State Specific Question About: ILLINOIS (IL)

I'm trying to get a house we've had as a rentasl for many years ready to sell. Its a 1700 Sq Ft, 3 bedroom ranch with a unfinished basement. It should probably sell between $150,000- 160,000.

In my opinion, Allure is too cheap to use in a single family property you're trying to sell.

I'm a longtime LL who is quite fond of using Allure in the first floor of my rentals (it's too noisy to use on the 2nd or 3rd floor). So, I'm familiar with the stuff.

Now I'm working on my second buy-and-flip. The first flip sold very quickly (6 days)because they loved the laminate flooring. Even though I'm targeting first time home buyers (who probably have a less educated eye in evaluating a house), I feel that Allure will give the prop too much of a rental feel.

IMHO, you'd be better off saving money on appliances than going with plastic flooring.

Totally disagree. I've had a lot of folks come into our house (which has Allure) and people like it a LOT - those who have never seen it think it's very cool. We've had people get down and touch it to see what it is.

Recently we installed it in a big great room in a rental. Our tile guy, who was dead-set against it when we told him we were doing it, was properly amazed after the install. Total convert.

Depends on color, of course, and for re-sale I'd go with a bit more expensive color and pattern. We used "Limed Oak" and it turned out really great.

Kim,

I just looked at a house with dark wood cabinets. Very "IN".

Go to IKEA online and just copy.

Flooring:

The first impression sells the house, not the back rooms.

If they are IMPRESSED they will continue to the kitchen to be convinced. They decide when they take ONE step inside the door. I like real wood in the front room for first impressions. Splurge on the front room and save money on the back rooms. People love real wood and the realtors will list that in the ad.

You want the buyer to say "Sure the other houses were nice but that house had real wood floors."

My trick: go outside and close the door. Now open it, keep your hand on the knob, place ONE foot inside and keep the other foot outside. What do you see? Are you impressed? How many WOWs catch your eye? MUST have a gorgeous floor and a jump back Loretta ceiling fan.

If your layout allows, compare the cost of doing the front room in real wood, it's usually only a few hundred dollars more but can make all the difference.

A glass backsplash is VERY important. GLASS, not ceramic for upscale sales to young buyers.

After spending $5500 on granite for one kitchen I learned from a pro decorator that the glass backsplash should be the focal point and add the pop of color WOW. I really like the new backsplash tiles at Lowes which include stainless steel pieces. They will tie in with your sink, faucet, handles, lights, and light fixtures.

The top should be neutral unless it is a stand alone gourmet island.

Kitchen floor: we get a great WOW using Allure SEDONA tile look. Ladies here are tired of ceramic floors. SEDONA gives the look with easier care.

Stainless long handles.

Allure woodtone: Not sure what type of home is $150K in your area. Different markets go fro different things. Cherry is the top seller in Indiana but not in WMH's.

For quality to resell, it could go either way.

TODAY go to as many open houses of NEW homes as possible in one day. Check out your competition. Don't try to compete without seeing what your prospects are seeing.

The cabinet choice is good, now go with a light/neutral floor preferably not wood grain and a granite looking Formica plus a glass tile back splash(preferably not the 1" squares, look for the strips or even the blended glass and stone and metal).