Moving--House needs some work

[dharmamama]

Hi all. Dh and I are planning to move sometime this year. We will be moving to the city dh grew up in so he can pursue better job opportunities. I am pretty excited about it. We will be closer to the in-laws and their summer campsite, the city will be bigger and will offer more cultural opportunities, there is a HUGE homeschool group I have already connected with, and dh will be making more money.

HOWEVER:

The house we are living in now needs some work. None of it is major, but it's a long list of small things that will cost us a couple thousand dollars and take some time. We don't have much extra money or time and I am starting to freak out about how we will ever get our house ready to sell.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to do this frugally? Also, can anyone give me some advice on how we should go about moving? It seems like trying to find a job, buy a new home, and sell our house all at the same time would be an insane amount of work. We have never made a major move before and I am kind-of at a loss for what to do.

Namaste!

[GibbieLulu]

I'm not sure where you are located, but see if you have a Habitat for Humanity store near you. You can look them up online. They usually carry lots of home and building supplies for really good prices. We have a large one near us, and we have been able to do lots of projects here because of the low prices there.

The one near us carries everything from used furniture to doors, windows, bath fixtures, flooring, cabinet hardware and lighting. Definately worth checking it out.

[momto l&a]

A house can be sold "as is" or as a "fixer upper"

We sold our last house as a good starter home, needs some upgrades. We sold it as is because we had to get moved ASAP due to dh's job.

We made good money off the house and sold it before we moved, though of course the sale wasn't complete for another month.

The entire moved caused a lot of stress but we survived and are doing well 3 month later


Declutter like crazy. Pack up what you don't need for awhile and store it.

When the actual moving day arrives make sure that everything you need for the first night and for a couple of the following days is easily accessible. Have a box just for cleaning supplies and keep that handy also.

[lolar2]

For the move itself, Flylady's Moving Tips (on her website) are helpful. We've used them for four moves now, going on a fifth.

[1growingsprout]

what types of things are you thinking need fixing/updating??
it may be worth the few $$ to have a home inspection done now. so you know exactly what you need to have done...

check craigslist for stuff.... start decluttering and selling items... continue on the pantry challenge...do NOT buy anything unless its 110% necessary...

start cleaning, do one extra thing a week... keep up on the laundry...

do you Work outside the house?? if not could you possibly swap babysitting for home improvement?


YOU CAN DO THIS... can you post what things need to be fixed? im sure we can give you some ideas

[ILoveTwins]

:
I'm in the same boat as you. We're selling our house and the realtor suggested small projects to lessen the sell-time. I'll be looking at others responses. So far I've just been packing everything we don't need to reduce clutter and the stress of moving when we finally do as I'm pregnant and can't imagine right now being in the middle of moving with toddler twins and an infant!!! (STRESS!!!)
Good luck!

[wombatclay]

subbing...

We're trying to find a house outside town so we can cut cost-of-living/get some fresh air for the kids (and us!). But that means selling the home we thought we'd have another 3-4 years to get "market ready" (we asked a realtor friend, and the price they'd list at now just isn't enough...the projects HAVE to be finished).

We have several projects partly done and now need to finish them sooner rather than later...drywall the attic, replaster and paint several rooms (old house, damaged plaster walls/ceiling in some rooms), refinish the floors on the second floor, empty the basement (scaaaaaaary full of 3 years worth of DIY project "leftovers that will certainly be useful someday"), and find some way to repair a number of outside structural elements despite the snow!

Argh! And DH and I both WOH, we have a toddler, and babymort is due in June...

[dharmamama]

The main big project we have is waterproofing the basement. Any ideas on that?

The rest of the stuff:

drywall some places where the plaster cracked

repaint the stairway area

do something about the carpet the kids trashed

pull up carpet/put down linoleum in kitchen

patch some holes in the bedroom wall where our son tried to hang on our shelf and ripped it out of the wall

repaint a door our dog scratched up

fix a wall where our son dented it with a toy hammer

repair broken concrete front step

Namaste!

[wombatclay]

For the basement...how much water are we talking?

We used a paint on waterproofer called "Drylock". I don't want to think what they put in it, but it can be applied directly to cinder block/masonry and it does the job. The color choices aren't amazing, but there are a few options and you can paint over drylock.

If you've got water stains on drywall/sheetrock then a few coats of an oil based primer/paint should take care of any bleeding you might have.

A few tubes of silicone caulk around window and door seals can stop leaks there...and check the seal around inset pieces of glass in the windows/door as well...sometimes these leak more than you think they could!

Gutters or downspouts that empty along the foundation or which angle back towards a foundation wall can be to blame as well. Check the drainage (use a bucket or hose). A little quickset cement can be used to "angle" water away from the foundation, or you can reposition the downspout or add one of those drain bottom guides that moves the water away from the foundation.

And a dehumidifier might be a good investment as well. You could always take it with you when you move (or convey it if you don't want/need it in your new home). The one we have fills it's 5 gallon bucket in a surprsingly short amount of time and made a big difference to the basement's feel.

If you have a bigger problem, and need a sump pump, then it starts getting messy. Is this where you're at, or are smaller fixes enough?

[Emmeline II]

How about a home equity loan?

[Kavita]

I would start with the job first.

As far as your current house--have you talked to a realtor?

Before doing anything, I would find a good realtor that you trust. You should get some input on the value of your home with a market analysis of similar homes in your neighborhood, and how soon comparable homes are selling in your area. A lot of times, small improvements in your house (paint, cleaning) can make a difference of thousands of dollars when you consider the amount you will be able to sell your house for, and/or could make a difference in the amount of time that it would take to sell. None of the repairs you are talking about individually seem like big deals financially or in terms of difficulty with the possible exception of the basement and the carpet/linoleum. Your house doesn't sound at all like a fixer-upper, these are all just minor/cosmetic repairs maintenance. It may be very worth it to just take a loan at a decent interest rate if spending $2000 now will make a difference in getting $5000 more for your house. There are a lot of articles online about how to get your house ready to sell, inexpensively and what makes a home appealing to a potential buyer. But I think also that it depends on when you are actually ready to move, because you don't want to be paying interest for a year more than you need to. I would start with the easy and inexpensive things first, and ones that kids are unlikely to mess up in the meantime--spackle and paint don't cost too much, you can often find paint at a discount at the hardware store that has been rejected by people because it is a shade too light or dark for what they wanted. I would leave replacing the messed up carpet until later, because it will cost a bit more and could get messed up again if you stay in the house for many more months before moving. I would just pick one of the simpler projects (like the door or the stairway area) and figure out what you will need to do to fix it, and list what materials and time will be needed to do it, who is going to do it, and then just make a timeline to get it done.

We are also in the process of getting ready to move across the country, and are in the same boat of figuring out what we need to fix/replace/etc. One thing I am doing, which was previously suggested, is decluttering a lot, and then packing up some of the things that I don't use on a frequent basis that could even be put in storage here or in the new city. Examples from my house are books, outgrown kid clothes/diapers/gear that are being saved for the next baby, camping equipment, etc. It is really helping to have less stuff around--it will give you a clearer mind to have the house emptier of stuff, and give you room to do the projects. (Like if you have to move things to paint in one room, for example, there will be space in another room to put those things.) It will also make it a LOT easier to keep clean when you have the house on the market and need to have it ready to show.

[1growingsprout]

Originally Posted by dharmamama

The main big project we have is waterproofing the basement. Any ideas on that?

The rest of the stuff:

drywall some places where the plaster cracked

repaint the stairway area

do something about the carpet the kids trashed

pull up carpet/put down linoleum in kitchen

patch some holes in the bedroom wall where our son tried to hang on our shelf and ripped it out of the wall

repaint a door our dog scratched up

fix a wall where our son dented it with a toy hammer

repair broken concrete front step

Namaste!

as for the kitchen floor, instead of typical linoleum they have 'tiles' you can stickie down. yes like giant stickers and they are dummy proof. check them out at homedepot or lowes...

repainting a door.. that should take less then an hr

2 wall fixes... if its a real HOLE... get a piece of cardboard(alittle bigger then the hole) and stick a wire thru it, use the wire to hold it in place. plaster over it, let it dry... snip off the wire... sand a bit and paint.... as for the dent in the wall... is it really noticable? get some plaster then sand and paint as noted above

repaint the stairs... do that when repainting the drywall fixes

replace the carpet right before you list the house... then have a strict NO SHOES NO FOOD NOTHING on the new carpet... heck cover it with plastic if needed

many times you can get 'oopsie' paint for a few bucks,

the list isnt as bad as i thought it would be...

you may need a pro for the cement steps, probably safer and cheaper to just re-do them all.... and dont forget to add flower pots or soemthing nice ot the front of the house..

[annethcz]

We're in the same boat. We've been thinking about moving for AGES, but DH is finally ready to actually DO IT. We also have lots of little projects to do (like repainting EVERY room in the house, due to kids writing on walls . It sounds like most of your projects are minor, cosmetic issues.

Originally Posted by dharmamama

The main big project we have is waterproofing the basement. Any ideas on that?

Is the water coming in all over, or just in one area? We have one wall in our basement where water seeps in near the foundation after a heavy rain. In this area, there is a concrete floor (no carpet or anything that could be damaged). The previous owners installed something they called a 'beaver dam.' Basically, it's a little waterproof barrier that runs on the floor, parallel to wall, 1-2 inches away from the wall. The barrier keeps the water from seeping onto the rest of the floor, and directs the water towards a floor drain. When we bought the house and had it inspected, the inspector told us this was a "temporary solution" that we would eventually have to fix by changing the grading of the soil around the house- however, it's worked well for us for 5.5 years, and we haven't seen a reason to fix it.

drywall some places where the plaster cracked

Time consuming and tricky if you don't know what you're doing. But the more you practice, the better you get at it We have the Home Depot 'Home Improvement 1-2-3' book, and it explains all sorts of different home improvements in a very easy to understand manner.

repaint the stairway area

If you're not picky about color, you can get "oops" paint at home improvement stores and paint stores. This is paint that was mixed the wrong color, or the customer decided they didn't want it after it had been mixed, etc. Some stores will sell oops paint for $5/gallon.

You could also look into your local recycling organization or garbage company. Our city and also a local recycling company will accept unused paint, which can then be purchased by the public- sometimes you can get it for free. Again, it helps to not be picky about the color

do something about the carpet the kids trashed

Is it a large area? Many home improvement stores and carpet stores will sell carpet remnants for cheap.

pull up carpet/put down linoleum in kitchen

You can do this yourself- but watch out for the nails and carpet tacks (ask me how I know ). If you are willing to settle for vinyl, the vinyl tiles are very easy to put down and are relatively cheap. We put vinyl tiles down in our kitchen a year and a half ago. I don't think they're all that great of a long-term (5+years) solution, but they work well for the short term. Vinyl tiles are much easier to lay than vinyl sheets or linoleum. You could also try pergo-type laminate floors. They are a little trickier to put in that vinyl tiles, but they look nicer, IMO. We've intalled laminate, and it wasn't too hard. It's pretty easy to snap and click together, the trickiest parts are near the walls. You can get laminate for cheap at Ikea, Lumber Liquidators, or at home improvement stores on sale.

patch some holes in the bedroom wall where our son tried to hang on our shelf and ripped it out of the wall

Again with the drywall- practice makes perfect. :

[/quote]repaint a door our dog scratched up[/quote]
Again with the paint. I actually don't mind painting (but then, I'm a chronic repainter- I'm constantly repainting my house!)

fix a wall where our son dented it with a toy hammer

did I mention practice?

repair broken concrete front step

I do know more people who have done their own concrete work, but I don't know that I'd attempt it myself the first time, especially in the cold. If you can frame it yourself, it's less expensive to have a concrete truck come and just pour the concrete for you (rather than have a contracter do the whole job for you).

[SleeplessMommy]

drywall some places where the plaster cracked

If it is just cracks (for example above door frames) try the fiberglass stick-on mesh from the paint department. And add many many small layers of spakle, until it looks right again. Plaster removal + drywall is an ugly messy job.

[krisnic]

Remnant carpet is an excellent deal. We got very nice berber carpet at Home Depot for a fraction of the cost and installed it ourselves. We had to rent some tools, but it wasn't bad.

Can you skim-coat the walls?

[lisac77]

As a PP suggested, I would do laminate flooring over linoleum or vinyl tiles. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to install, but make sure you get the kind that is meant to be used in the kitchen. Some types are not suitable in areas where it may be wet.

The other stuff sounds like basic DIY type things...

[2busy2clean]

The broken concrete step - how bad is it? If you just have some gaps/cracks in it, there is some concrete patch gunk, sold in a plastic bucket that you mix with water and it patches things like that. I used that on my concrete step (took all of an hour, spread out over 3 days) and that step looked wonderful.

Drywalling isn't hard, it is just a new skill that takes a little practice to perfect.

Drylock is what we used in our basement -- but then we discovered the crack that was leaking water. That crack was filled with a water proof concrete patch gunk that might have been made for swimming pools. Umm, it was also in a bucket, perhaps is was the same stuff I used on the steps?

btw, having btdt, s