Could you sell it as a tear down? instead of spending money. What is the condition of the rest of the house--kitchen? bedrooms, walls, heating, under house etc. If you did fix it up, do you have to get permits? Even if you did fix it up would you get your money out of it. Also is your mom still alive and/or who legally owns it.

Your suggestions make sense to me. If everything is fresh and new you will sell quicker and at a higher price. If the area is already depressed, the sale may take a long time anyway and it sounds like the current condition of the house would really turn people off.

You may want to paint some of the paneling white too, especially if it is not nice wood paneling, and paint the trim and doors to brighten it up. If you can do the work yourself it should be too expensive. I wouldn't pour tens of thousands in, but a few thousand may really help people see a cute little house and not a wreck.

You should talk to a realtor as well, and see what they think.

I'd paint all of the panelling & any wood trim or doors a rich creamy white (NOT builders white!) - if you can do it yourself, your only cost is the paint, and it will improve the house dramatically. Also agree with gmp3 about talking to a Realtor to see what they suggest, since Realtors know the area better than we do.

I agree about talking to a realtor. It sounds like you are handy, so retiling the bathrooms, redoing the floors, and painting the trim and paneling wouldn't cost much money. I think they are probably all worth doing.

I would hold off on sinking too much money and time into the space until you can get a handle on what your ROI would be. I would definitely speak with a couple of realtors to get their opinions.

You say you're in a depressed area, would you get much of a return on, let's say, $5,000 you would spend to redo the things you mentioned? What are comparable sized homes selling for in the area? (Note, not what are they LISTED for, what are the ones that are actually selling SELLING for?) What is the range / variance in those prices based on condition? Is the land the most valuable part of those listings?

How much is your time worth to you? (Not that it's any of our business, but questions to consider: if your sister disagrees with fixing it up, are you going to be doing this alone, only to split the proceeds with her? or is this to get the most money out of it for your mom?)

Make a list of fixes, starting with the lowest cost and effort (painting probably first) and start there. As ottawavalleygardener mentioned, a little paint goes a long way to freshen up a place.

Since the area sounds economically depressed, buyers are probably looking for bargains and know they might have to do some repairs. I'd put in the absolute least amount of work in order to make the house presentable, and then keep the price as low as possible. Painting all the paneling is an inexpensive way to brighten the interior, and then maybe just fix the MBR shower and the main bath tiles. The new owner can do the rest.

You need to make it a little better than its competition, whatever you decide. If it's an as-is, it should be the best as-is in the area. If it's a fixed-up ranch house, it should be the best fixed up ranch house in the area. I personally prefer to fix places up before I sell them. There's value in any work you do. You can figure out what a house like that would sell for in its current state, and then what it would sell for if you painted it, refinished the hardwood floors, fixed the bathrooms. I bet it would be worth fixing. If you could post pictures, we could give you ideas. I agree with what someone said about painting the paneling creamy white, not builder's white. I've painted paneling before and used a warm cream color. It looked fantastic. Do a careful job on the paneling otherwise it will look like cheap painted paneling. Use the right primer.

What state are you in?

I assume you are going to empty the house, and then paint and refinsh and retile. I would not hang pictures or curtains. The rooms will feel sunnier with a light neutral paint on the walls and no curtains. The house should look more spacious that way.

You need to decide if you are willing to invest money and then possibly wait for a sale to get top dollar, or want a quick sale and reduced carrying costs.

I have purchased numerous 'old lady' houses over the years (not all from ladies or the living).

I have a good ongoing business in renting some of the houses, lived in one for ten years before selling, and have managed to give sellers (or estates) a decent return and a quick sale.

Things have not gone as planned occasionally over the years (more costly repairs than anticipated, market downturns) and those house in particular had to be held longer to make money.

I did a lease with option to buy on one and the option was exercised after 3 years.
The buyer had bad credit from a failed business when he rented, but managed to recover and exercise the option nicely.

He got a very good house, I made some money.

Brickeyee, OT and I apologize but am curious if you are still buying homes to rent? With the depressed housing prices, statistics show people prefer to rent rather than buy.

Seems to be a good market for buying potential rental property.

Jane

I picked up to REOs last fall (boy are the banks dumb).

One is low enough priced it may sell easily, the other will likely be rented out.

I will continue looking for others.

The downturn has made the value of houses NOT in great condition even lower (like the ones with 60 year old kitchens).

I second the ideas of getting realtors' opinions and also spending the least amount of money to make the home attractive.

Painting the paneling in a least some of the rooms would not be expensive or time consuming and would make a huge difference. Also fixing the shower is a must.

Re painting paneling, you can prime/paint as is or else fill in the groves and the end result will look just like drywall. Depends on if you want to put the extra step in of filling grooves and sanding smooth.

Speaking from experience, painting dark paneling can make a huge difference in the appearance of a space.

How thick is the paneling?

Is it solid wood?

Is it thin paneling over drywall?

I picked up tWo REOs last fall (boy are the banks dumb).

I'm wondering if your mom was/is older and couldn't keep up with maintenance (understandably)? If so, perhaps doing a home inspection would be worth it before sinking any money into renovations. Just thinking that if there was some big problem lurking then any renovations could prove worthless.

Otherwise, I would probably focus on painting only and just sell it.