What Your Truck Says About You………

If you ever find yourself in a position of rehabbing a house from the foundation up and need to get bids from different contractors, take a peek at the truck they drive.  A truck needs to carry the contractor and crew to work, to haul their tools, materials and maybe pull a trailer.  A truck that is being used for work is often dirty, sometimes held together by Bondo, has a roof rack for hauling lumber and has seen multiple job sights.  These are the types of vehicles that Chris and I like to see pull up at our job sites.  It tells us a little about the person; they get their hands dirty.  They work.

See truck # 1 and truck #2   —— examples of bad-ass trucks that we like.  The guys/girls that own THESE trucks will have dirt under their nails.

 

There is another sort of contractor that might arrive at your job site to bid your project.  That person drives a ridiculously over-priced right that says, ““I am a sucker for shiny toys and am horrible with my money!”

Here’s the thing.  Although we want our contractors to be comfortable in what they drive, we don’t feel the need to pay for your flashy paint job and customization.  What your pimped out Sprinter van says about you, is that you most likely don’t use it to make money.  I get that the off-road tires you have look cool and might give you superpowers, but in the construction/framing business they also make you silly.  Your brand new van says you have a thick wallet.  Where are the splinters in your hands and the dirt under your nails?  Oh, wait… I forgot. You opted out of getting splinters and went for the Sprinter.

 

Don’t Neglect The Smaller Details When Listing Your Home

Seriously, I think small details can make the biggest impressions on a potential buyer’s likelihood of making an offer on your home. A well-maintained exterior signals to buyers that the interior has probably been similarly well maintained. Make sure you trim trees, lay fresh mulch (I like the blackest kind for photos), pressure-wash dirty surfaces.  Little improvements, such as CLEANING the cobs webs off your old porch light fixture, replacing a rusty mailbox, or painting the front door, can go a long way.

If my sellers have original window or cabinet hardware, or old heating registers that are thick with years of paint, I like to take them back to my house and strip them over my stove.  Often the original finish is beautiful underneath, and if not, you can always spray them a new color.  One that matches your wall trim or a burnised brown

Its all in the details.  The little-bitty details