Anyone want to criticize a home?

[Wenjie]

I'm planning to renovate with the intent of selling in a year. The first picture is from a home that sold four months ago for much less. The second sold exactly one year ago for much more. Similar size, location, and listed price. What renovation mistakes do you think the first home made (compared to the other) so that I can avoid making the same mistakes.

@NameChangedForAChange Yes. But I bought at the height of the market for one-bedrooms, so I'd like to do more to try and maximize my offer and reduce the time it sits on the market (she recommended we vacate the premises while it's on the market, which will be pricey if it sits for months). But I'm afraid to do something wrong. Like both of the bathrooms I posted must have cost over $30,000 for the renovation, and one recouped that money while the other didn't.

@Wenjie I'm a Scot who visited and fell in love, and now have been here forever (40 years!) so been around the area.

When we last sold 3+ years ago we began with the idea of getting a small condo, but failed entirely and ended up downsizing to a larger house. It was stressful and fun at the same time, but getting the right realtor who really knows the market locally and currently saved our bacon. MN helped me through the sale and the purchase of this house, and I could not have done it without them. Biggest advice is declutter, make it clean and fresh and let the market do what it will.

Selling in Silicon Valley thread

@2018SoFarSoGreat Thank you! "let the market do what it will" is good advice. It's hard to follow with my anxiety rising, but I will try my best!

The brown furniture is very dated - get these spray painted in situ.

Even if are a couple of roads away from each other, location could make a big difference if they are in different school catchment areas or one is in a residents parking zone and one isn't.

I think they both look nice and very similar too design wise.