3014 Louisa Ave Louisville KY

By on June 15, 2018

Real Estate Preparation

For our clients on Louisa Ave, we painted the kitchen ceiling, upstairs trim, and the paneling in the living room. This may not seem like a lot of work, but the kitchen ceiling had four drywall patches that needed to be skimmed with mud, the upstairs trim needed to be caulked and puttied, and the living room paneling had to be caulked and primed before 2 finish coats were applied. All of this would have been contracted out for around $1,000. We did not charge this client a dime for labor or materials because we used leftover paint, caulk, and drywall mud from previous jobs. Not only, did we save our clients a thousand bucks, but we saved them the hassle of finding a contractor to improve the presentation of their home. We were able to list this home and shoot a walk through video within one week from starting the project.

As you can see in the before and after photo of the living room, the white paint improves the room’s appearance compared to the green color. The paneling is painted with Benjamin Moore Advance Semi-Gloss (White Dove). The Ben Moore Advance product line has 4 different sheens: matte, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. The semi-gloss sheen has a shiny finish that enhances the paneling and trim creating a nice contrast with the beige walls. (In my opinion, I think the gloss sheen is too shiny.) In this scenario, we did not have to paint the walls because they were in good condition and the White Dove color is a good pairing for the neutral beige walls. Insert Timelapse Video Here

The value of the painting is subjective from a monetary perspective, but it reduces a buyer’s negotiating leverage since the home is move-in ready. The improved presentation also increases the demand for multiple interested buyers. Therefore the move-in ready home has a better chance for selling at a higher price. And a move-in ready home is easier for us to sell because the condition of the home will sell itself especially in a market with low inventory.

We listed this home on Thursday, April 6th, and promoted the open house on Sunday with our walk-through video. We used Facebook, LinkedIn, and Youtube to target local residents who have recently visited home buying sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. Videos are very practical to promote a home because buyers can see the entire floor-plan of the home and grasp how every room connects. We received an offer the first day this home was on the market and we had around 15 different guests at the open house.

On Monday, April 9th, my client accepted the initial offer of $230,000 with a closing cost allowance of $4,000 paid by the seller to the buyer. The next hurdle was agreeing to repairs from the home inspection. The rear wall on the detached garage had structural damage and there were minor electrical and plumbing repairs that needed to be fixed. After a couple weeks of gathering several quotes and professional opinions on the garage wall an agreement was reached. The seller and buyer both agreed upon a monetary allowance of $3,550 in the form of a certified check exchanged at closing from the seller to the buyer.

The transaction was smooth sailing from there because the home appraised at a value of $230,000. On May 29th, our client’s closed on their home at Kentuckiana Title. We really enjoyed working with our clients who were very cooperative and patient with the entire process. After two months of working on this transaction, the keys are finally exchanged and both parties were happy to have reached a win-win agreement.

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“Value Starts With Doing Something Others Aren’t Willing To Do”

303B North Third St, Bardstown, KY 40004