Enough already.

I went out to preview a Cary, NC, property for out-of-country Buyers tonight.

It has fresh paint, new carpet, and refinished hardwood floors.

All it needs is a few updates.

All it needs is: fresh paint, new carpet, and refinished hardwood floors.

That's right.  It's messed up pretty thoroughly.

The paint work is horrendous.  Receptacle and switch plates were not removed, but painted around.  And in some cases there is a 1/2" wide smear of paint on them.  One receptacle is painted green.  The plate is clean, as it must have been missing.  In another place, there is an electrical receptacle and a phone jack less than an inch apart.  That 1" must have presented too much of a challenge, as it was not touched.  There is a 1" x 4" band of the previous paint color still showing.

We haven't even talked color choices.  I support people who diverge from the deadly boring beige palatte.  But this house looks like the "luck of the draw" palatte.  Someone went to the "Oops" paint department and cleaned them out.  And painted right up to the wallpaper borders without noticing that the border and the paint appear to be sworn enemies.

The painter did not worry about molding profiles.  Baseboards have wall paint on the top profile details, with each room offering a different interpretation of how far down the baseboard the painter should go with wall paint.  Chair rails are painted with wall paint on the top surface, with the white trim paint starting at the face of the molding.

"New Carpet."  And needs "New Carpet."  The carpet in the family room was seamed at either side of the hearth, since the room is wider than 12'.  But the carpet was cut from the end of the roll, turned 90 degrees, and the bias is wrong.  The seams look like a huge zipper. 

Upstairs carpet is not seamed at all.  Every place it is cut, there is 2" wide brass seam trim nailed down, including all doorways and at the top of the steps, so you can trip on the end.

What a mess.

"Refinished hardwood floors."  This is the second time in a couple of days where I have seen a heavy application of high gloss polyurethane on an unsanded floor.  It is shiny.  Unfortunately, in the hall it was swabbed on perpendicular to the length of the flooring.  You can easily see the pad strokes across the floor boards.  And in the other rooms, it appears that the applicator did not clean up and thoroughly vacuum prior to applying the polyurethane.  There are handfuls of dust in the finish.  The wood floors need to be sanded and refinished to a reasonable level of workmanship.

I know this all seems harsh, and I don't know the whole story here.  But I also know that the house is priced at top dollar for the model and neighorhood.  And I am seeing more and more of this in and around Raleigh and the rest of Wake County: shabby updates yielding very poor results.

What are Sellers thinking?  Was this just a matter of hiring a contractor and being victimized.  Or is this a cheapskate homeowner who only buys the cheapest bid?

Buyers have choices, and need to aggressively avoid messes like this, or get the price they will need to update the updates.