Advice for Heirs Selling Mom’s House

‘Greedy, greedy makes a hungry puppy’

Photo by Binyamin Mellish at Pexels

Time to move?

Our present location in South Central Pennsylvania is pretty ideal for a retired couple in our situation. We live in a one-level, nicely appointed two-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex on a small lot, in a 55+ neighborhood. We’re near the end of a cul-de-sac, so there’s no through traffic. Walmart is less than a mile away, the YMCA is even closer, and it’s a short drive to a dozen different restaurants.

Our small city has grown large enough that several health networks have built new facilities nearby, making it rare that we need to travel any distance to see a doctor.

The one drawback is that our home is built on a slab, which contributes to my wife’s back pain. The floor is cold in the winter and has no “give” to it, sending shock waves through her system every time she takes a step.

Because of that, we keep our ear to the wind, willing to consider other housing that may become available. Our son, Josh, and his family are located in a smaller town 15 minutes from where we live. He texted us on Tuesday to tell us a house diagonal from them, across the street, just went on the market.

From the outside, the home is one of the nicest in that area. Louise and her husband, Don, bought it new in 2001. Don passed away about 10 years ago, and Louise moved out of the state in 2024 to be closer to one of her daughters.

For the past two years, her local kids have been holding yard sales on the property to get it cleaned out and ready for sale. Although we’d be giving up some of the benefits of where we live, it would only be a 15-minute drive from here, and we’d gain the proximity of our kids living less than 100 yards away.

Our son and his wife have a son and a daughter, ages 12 and 10. They just happen to be the brightest, most athletic, and talented kids ever. That’s not just my opinion; God thinks so too. Their only rivals live in Virginia with our daughter and her husband.

On Wednesday, I went to the website of the real estate listing company to request a showing. As soon as I hit “send,” my phone rang. It was a strange number, but I answered it on the odd chance it was from a realtor. It was. I set up an appointment for the next day, at 5 p.m.

From impressed to depressed

The large driveway with room enough to turn around in was cement, not blacktop. Nice. The two-car garage was oversized with separate doors. Nice. The landscaping was well-kept with trimmed shrubs and decorative trees. Nice.

The realtor, a pleasant young lady, Millie, opened the front door and invited us in. Everything that wasn’t bolted to something had been removed. No staging here. What that revealed was off-white laminate flooring throughout most of the house, with white walls, white cabinets, and white appliances. The blinds on the windows were…wait for it…white. So were the ceiling fans and doors.

It reminded me of a Woody Allen movie.

We were asked to put booties over our shoes to tour the house. Two things struck us: Nothing had been updated over the past 25 years, and although I wouldn’t call it a fixer-upper, it needed a lot of work.

The vent lights in the bathrooms looked like water had leaked into them at some point and left rust stains behind. Someone had cut an access hole in one of the closets to get to some pipes. They hadn’t bothered to patch the hole or cover it with a door.

The ceiling in one of the bathrooms was patched in several places. The patches were a different shade of white than the original parts.

One of the selling points was that the appliances were included. They would have done better to remove the microwave and fridge. The microwave was clearly as old as the house, and the water/ice dispenser in the door of the refrigerator was streaked with rust stains. Like a glass of water? No thanks.

The bedrooms were carpeted with light beige carpet and stains. I was glad we were wearing booties. Originally, I thought they were to protect the floor. Now, I think they were to protect our feet.

The basement was large, spacious, and unfinished. The smell hinted that the sump pump had malfunctioned a time or two. My wife’s throat started to close almost immediately.

The asking price

I know that housing prices vary greatly across the country, but in our semi-rural area, $450,000 will get you a really nice home. Comps for similar houses in this town are running at $385,000. With a price like that, prospective buyers expect to be wowed when they walk through the door.

Instead, I kept calculating how much time, work, and money it would take to bring this one back to its original glory. I said, “Wow,” but it was for an entirely different reason. Judging from the stains in the bathroom lights and patches in the ceiling, I’d say there’s a good chance it was time to replace the roof, too.

The realtor tried to point out a few positives about the property, but in the end, even she had to admit that, with a little effort and/or expense, they could have done a much better job prepping the house for sale.

I’m guessing they’re hoping a buyer from New York or Maryland will swoop in, thinking it’s a great price for that much square footage. That does happen in our area from time to time, but you might have just as much luck playing the lottery.

My advice

If the sellers were to ask my opinion, I’d tell them to spend several thousand dollars to have the house patched and painted, preferably not all white. I’d replace those vent-lights in the bathrooms and cover the hole in the closet.

Have the carpet in the bedrooms cleaned, if not replaced. Remove the kitchen appliances if you don’t want to pay for new ones. An empty space is better than being grossed out.

My final recommendation is to come down to earth on your asking price. Instead of thinking of a number that will pay off your gambling debts, think about a number that will get it off your hands before you need to pay for another year’s worth of property taxes and utilities.

I’m just saying.

On the positive side, at the end of the day, our present home looked better than ever.

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