When is Enough Enough?

Our efforts to get our house "ready" for the market are in full swing.  "Ready" being the interesting concept.  When we met with our Realtors earlier this year, they provided a laundry list of items that should be upgraded to make the house more attractive to every potential buyer, neutral color schemes, freshened paint, new carpets, tile, counter tops, etc, etc, etc.  When they were done with their "Wish List", a quick total in my head would have cost us over $30 thousand dollars, and our home is only 23 years old and has been well cared for.

So we have taken their list and prioritized tasks, looked for good bargains (love Lowe's 10% discount for military members) and have carefully accomplished things in a pay-as-you-go manner.  Using our sharp pencil, we've done much of the work ourselves, when the job is beyond us, we've carefully selected good contractors to do the work.  We are now pushing $9 thousand dollars spent so far.  We estimate another $5-6 thousand dollars and we'll be where we want to be.  We've realized there is a tipping point where money spent will not equal return on investment.  Of course the Realtors want more done to get a higher selling price so they can get a bigger commission.

Enough has to be enough, but little things creep in, I can do this, touch up that, rearrange the other thing...and it will be better.  As hard as it is, we're going to have to draw a line and stop or we'll have to hock the Journey to pay for these additional things.

Before you think our house is falling down, it's not.  We've carefully taken care of it and did many upgrades, all appliances have been replaced, all systems, heat, air conditioner, hot water heater upgraded with better and more efficient units.  New roof, new siding, repaved driveway, etc, etc, etc.

The preparations are becoming almost an addiction, and to let it get out of control means we'll never get done.  So we're drawing a line, it'll have to be good enough.  After all, chances are the buyer will repaint the rooms, change the tile and so forth.  I'll let them spend the time and effort.  I can quit anytime, really...

In the mean time, there is one "Enough" that we have, or I should say Marti, has completed.  She's given her boot the boot.  Her ankle is doing very well, the bone has healed and she is having rehab therapy twice a week.  She now wears a brace on her ankle and in a week or two will be free of that, too.

 In no time she'll be back training for that marathon she's been dreaming about. ;c)

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