dothanhomesearch.com

By: Michelle Beasley
REALTOR® Associate

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

I still remember my horror when I first saw the online picture of what would turn out to be my future home. You couldn?t really make out what the house looked like because of the overgrown shrubbery, huge trees, and the bad paint job. My first thought was there was no way I wanted to waste my time looking at a house that looked that bad. If it looks that horrible on the outside, it must certainly be just plain awful on the inside. Still, since this was the first house my husband had chosen for us to view, I reluctantly agreed to go. He called the listing agent to make an appointment.

My impression did not improve at all upon standing in front of the house. In addition to the problems we noticed in the picture, the entire front yard was filled with about 30 unkept azaleas in a natural area which took up 95% of the front yard. Horrid doesn?t begin to describe the curb appeal of this house.

Something changed however when we stepped inside. From the moment I entered through the red front door, I could see the huge potential for the inside of this home. I started changing colors and arranging furniture in my mind. My husband could see the potential as well, thinking about how a little elbow grease and lots of time could transform this train wreck into the home of our dreams. An offer was made, a deal finalized, and the Beasley family now lives in a fantastic home with lots of curb appeal.

The lesson here is that sometimes you have to look past the clutter to see the beauty. As real estate agents, we often have to hound sellers about the importance of curb appeal, because most buyers will not react the way we did. It is too easy for them to go on to the next house, because they have so many to choose from in the current market. However, don’t let your dream home escape your sights because it was disguised as a overrun and unkept shack.

Ask yourself these questions as you go through the search for your next home:

• Does the house have the rooms and room sizes that we need?
• Is this house in a location that we want?
• What exactly does this house need? Is it cosmetic items that cost little but require an investment of time?
• If there are repairs or improvements that will cost money, what is a realistic dollar amount?
• With a little TLC, will the market value of this house be more than what it is listed for?
• Do we have the time to devote to this project?

Asking yourself these questions might just help you realize that this diamond-in-the-rough would suit you just fine.

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1. Charles Woodall said at January 23rd, 2008 at 7:06 pm

   Welcome to Dothanhomesearch.com Michelle! Great first post!

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