When Karen and Scott McGinnis bought their brick bilevel home in Tinley Park a decade ago, they intended to stay only five years. Then the babies came along and Karen reduced her work hours. One thing led to another and the time passed. Now they truly need a larger home to accompany their family of five and Scott’s home office.
“We’re figuring we’d like to be settled before the start of the school year,” said Karen.
Before they start shopping for a new home, they’ll have to sell their present one. Karen and Scott asked Selling Points for some advice on how to make it most appealing to potential buyers. In turn, we arranged a consultation with Shari and Ron Krywanio of RE/MAX Team 2000 in Orland Park. The brokers recently met with Karen and made several suggestions.
Built in 1976, the home features three bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a kitchen and separate rooms for living, dining, recreation and utilities. Beige ceramic tile flows from the front entry and through the kitchen and dining room. The carpeting is beige. There’s also a two-car garage and large fenced back yard.
Since moving in, the McGinnises have replaced the furnace, air conditioning system, roof and most of the windows. They also replaced the dining room windows, which face the back yard, with a sliding glass door.
The Krywanios praised the neutral decor of the living and dining rooms, the first areas of the home a visitor will see. The walls are white and the sofas are beige with splashes of turquoise, mauve and black.
But the rooms are a bit stark, the brokers continued. Perhaps matching valances could be added–in mauve or turquoise–over the white vertical blinds in both rooms, they suggested.
Karen agreed that could be done. “The reason it’s neutral is we couldn’t decide what we liked so we left it this way,” she said.
One concern of the McGinnises is a crack in the patio outside the dining room sliding doors. Should the concrete slab be replaced? Karen asked.
The brokers vetoed the idea.
“Maybe just caulk,” said Ron Krywanio. “I wouldn’t advise calling in a contractor to make a major replacement.”
Instead, he recommended repairing the screen, which Karen said their children have torn by sliding the door by the frame.
“We’ve fixed it several times,” she added.
Ron Krywanio said the couple might consider installing a handle the children could pull more readily and lessen the strain on the screen.
In the kitchen, the sink’s sprayer attachment hasn’t worked since they moved in, Karen said. She’s adjusted, she explained. She hasn’t asked Scott to get it in working order because if they start replacing parts, she will want a new faucet, sink, counter top and back splash, she explained. Then they’d be getting into major money.
A prospective buyer will probably hire a home inspector, who will be looking for malfunctions such as the sprayer attachment, said Ron Krywanio.
“Just have it fixed and don’t worry about anything else,” said Shari Krywanio.
In the bedrooms, Karen demonstrated the family’s need for additional space by showing the brokers their full closets.
The brokers suggested they put their out-of-season clothing in storage while they are marketing the home.
“The idea is to make your house seem roomy,” said Ron Krywanio. “If buyers see your closets are stuffed, they think they won’t have enough room for their things.”
“You want as few things on the floor as possible,” added Shari Krywanio.
Like the living and dining rooms, the family room is void of color. The walls, sofas, carpeting and blinds are beige.
“This room needs something,” said Ron Krywanio.
Shari Krywanio suggested a valance in a soft color, perhaps something to match one of the decorative accents.
Elsewhere in the home, the brokers advised other modest spruce-ups, including touching up a few knicks in the woodwork, reattaching a wallpaper border that has come loose in a bedroom and having the carpets cleaned.
“Your home is very nice,” said Shari Krywanio. “You have a lot of nice upgrades that are important to buyers.”
“There is nothing costly for you to do,” said Ron Krywanio. “Just go over the details and you should get top dollar for your home.”
