, and then none of that stuff should be tons of you know, money. You can do it yourself or you can hire somebody to do some of the landscaping and and do some painting. If the shutters, if you have shutters on your house and they're very faded, again, you know, get those painted. It's not a ton of money, and it just really will make the house pop and look fresh.

Heather Fisher 15:15

Yeah. So this is the kind of list that um you know your agent can help you with, but the all of this can be gathered into one, you know, handyman type list um and done all at once. Um, a lot of these small projects that'll just make a big difference.

Jodi Rosko 15:33

Yeah. So kitchens and baths are, you know, b big, right? So um most of the time I don't tell people to remodel their kitchens and baths if they're um gonna sell the property because it's a big project, you have to manage it, it's gonna take time. I mean, if you have a couple years and that's something that you, you know, want to um live with yourself and enjoy, then okay. Um you're not gonna get a hundred percent return on investment on either of those things. It's high because those are things that are important to people. So it's probably 80, 70, you know, 70% for the bathrooms, maybe 80% for the um for the kitchen or something along those lines, um, a minor kitchen remodel. And that could potentially be painting the cabinets, um, replacing dated light fixtures, you know, adding a simple backsplash if you didn't have one or you need to do that. I mean, there are some things that you can update the hardware. Sometimes if you just take the hardware off the off the cabinets and put new uh more updated hardware. But in the end, on most of this, um if you spend the money, uh if you haven't spent the money, you're not gonna get that on the on the price, right? Yeah. If you spend the money and you get the same price, why do that? Just take a lower price, don't you know, rack your brain, don't spend the energy. You know, so it's okay because you aren't getting extra money for it, but you also didn't spend the money for it, right? So it's just like transferring it bucket to bucket, right?

Heather Fisher 17:00

Yeah, and the kitchen's a place where um you want to make sure those appliances that you're uh leaving with the house are in working order. So if there's anything that needs addressed there, um you know, that's something to consider watching for sales or something if you need to replace one of the appliances. But again, um you don't want to make choices and and create a snowball of either creating a mismatch situation or you know, making choices that might not be what a buyer would would want to do.

Jodi Rosko 17:35

Yeah. Um yeah, because because then it's you know, you're picking things, you're not gonna live there. There, you know, you're picking things that are in your style. Um, and so sometimes it's worth it. It just depends on what it looks like. Again, that's why you need somebody to come and take a look at it. Um it's hard to just have a global overall do this or don't do this. And that it's an emotional decision. So some things that you can do, you can re-glaze the tub instead of replacing it, like if you're in the bathroom. Um, and that can, you know, be very fresh looking instead of you know remodeling the whole bathroom, you can just re-glaze it. Um sometimes if you just put a new mirror and new light fixture up and maybe a new faucet, that can, you know, make a big difference without remodeling the whole bathroom. Um, and so there are ways to um to make it seem a little bit fresher. Caulk, sometimes like the caulking, it just is it needs to be c come out because it just you can't clean it anymore. And if you just have it re-caulked, the shower or bathtub, um, that can make a huge difference.

Heather Fisher 18:44

That was one we did as well before selling our last house. Um, you know, it's an older home and um hadn't been done in a while, and and we pulled all the old caulk out. I say we, my husband you did that and it, you know, just did all new caulk and it it does, it changes and freshens everything up, and it was not a big expense, and he did it himself, but you could have someone do that for not back. Back to the handyman list, yeah. Back to that handyman list, it's not gonna add up that quickly.

Jodi Rosko 19:18

Yeah. Um, paint, so um interior paint, exterior paint, if you if the house needs to be painted, if it's peeling, um, in general, if any kind of paint is peeling, that can cause you um problems for people who want to get FHA or VA mortgages. Um so we don't want to have any peeling paint anywhere, including uh sheds or any kind of outdoor thing on the back. Um so if they're peeling paint somewhere, that absolutely needs to address, be addressed. If it's just colors on the inside, um I think uh I think it's a it's a case-by-case basis, but especially if you're moving out of your property and you're um you're gonna ha be selling it empty, and so then there might be quite a few holes in the walls from you know pictures or whatnot, and um you had bright colors in the in the rooms, um it may be worth painting, because painting is not expensive. Um it's probably the one of the least expensive things that you can do to make the biggest impact. Yeah. And um, if you had bright colors, they might have made sense in your house with all of your furniture in there and everything. And so that might have been like, oh, that looked great. But when you take all that stuff out, if you're selling your house empty, um they don't make sense anymore. And now people just walk in and they're like, whoa, pink, whoa, orange, you know? And um it doesn't make sense in their brain because it doesn't have all the decor to go with it. And so then in that case, a neutral, fresh palette, since they have nothing else to look at, now they're looking especially for clean and neutral and you know, feeling like they can just move in there and it will go with their decor versus yours.

Heather Fisher 20:58

And that's an easier time to get it done all at once and have the house be, you know, a cohesive, neutral color is once you've moved your stuff out. Um so if that's something you know you're thinking might need done, again, let's talk, let's talk with your agent and figure out that timeline because it can be simpler um once the house is empty to just have that done as one of the final steps before cleaning.

Jodi Rosko 21:25

Yeah, but paint is definitely one of the least expensive things that you can do that makes a huge change in the in the property.

Heather Fisher 21:31

Yeah. Absolutely. And get some advice on the color for sure, because I know from choosing paint color, the word, oh, choose a neutral, choose a a gray, choose a white, whatever those words are. Just a hundred whites. Yeah, thousands. Let's let's be honest. Thousands of them. Um but they all lean differently for different reasons, and uh a lot has to do with, you know, what's your trim already look like, or is that being done too? What's You know, what does your countertops look like? All of it goes together and it's much um can be more complicated than just, oh, just paint it white, that's popular now. And you don't want to, you know, spend that money and have it just be, you know, off.

Jodi Rosko 22:16

Right, right, right. Um, okay, so flooring same, paint pests go with the flooring. So flooring. Um if the carpet is worn and stained, um, I usually tell people to replace it because that's back to feeling clean. And um if it's stained in a way that we can't get it clean, then um I would replace the carpet. Um and um because uh it feels yucky.

Heather Fisher 22:40

Yeah, yeah. And absolutely, there's lots of advice we can give um for each specific house as to um you know that that right neutral color or the tone that buyers are finding current or that goes well with the other things. You don't want to snowball into one change doesn't match the next change or what you already have existing.

Jodi Rosko 23:05

Yeah, yeah, and and um carpeting in the bathrooms, if that's happening, you know, if you're changing it anyways, I would not recarpet the bathrooms because we see that a lot too. So I would put some kind of an L VP in there or some kind of, you know, yeah.

Heather Fisher 23:21

I think there's such a sixties and seventies thing and the house I was in for 20 years had carpet in the bathrooms when uh when I bought it and you know, had to get that replaced. And it's hard to clean.

Jodi Rosko 23:34

Yeah, and then that feels yucky. So um, so yeah, so again, it's a case-by-case basis, but if it looks um like disrepair, then I would probably do something about that. And that is because again, like I was saying, buying a property is emotional. So people uh buy it, they make emotional decisions first, and then they will make rational decisions, but first they will have an emotional reaction to the house. And if the first reaction is, ew, there's stains all over this carpet, like that is not what you want to have it be, the first reaction to the house.

Heather Fisher 24:05

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And and it just sets the tone of everything they're thinking from that point forward.

Jodi Rosko 24:12

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 24:13

So um so let's talk about some updates that some people, um if they haven't talked to anyone yet, might think that they need to do. Um, but these are more the ones that you would do when you have years to enjoy them and you're doing them for you, and you're doing them without that expectation of this is going to bring me return on investment from a sale.

Jodi Rosko 24:39

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 24:40

So these are ones that, you know, if someone's told you, oh, do this, this, and this, uh let's let's think that through a little bit more, you know, over-improved kitchens. If you are gonna spend 40, 50, or more thousand dollars on your kitchen, do that while you are going to live there, enjoy it, upgrade everything that brings you excitement about that kitchen, uh, but not a good spend um to get that return on investment. You won't make those correct choices.

Jodi Rosko 25:14

Yeah, yeah. And you know, everything starts to get outdated the minute you do it. Um, and so think about how long it is you're gonna live there. And if you're gonna live there for, you know, five years or more, just do it the way that you want it and live with it and enjoy it. And, you know, I would say know that the more the more that you make it to your taste and not neutral, the more that might be a little bit of a problem when you're going to sell the property. But if you're gonna spend, you know, a decent amount of years there, then just do what you love. And and you can also do things that are neutral and then add your own style to it. You know, I wouldn't necessarily make the countertops be the, you know, the color or you know. Yeah. So you can do you can do things that you can put you could put wallpaper up that could be taken down easily versus something that is, you know, more permanent. Yeah, I would make the more permanent things more neutral if you're changing it. But don't feel don't feel like if I redo my kitchen, then I'm gonna get every last dollar out of it when I sell the property.

Heather Fisher 26:17

Yeah, absolutely. Um, bedrooms, keeping them as uh counting as a bedroom is important if you're doing remodels, um, you know, keeping that egress and um closet and and whatever made them an actual bedroom count.

Jodi Rosko 26:35

If you're switching it to a different function, um just have it be something that can be easily still a bedroom for the next buyer if they're yeah, like don't take the closets out and totally, you know, change it in a way that you know maybe take the doors off or open the doors or do something where now you had you had a you know three bedrooms and now you have two or you had four bedrooms and now you have three, because that will change the price of the house.

Heather Fisher 26:58

Yeah, absolutely.

Jodi Rosko 26:59

Not to say you can't use it as that, um, but just make sure that it can easily go back to a bedroom because um people people can't visualize putting it back if even if if you've changed it.

Heather Fisher 27:12

Yeah, yeah. And there's and it just changes how you can actually legally market it. So that one's it. Um high-end landscaping projects. Um back to what we were talking about before, the extent you really need to do is have, you know, garden beds cleaned out and mulch and all of that. So investing in any kind of huge outdoor spaces, um adding tons of new decks or patios or pool, outdoor kitchen. If you're going to enjoy those things, go for it. It sounds wonderful. Um, but as far as getting ready for an upcoming sale in the next year or, you know, five years, those are not the things that will bring you a return for the buyers.

Jodi Rosko 28:03

Yeah, I mean I would do things like trim your trees away from your house and you know, um make sure that there's not dead plants and or overgrown plants and just have it look clean and tidy. Um, you know, that's that's probably where I would stop at landscaping, honestly. If you're if you have a deck that t is dangerous because it needs to be replaced, that's different. So then that's something that you need to, you know, look into if the railing is loose or those kind of things. But not just like, hey, we should just add this extra paver patio or we should add, you know, whatever, this whole wall around the front, or you know, any kind of things like that. Um same with pools, and this is regional dependent, right? So some areas pools are you they're almost expected in some areas, right? Our area is um it's kind of like it's nice if you have one, it's it does it's may decrease your buyer pool for some people. They don't want a pool if they have little kids. Sometimes people get nervous about that, or if they're past a place where they don't want to take care of a pool. Uh some people really want a pool, and so it's kind of like it's kind of like a neutral for us in our area in the Midwest. Um other areas may be different, but I still don't feel like necessarily putting one in to sell your property is probably the best idea.

Heather Fisher 29:21

Correct, correct. Um, and then the last one is just uh highly personalized remodels. Um, you know, if you're choosing, if you're redoing uh bathrooms or you know, any area and you're choosing really distinctive tile or colors, surfaces, if you're doing that with the intent of I love this and it's my home and I'm gonna enjoy it, I am all for that. Go for it. Um if you're doing it as part of a plan to sell, um, stick with the neutrals or you know, maybe well absolutely consult first and see if it's a necessary upgrade.

Jodi Rosko 29:59

Do it at the next house, right? Yeah, yeah.

Heather Fisher 30:01

Yeah, awesome.

Jodi Rosko 30:03

Um carpet, you want you also same neutral, neutral c colors of carpet. Um, you know, back in the day we had lots of pinks and blues and mauves and burgundies and you know, yeah, all those kind of colors, greens, um, those aren't currently in, and so if you're gonna replace the carpet, you know, pick something very neutral um right now.

Heather Fisher 30:27

So yeah, neutral and i if you're replacing more than one area, uh the less flooring types you have in a house, the better. Uh the more uh the less jarring it is to transition between different types. So if you're replacing multiple things at once, choose this something that will work in all of them.

Jodi Rosko 30:49

Yeah, yeah. Um something I think we didn't talk about when we were talking about um things you should be looking at was um your H V A C and your window, like the big stuff. Um I don't I think we didn't talk about that. Yeah, so um roofs if it's been 15 years, you might need to have the roof looked at to see what's gonna happen there. Um if a roof is really at the end of its um life, sometimes you can't get a mortgage on it. So um, you know, roofs are maintenance. But that's back to is it deferred maintenance or not? And so there's no there's no uh it is what it is, I guess is what I'm gonna say, right? It if it needs help, if it needs replaced, then that's what needs to happen. But we don't want to figure that out once we're under contract and now it's a big deal and we're trying to figure out what to do with it. So I would take a look at that. Um same with your HVAC and your water heater. I'm not saying replace things that aren't broken. I'm saying um, especially with your HVAC, I would have um a company come out and service it, uh, make sure that it's all in good working order, and you know, they will put little stickers on there that they've been there to service it. And that I think gives people peace of mind and gives inspectors peace of mind that somebody has just recently been there, um, done the service on it, it's all cleaned, you know, out and whatnot. Um if you have dirty filters and things like that, when they come to do the inspections, people get really worried that the HVAC system hasn't been taken care of and isn't gonna work. So um, so and as you own a home, if you have them come out every six months and service it, that's it will honestly like make it last so much longer. So I think people think, uh, you know, that's not important, but it really is. Like it really will make your system last longer and um give people more peace of mind as you're living through it. But even if you haven't done that and you're, you know, that ship has sailed, um, I would have some them come out and look at it and put that sticker on there showing that they have looked at it and they feel like it's all good. Windows, um, if I would probably not replace the windows. Um you you are definitely not gonna get 100% back on the windows, even if they need to be replaced. Um, that is something that I'd probably let the next people do.

Heather Fisher 33:07

Yeah, I think it's all about that expectation, and we talked about that in our recent episode about whether our houses have become a burden to us and how to tell that all of these big mechanicals have that lifespan and they're just going to cycle through, depending on how long you lived there, two, three, four times that you'll have to do that. And so just make that part of the strategy. It doesn't all necessarily need to be done before you sell, but that expectation of where am I at in the life cycle of this, and do I need to expect to address that in the price I get for the home or what's asked for in inspections, yeah. Um, and just being aware of that full strategy of where it's at.

Jodi Rosko 33:52

Back to windows. If they're leaking or if it's wood rotted or, you know, or they're broken, then you do have to replace them. So I won't I when I when I was saying don't replace them, I'm saying don't look at them and think, oh, those don't have the best, you know.

Heather Fisher 34:06

Just old.

Jodi Rosko 34:07

Yeah, they're old and you know, air, yeah, what air quality, you know, like can come through them or whatever. So I should replace them. That's when it's no. If they're leaking, if the wood is rotted, um then or if they're cracked, then you do have to replace them. So again, um not just in like they're old. Yeah. Yeah.

Heather Fisher 34:28

So um some um free or almost free things that um you can do if if you're uh DIY or easily um you know can hire someone. This is on that handyman list, some things to think about if you are um you know doing this reality check to get ready to sell, um, decluttering and pre-packing. Gosh, we have so many episodes on tips for this. Um, but if you're um getting ready to sell, just part of that um, you know, cleaning, get started on that. Um it can make your rooms look larger and people will be focusing on the house, not your stuff.

Jodi Rosko 35:11

Yeah, you're selling space and when you have less in there, you it seems like the space is bigger. And when you are looking through the eye of a camera, um taking pictures of properties, the more stuff that's in the house, the harder it is to see the room, and the more um your eye just goes all over the place and you just don't know what to focus on, um, versus and you it looks different through the eye of a camera in pictures than it looks in real life. So for example, like we're very we want not a lot of things out when we do our listings and when we have people take pictures of of their house. So even to the point where I don't want soap on the counters in the bathrooms because that looks weird in a picture. Um you just want it to be very, very clean and simple. Now, when you go to s to um have people come look at the property, totally fine to have soap because it doesn't seem weird at all. It's so in pictures, it's different. And so um when you start to get your house ready, you're really getting it ready for the pictures, which is a different level of you know, decluttering. Madness. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because think about that. I mean, you don't look at magazine photos of you know a pretty house and see their you know dial soap container like you know, on the sink. Like there is no no picture of any magazine that has soap on the counter.

Heather Fisher 36:33

Correct. So yes. So um deep cleaning goes right along with that. The more um, you know, it can be spotless, fresh scents, um, getting rid of odors and dust bunnies and all of those things, baseboards, clean, ceiling fans, the grout, that is something to definitely invest in. Um taking a look at your furniture arrangement, um, either reducing some of the furniture early or um, you know, does this make it easy to walk through? Um, not necessarily the way it worked best for when I'm living here, but making sure the pathways are clear and you're not, you know, knocking knees on the coffee table to get from the bedroom to the kitchen and and those type of things.

Jodi Rosko 37:20

I think the big one for me I see the most is that you have the couch like across the opening of the family room because it faces the TV or whatnot. And it's fine to do that when you're living there and and and it might be like an L-shaped couch or it might just be a couch with some chairs. But um when if you move it to the wall, then it just opens up that whole space and makes it really feel like it's so much bigger. Um, and so it doesn't even need to be different furniture sometimes, it just needs to be in a different configuration, which might not be the best for TV watching, but we're selling the house, we're not watching. I you know, you might have to just, you know, let it go for a little bit and have it be not quite as convenient.

Heather Fisher 38:01

Yeah, reduce a chair or two and and just make it easy to walk around and have people envision how much space it has. Um lighting, this is a big one that's pretty simple. Um making sure your light bulb, the the tone tone's not the right word, the color, the tone um matches throughout the house. Um you know warmer lights versus cooler lights. There's so many different varieties. Um but whatever you have, you know, go with it, have it match, have it be um there, make it bright, yeah, bright, and um, you know, light bulbs working in all the lights. If you have to have someone, you know, come to, you know, a can light that you can't reach that you haven't replaced in 10 years because you can't reach it, now's the time. Um, you know, get all those light bulbs in the chandeliers working, bathroom have good lighting for the mirrors, um, just replace all those bulbs um with the right wattage. Um, you know, I'd have to get get do some more research on all there's so many choices, but right um, you know, just having that clean, bright feeling and the switches um, you know, turning on the light when you walk in a room.

Jodi Rosko 39:17

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Light makes a huge difference. And it is so irritating to me when like you have light, you know, the bathroom light and there's like two or three light bulbs and like two are one color and one is another color. Like it's just super off-putting, and that's annoying because they all work, but you still have to like replace them with the same package so that they all look the same.

Heather Fisher 39:37

Yeah, replace them all at once.

Jodi Rosko 39:39

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And if something's wrong with the doorknob or there's, you know, big patches of you know, some like you see dirt somewhere. I would you know, the magic eraser is actually magic. So I would try that. So, you know, if there's scuffs or something before you even repaint like a whole wall. Be careful, because you can take some a bunch of the paint off. But if you just do that gently, sometimes that can make the difference, or Clorox spray or something like that, where you don't have to repaint the whole thing if there's some dirt from little hands or something like that.

Heather Fisher 40:06

Well, even you know, going in and out of your house and we we just get a different um, you know, blinders on our eyes of how we see our own house, and if you, you know, kind of come in and shut the door with your hand, you're good as gonna have those fingerprints in that same pattern and you don't see it when you're living there. So trying to go through with those different eyes and just wipe that stuff down makes a big difference.

Jodi Rosko 40:32

Right. So, yeah, if you um if you have questions, you need to just reach out to us. Um, we're happy to talk to you about your your own specific property. Um, if you need an agent, we can help you with that. So um again, downsizingroadmap.com, reach out to us and we're happy to help.

Heather Fisher 40:50

Yeah, we'll talk to you next time. Thanks. Thanks for joining us on the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who might need a little downsizing inspiration. Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Reach out to us on our website, www.downsizingroadmap.com. Until next time, let's keep simplifying and moving forward.