Getting your house ready to sell

Right now our garden is very lucious. Peas, tomatoes, carrots, raspberries and corn for the most part. Some roses, marigolds and sunflowers in the main garden bed too.

I reworked all my potted annuals into the front garden beds to give them an overplanted vibe. We have lots of mature blooming plants in the front.

Our neighbor is a landscaper and he has been hired to keep up the yard after we move. We have also hired him to mow a few neighboring yards that the people aren't too good on the upkeep. I think that's taken care of. I trust him to keep things lovely.

I didn't know EG was from the PNW, soz. Cool!

Since we're moving right at the turning point from hot/bright to cloudy/cool it could be a bit complicated! Just living here it has been open/close the curtains open/close the skylights open/close/crack the windows!

From what you say, eBeth, I'm thinking Portland might be very Canadian.

Staging is a big deal here too. As a photographer, set design and props have been a big part of my work for a long time. I think I could pull off a good "set" with things that we have. I might be flattering myself but I think I have a pretty good eye for that sort of thing.

But I don't want to leave my window treatments. They're very simple but exactly what I like. I'll have to check the regulations for what stays and what goes. I would love to be able to use some of my stuff as props but I don't want to walk away from it.

What reallys started me thinking on this is that we had a company come in to give us an estimates on new windows last night. She showed up about a half hour early and couldn't start until Mr. B got home because he is the one who had contacted the company. So we chatted.

She LOVED my floors, cabinet pulls and "vintage wallpaper" (really stretched fabric) she wanted to know how I'd put it all together, where I'd found the items, etc.

Some of these things were things I was thinking of blandizing so.....

My take is the same as CJane's, but I'm from California too.

I'm for your own photos, natch.

I think your ipe floors and colored walls will be a sales plus. But that's me.

When I left my last place, I took some of the daylilies and irises, but then they tend to burgeon with time anyway.

You can replace your window treatments pre photo...

or, as far as I know, you can make that part of the sales agreement - I keep this, this stays. Ask your agent.

Or, given that you get x thousand because of the whole look, you can do it all again at the new place.

Just throwing my 2 cents in here...

I really don't believe in all that staging crap.

Oh yeah sure you want to put most everything away so the place doesn't look cluttered, but I think the vast majority of people are going to be smart enough to look past the color of the wall and concentrate on the size of the rooms, which way they face, etc.

All that stuff about baking cookies and having scented candles and stuff...oh please....if I went into an open house that smelled like baking cookies, I'd laugh and honestly wonder what flaws in the house they were trying to hide with the smell of baking. "Why, I didn't even notice the house was settling because those cookies smelled so good!"

I was watching one of those shows where people were coming into an open house and they recorded what they said about the place....it felt to me like that was staged...if you looking for a house, you're not going to stand around and critique the current owners choice of curtains. With all the money you're planning on spending, you get pretty focused on what you need.

Especially in your case boom...since you aren't even going to be living there, leave it the way it is, and just make sure everythings clean.

I'm not sure I agree, Chai.

I think there's a lot to be said about engaging different senses.

I'm a very visual person and I have a good imagination (otherwise I wouldn't be too happy about the house we're buying) but I can see where having textiles (touch) and cooking (smell and taste) might be an asset. Even quiet music would be good -- or some other sound.

Plus, I think furnished rooms look bigger. And an empty house sounds bad what with all the echoy silence.

And what if a blind or deaf person is looking at the house. That would change based on staging.

I know we won't be here and that makes it complicated but I know that I really respond to what is around me. I worry about our house being empty. Without furnishings it is all hard surfaces.

Boom, if you're not going to be living in it, I'd rent some furniture, as someone else may have suggested, for that "lived in" look. I'd also keep all the lights on, but have some ambient lighting; I'd put flowers around (it's amazing what life and happiness they bring to a place), and do all your repairs.

We spent $7000 on painting (redoing the outside of hte house, porch and railings and doing the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen) and I'm convinced it got me another $20K.

And the curb appeal is vitally important... plants and lawn tidy, lighting, etc.

You know what you have to do... the only thing is, I would rent furniture so people can see what can fit into each room.

You really have to watch those HGTV shows to understand how important it is.

Good luck!

I agree, furniture around the house is a big plus. Even if it's just a few
chairs or an old mattress but with beautiful linens. If you can, leave a
few pictures on the wall, and perhaps some silk plants (you can rent those too).

You're a photographer, you can create a great still life with a few simple pieces of furniture. It's well worth it in the end, as the house may sell
a lot faster then.

I'd exclude the window coverings in the sales agreement, or get some
cheap drapes at JCPenny in the meantime.

I also agree that it is important that a house smells fresh and clean,
it doesn't have to be apple cake or fresh cookie odor, but it should be
pleasant.

I agree with Noddy -- get your agent's advice. It's his/her market knowledge that you're paying for. Weigh any cost with your potential return. When I sold my house, 18 months ago, my agent advised that I do nothing, because any cost would not net a profit.

(On the other hand, the market was very hot. I didn't even get the chance to clean properly. The vacuum cleaner sat in the middle of the floor, with a steady stream of potential buyers stepping over it for the 4 days that the house was on the market.)

I like Green Witch's suggestion of a "whispered" suggestion for the rooms. A near empty space will appear larger, and most buyers won't have the spatial skills to realize that their clutter won't fit. If you wanted to, and if the agent feels it is a benefit, perhaps some of your own carefully staged photos (black & white? sepia?) on the wall of a near empty room would be good.

My agent prepared an info flyer for people to take away, which included a floor plan with room sizes, a few interior photos, and a comprehensive list of what fixtures (lights or anything "fixed") and chattels (appliances, window coverings) that were included or excluded from the sale.

On the other side of the coin, I must've looked at 50 condos before deciding to buy the one I did. This one had everything I was looking for ~ plus the perfect cleanliness, the soft jazzy music and the light vanilla plug-in room freshener didn't hurt either. :wink:

So, I've posted on this before. When I moved to north north, I hadn't yet bought a house, though I'd looked. I decided to rent while I took my time and looked.

My real estate agent called me in LA and said she had a great house I could rent, only $1750. a month, a four bedroom, x bath, jacuzzi tub, redwood deck/sequoia grove, yadda yadda. I said, oh, no, I only want a single, or at most a one bedroom, where I can stack my stuff.

Time passed, she offered me the place for, I think, $500., on consultation with the owner --- as it hadn't sold in three years, and winter was about on, and I could keep the house warm.

So I did that. Big truck north, and so on. The four poster in one of the bedrooms, the paintings up in the living room-atrium, the cook books in the pantry, the dough rising, the music on...

well, that was for me. But, I got a call, she had some people to see it.

They came over. I had just baked bread, yes, cliche, but also true, I do make pugliese bread....

F/ck, they said yes, and I'd only been there about three weeks. Had to be out in a month. (Ended up moving into the house left by the new owner husband for another few months until I got my own.)



Bread and paintings.....

or their equivalent.

Oh, and

location.

You're amazing, Osso - I don't even know what pugliese bread IS, never mind make it! You're a woman of many interests and as many talents, turns out.

A version of it is starting to show up in our market here... (eh! it's ok)


Hey, mame, we're fairly alike (by cursory observation), I've just accumulated more lives with time..

Not MUCH more time, I suspect

And you have a way of talking (or writing) which is uniquely YOU

Wouldn't it be great to have an art-fest, though - each brings their 'stuff' and critiques the other? I would love some feedback from someone who actually paints... it's hard to gauge things from photos which are then posted here... the scale doesn't show, and if it does, the colours don't, etc.

Funny that you have this - because I have been thinking of hiring some one to "stage" our condo when we sell, but in the mean time I've been watching these "staging" shows on one of the cable stations. Basically you should use neutral colors - but not white or off-white - much too cold. This not only includes your walls and stuff, but your furniture as well.

Colors can work, however, it may only be attractive to a select group of people - I believe that is the implication of the neutral type color - another huge thing - no clutter. Some one told that had a staging person come by - they said to take out half the stuff you have in your cabinets (yes people will open and look in your cabinets). Also, only one item on the counters.

You may be able to get a staging person to come in and give you a free consultation (one of my co-workers did). They will give you suggestions on the hope that you will pay them to do the work and get any supplies needed.

Also, it is better to put some things in the rooms as the potential buyers can see how functional the rooms are.

I do not believe window treatment has to stay. When I bought my previous condo - the owner had these custom window treatments on the sliding glass doors. I asked him to leave them behind. He said he would, but would charge me some huge amount of money for them. I told him to take them.

I had thought the same as Chai before - but some of what I heard is that many buyers are just not imaginative enough to envision a place differently. If it ain't going to cost much, why not make the place look and feel better. Most people buy homes with their heart and feelings. It is not going to hide a major defect, but if you are comparing one home in the same area that is similar - wouldn't you buy the one that looks no the surface better?

We haven't hired a realtor yet. We have decided to be gone before we put the house on the market. We won't be gone for another 2-3 weeks.

I've spent the last few days working on the little things that nobody "notices" but make an overall impression on how clean the house it.

Bah. No fun.

I have a couple of other questions that maybe you all can help me with:

Most of our windows are in pretty good shape -- except for the one's in Mo's room. The people who lived here before used the room, we think, to grow pot, and they have this window darkening crap on the windows that I've tried to peel off but it comes off in layers and it looks terrible.

Mr. B and I are still at loggerheads over whether to carpet the room or not (it now has black and white checkerboard laminate flooring).

I suggested that we replace the window with a new fancy one and bill the room as the "allergy free" room. (We designed the room with Mo's allergies in mind).

Would it look too weird to have one different window?

Is an "allergy free" room something marketable? Are there specifications for what kind of paint/surfaces one would have to use to bill a room as such?

The other question --

Most of my neighbors take really good care of their yards. Most of them are gorgeous. However, the neighbors almost right across the street, despite having two grown men, one grown woman, and one teenage boy, living there don't.

We have hired our landscaper-neighbor to take care of our yard after we leave while the house is on the market. We have talked to him a bit about doing the neighbor's yard during this period as well.

I like these neighbors despite their ratty yard. How do I bring this up without hurting her feelings?

Allergy free would be a plus, I'm sure. Not so sure about the floors, but given all else being nifty, I dunno, could make a difference, might not. Carpetting it (with what? allergy free... or not?) Cork?

On the windows, have you tried a hair dryer?

Well, aside from location, location, and location, I'm sure I rented out and then sold my first house because of the fairly big pots with geraniums near the front door. That was a long time ago. Now I'd put in scented pelargoniums, or, well, some plant that works with the house - lavender, big-green leafy thing, whatever, underplanted with 'whatever'.

My business partner's houses always always always had curb appeal. She had a serious pot here or there - depending on which house, which garden - as a focal point.. usually with blooming bulbs - that takes time - or other with other fulgent planting. I'm reminded of her iris neomarica, a tall leafed item that wasn't really an iris, but had glorious purple bird like flowers. Well, never mind, you get the idea.

Depending on your yard and entry, this could be a smart expense or a hilarious oddity.

In the Boston area suburbs the brokers suggest that you move all the furniture out and just show a vacant house.

If the house isn't air-conditioned, might be a good idea to buy a couple of cheap window air conditioners. No one wants to visit property when it's real hot.

As far as lights, you're showing it in the day time, so the sunlight coming in should be enough. I'd leave the lights on in the kitchen and bathroom.

Interesting, I don't think many people are real interested bathrooms, but I am.

I'd also fix up the front and back yards and have pots of flowers outside by the doors.

Bathrooms and kitchens sell houses.

Subtle bread, cake smells are good or herbs like marjoram, thyme, lemon grass. Marjoram and thyme for the living room, lemon in the kitchen, laundry, and lavender in the bathroom, but must be subtle. Purchase those car freshners and hide them in pots of dried arrangements or silk flowers. Leather is another good smell.

People LOVE to get something for nothing, what can you "leave behind". An old steamer trunk with rustic appeal? Not too big mind, if they don't want it it might be a hassel to get rid of. Perhaps something in the shed/workshop/garage.

On Paint I'd go with off white. Yellow and blue tones. I'd also cover the black and white floor. Would a rug be suitable? Its a compromise between carpeting and not.
A generic painting/photo/picture of happy family (Doesnt have to be yours) in or near the entry way.

Manicured front garden. Less needs to be done in the back just neat and tidy.

Good luck

BM

Well, as I sold a house I didn't want to with real bread aroma, I can only agree with dpad on that.

<rights down bread aroma>