I guess it shows that a single mother with no handyman-type skills and no family in the area has lived here for over 10 years, with a young son and dogs. If my father lived nearby, things would be different. He probably would have helped me keep the place up. As it is, he's never even set foot in my house.
Over the years I've doled out thousands of dollars to handymen - it's not as though I've neglected the house. But apparently those thousands of dollars were not enough.
I have listened to the comments. I have already made some changes, slowly and carefully due to my concern about money. I had new oak floors installed in the living room and hallway, and the guest bedroom floors refinished.
It's a vast improvement, but not enough.
I have touched up the paint on all the walls, and when I have time I'm going to paint the master bedroom. I'm also going to have new carpet installed in the master (after the paint job is finished!). I will also attempt to re-grout the shower myself, despite dire warnings from everyone who knows anything about it.
I'm in the process of deciding how much money I'm willing to spend to renovate the kitchen. It is a tough decision, because I am unlikely to be able to justify expensive renovations with a high selling price. My house is still going to be extremely small, with no backyard (but a lot of landscaping maintenance) AND another house on the park (a house bigger and better than mine) just sold for a very low price ($30,000 lower than my asking price). (That will affect the offers on my house, if I ever receive any.....)
It would make sense for me to wait until the market improves EXCEPT for one problem: the neighborhood I want to move to will never again be as affordable as it is now. When home values begin to rise again, the values in that neighborhood will rise much more dramatically than in this neighborhood.
Sighhhhhhhh.
.
