For Deb Muller, finding the road back home has taken about 30 years. She was born in Oregon but moved with her family to the Chicago area when she was four. Ever since she has wanted to return. Permanently. Her parents have already done so.
“I’ve always called Oregon `home,’ ” said Deb, an Elgin resident. “I met my husband 14 years ago in college and told him then I wanted to go back.”
Tom, Deb’s husband, has grown to love Oregon after vacationing there. He works for a national insurance company and chances are good he can transfer. The Mullers hope to relocate next summer before school starts.
After nailing down Tom’s new job, the next order of business will be selling their house. James M. Johnston Sr. of Re/Max Horizon in Elgin recently consulted with Deb and offered advice on how to make a speedy sale.
“We’ve done the major projects except for the downstairs bathroom,” Deb told him. “What else is worth doing? Will someone accept that it’s a used house? What can we let slide and still sell quickly?”
Like most of the homes in their subdivision of Sunset Park, the Mullers’ Cape Cod was built shortly after the end of World War II. It features three or four bedrooms, two full baths, a family/dining room addition, a basement and a one-car detached garage.
During the four years they have lived here, the couple refinished the first-floor hardwood floors, carpeted the second floor, and installed new kitchen cabinets and countertops. Deb, a seasoned seamstress and crafter, also plans to make curtains for one of the children’s bedrooms, stencil the living room walls and hang wallpaper in several other areas.
Johnston admired the work the Mullers have put into their house and then urged caution about proceeding further. “I take a practical approach as opposed to a how-I-feel approach,” he said. “Your market is most likely a first-time buyer. The things that will be important are space, location and schools. Think utility, not general decorating.”
In the living room, for example, he would skip Deb’s proposed stenciling project but repair a stress crack in the ceiling. He also suggested having the hardwood floors buffed and waxed right before putting the house on the market.
He expressed similar sentiments when Deb showed him the second-floor childrens’ room, where she plans to make curtains in bright primary colors. “If you’re handy and like to do it, fine,” he said “but making a lot of stuff you always wanted right before you sell the house doesn’t make sense.”
Johnston pointed out two areas where he would re-do a previous owner’s ill-fashioned improvement projects. The first concerns the air conditioner, which is built into a dining room wall and fitted with heavy layers of duct tape. A dressier appearance could be created with a frame of wood molding, he said.
The second problem is similar: When a metal fireplace was installed in the family room, wads of foam insulation were used to fill the gap between the ceiling and the chimney.
“Anybody buying today will have a building inspection if the house is over 10 years old,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t look safe.”
Other utilitarian spruceup suggestions he gave were to re- grout the wall tile in one of the bathrooms and to re-paint the front and back stoops.
“This is a lot less than I thought I had to do,” said Deb. “We buy houses and fix them up. It’s our hobby. I think other people want a house to be perfect.”
“People in this price range don’t expect you to make their day,” said Johnson. “They want all the house they can get for their money and then they want to make your house their house.”
Let us help you sell
Thinking about selling your home? If so, Your Place may be able to help.
If you would like an expert to give you specific advice on what to do to your house to increase your chances for a quick sale-at the highest possible price-write to Selling points, and we might select your home to be part of this weekly feature.
Send us a note telling us where you live, what kind of house or condominium you live in and why you are thinking of moving. (Please include your phone number.)
We will review the letters and select several, from different areas, to receive a professional evaluation from an area real estate agent. You will have no obligation to the agent, but we will run an article describing what the agent suggests and what you think of the suggestions.
If you are interested, write to Selling points, c/o Your Place, 4th Floor, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611.
No telephone calls will be accepted; we will contact you if your home is selected.
