I have heard some say “I’m not doing anything to this house and I want to sell it ‘as-is’. I don’t need to do anything because it’s going to sell no matter what “.   While this is pretty much true in our real estate market here in Portland and surrounding areas, it does not necessarily get you your highest net profit from selling your home. Again, we fall back to that end goal of the Seller.  If you don’t have a few thousand dollars laying around to do some basic updates (paint/carpet) if needed, then it is what it is and you roll with it. On the other hand if you do have the funds/ability to do the basics of paint/carpet when needed, I believe you get every penny of that back and some, while also opening you up to a bigger slice of the homebuyer pool (meaning those that don’t want a complete ‘fixer’) which in the end can net you more profit. The goal should be to do what you can and what allows you to put the most eyes on the property in efforts to get the cleanest, best terms, offer possible.  A home that has old musty worn out carpet and needs complete interior paint will sell, but the same house with new carpet/flooring and interior paint will sell for more.  Of course, when it comes to getting some of these update items done, it’s always helpful to know a well connected real estate agent that deals with contractors and vendors daily. Wink wink.

The market here in Portland area is nutty right now. Almost nothing sits on the market for more than 4 days without going PENDING. Almost every single offer I have written in the past few months has been competing with a minumum of 4 offers and up to 23 offers! I have seen homes go for 100K over the asking price while waiving inspections and covering the entire appraisal gap if needed (Typically in a competing offer situation here now, you have to do one of these in some form in order to even get a seat at the table, along with your WELL over asking price offer).