Our realtor sent us a list from a HGTV program which included all of the WISE things one should do BEFORE they welcome "the caravan" into their home and DECLARE the weekend, OPEN HOUSE!!!
Hmmm...I'm either sentimental, stupid or just plain NOT ready to sell this house because this list was like a glass of ice water, thrown in my face. Ouch.
1. Depersonalize. Remove all pictures, photographs and art pieces that draw attention to the fact that a family actually lives in the house.
Are you kidding? Take down my "shrine" to Sandy Pockets and my favorite flower plate and drift wood heart that BS gave me for Christmas?
2. Disconnect emotionally from your house.
Does this mean not smiling when you enter the house? Shut down, cop a dispassionate attitude when I'm at home and not call it my "nest" any more?
3. Remove any clothing and shoes that you are not presently wearing in the course of a week. Clean the closets and rid them of any unseasonal clothing.
Seriously? I only have clothing for one season, basically. Sun. I just happen to have A LOT of things that I like to wear during that season.
Umm, is it okay to leave your bathing suit, underwear and bra in the sink? Don't ask me WHO put these there. It's been a long week.
4. Paint your walls neutral colors.
Hmmm...orange is the new neutral, right?
Yellow?
Brown?
Green?
We're busted.
Those are ALL of the colors in our house.
5. Clean your cupboards. People will look in them.
Gosh, how rude. I'm not inviting the FBI nor the police over for a sting. Why would someone actually look in OUR cupboards?
O.K., so I'm NOT thrilled with this one.
What WILL sell our house?
It's light, it's bright, it has a ton of windows and it's cheerful. It looks kind of large from the driveway.
What won't sell the house?
Creepy Angel Head that looks at you as you enter the house. She'll come down today.
The LOVELY view of the brickyard next door. Not only is it dusty , it's also pretty NOISY from 7 am - 4:30 pm. Yes, every day. We have some really strong double paned windows though.
We DO live less than half a mile from the beach. We DO have a lot of places to ride bikes and run. We do have an elementary school nearby and we do have a fun garden.
We still have some cleaning to do today, some more PERSONAL items to pack up and some running to do! I'll catch up on that RUNNING business this weekend on my blog AND check out your blogs as well. It's been SO busy!!
I hope that those of you racing and running this weekend have wonderful runs!
meg
Hmmm...I'm either sentimental, stupid or just plain NOT ready to sell this house because this list was like a glass of ice water, thrown in my face. Ouch.
1. Depersonalize. Remove all pictures, photographs and art pieces that draw attention to the fact that a family actually lives in the house.
Are you kidding? Take down my "shrine" to Sandy Pockets and my favorite flower plate and drift wood heart that BS gave me for Christmas?
2. Disconnect emotionally from your house.
Does this mean not smiling when you enter the house? Shut down, cop a dispassionate attitude when I'm at home and not call it my "nest" any more?
3. Remove any clothing and shoes that you are not presently wearing in the course of a week. Clean the closets and rid them of any unseasonal clothing.
4. Paint your walls neutral colors.
Hmmm...orange is the new neutral, right?
Yellow?
Brown?
Green?
We're busted.
5. Clean your cupboards. People will look in them.
Gosh, how rude. I'm not inviting the FBI nor the police over for a sting. Why would someone actually look in OUR cupboards?
O.K., so I'm NOT thrilled with this one.
What WILL sell our house?
It's light, it's bright, it has a ton of windows and it's cheerful. It looks kind of large from the driveway.
What won't sell the house?
The LOVELY view of the brickyard next door. Not only is it dusty , it's also pretty NOISY from 7 am - 4:30 pm. Yes, every day. We have some really strong double paned windows though.
We DO live less than half a mile from the beach. We DO have a lot of places to ride bikes and run. We do have an elementary school nearby and we do have a fun garden.
Many of you have asked WHY we are selling our house!
We are empty nesters and we are eager to do less cleaning, less yard work and more running, exploring and having more adventures on the weekends.
Where will we go?
We don't know!!
We will stay here in our little town of Leucadia or Encinitas, we can't
leave Sparkle Pants and his family nor my school, nor the coast.
Any ideas on how we can make our house sell quickly??
I hope that those of you racing and running this weekend have wonderful runs!
meg
Good luck on the house selling!! :)
ReplyDeleteYikes! It would take me a year to get my house ready to sell, especially considering there are parts of it have never cleaned in the 12 years I have lived here! Good luck Meg, How exciting to make the move though, just think of the possibilities!
ReplyDeletei dunno, i think some of the decor could stay. personal photos prob should come down - not only so "people can vision themselves there" but also for privacy reasons (in my opinion). the driftwood heart is totally stay-able! that is awesome!
ReplyDeletei would maybe repaint some of the rooms... living room for sure (if it's not neutral), hallway if it's a "wild" color. bedrooms could stay a color, kitchen too if it's more on the mellow side than HELLO MEXICAN RESTAURANT (that's how i painted my house at first...) personally i like color too but you're not selling the house to yourself now are you? :)
the clutter rule is just so that it looks tidier, closets look bigger, and again so they can 'imagine themselves living there'. i think anyway. note: i have never sold a house. haha. these are just my opinions... but i am an expert HGTV/TLC watcher! :)
tidy the cabinets? blech. i do not want to have to do that one day...
oh and a tip! if you are having a short-notice on a showing or last-minute pick up before an open house: you can probably get away with hiding things in the hamper, washer/dryer, or throw random things in a trash bag and put it in the trunk of your car.
i am glad you are staying in encinitas. i will def come visit! i was looking at my pics from when i was there in 07. i wish i lived there... so just make sure you have room in your new place for me ;)
good luck!!
Thinking of you! Glad to get an update. Off to enjoy the sunshine while we have it and doing the selling your house dance for you Meg! xo
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand that you want to move to a smaller house. We have a pretty big house for 2 people and over the years I've become more irritated by how much work the cleaning of it is.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get lists with those things on it here. If a house doesn't have personal things in it, I find it cold and wouldn't be that attracted to it. You have to look through things and see the big picture and have imagination so you can see how the house looks with your belongings in it. That's my opinion.
Good luck with the sell.
I guess you could look at it as you're going to have to pack up the stuff in your cabinets to move anyway, so you could probably do some of that now to make them look more roomy. I think just general neatness and an open feeling will go a long way in selling the house. Depends on the market for repainting all the rooms to a neutral color - if it's a hard time for sellers, then you might want to do that (ugh). Good luck - I hope you get through this quickly!
ReplyDeleteNice looking house! Has great curb appeal, hope you get a good sale!!
ReplyDeleteBeen through this twice. Declutter is the most important thing. Like lindsay says - your buyer needs to see themselves living in your house...
ReplyDeleteI've always sworn I will never move house again - selling's just so much hard work. Yes, there's a science to it but can't buyers see potential without it being all dressed up for them and presented on a platter? You should have seen our house when we bought it - it was a bomb shelter with holes in the wall and all but we saw past it. And your house looks nice. I've always loved a bit of colour on the walls.
ReplyDeleteWhen we sold our last house, I did the declutter, depersonalize thing. Didn't paint though, even though the realtor wanted us to. It sold anyway (and that was NOT when the market was hot and everything was selling). The declutter thing was actually helpful. I tend to acquire a fair amount of stuff...
ReplyDeletePAINT YOUR WALLS NEUTRAL COLORS?!?!?!!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteWHATTT that's like your life mom. Who does this woman think she is?
Pshhhh......
AGH good luck. We have only lived here 3 years and I would have a VERY hard time with those guidelines!!
ReplyDeleteIf I had to sell my house of 14 years of accumulating stuff, It'd take a year just to unload - yikes.
ReplyDeleteI love the chubby cherub, can you send her to me??? :)
Good luck, Meg. Hope you have a spare room for me in your future house!! :)
xo
I don't love the chubby cherub. I would take her down. Your house has many great features. I hate that list from the realtor. I would think it would make the house very unfriendly. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI had a great day watching my students run in the Girls on the Run 5K, the best!!
All those colors you listed ARE the new neutrals, aren't they??? I LOVE color, too! Although the neutrals may sell and may make rooms seem larger and soothing, they are boring! I think you should keep BS's driftwood heart out-it is neat, special, and a conversation piece. :-) Since we are pack rats, the thought of 'deconstructing' our house would be overwhelming! Good luck on the house selling (and running, too!).
ReplyDeletewe just sold our house about 2 months ago, was on the market for a year !! i did major declutter and we staged some rooms that we weren't using. it was cathertic in many ways but with 2 youung kids it was hard to keep it clean. i think the best way to sell quick is to price it right - price to sell.
ReplyDeleteWe're downsizing too. Must be that time of year for all of the empty-nesters to make their move. Seems everyone is pulling up stakes. You have a great location to help your place.
ReplyDeletei did not take family photos down. i just decluttered. the staging of the rooms. basically we had a front room that we had a coach in and that was it, i never really made it into a formal living room, my realtor who rocked, came over and we moved pieces around from various rooms and made it a formal living room with stuff i already had. it made the room have a purppose.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on selling the house, a beautiful house indeed!
ReplyDeleteThis is my 4th house and everytime it's hard to leave there all the memories.
such a busy, busy time for you and BS. Sounds like a great adventure though. 2008, we moved out, and totally remodeled our house. It was great to get rid of some JUNK! Took the whole year to finish! Tough year, but worth it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!! :) Hope it sells fast!
ReplyDeleteCreepy angel gave me a good laugh. Remember, just because you take something down doesn't mean you can't box it up and take it with you to your new abode. Good luck and hope it sells when you are ready to say good-bye!
ReplyDeleteNice lesson.
ReplyDeleteStep 1. Move out
Step 2. Sell house
What a PIA!
Nice SP shrine, too. Lucky kid!
Your house is way cool. I liked the open floor plan and nice backyard. I liked how the kitchen is kinda the center of the house.
ReplyDeleteHey, I live in a nice 2-bedroom townhouse off of D.M. Heights. This neighborhood would be PERFECT for you and B.S. Plus, I could come over and barrow a cup of sugar. Scratch that, I don't eat sugar. Okay, maybe broccoli.
Ditto on the declutter. Even so, if someone really wants to put in an offer, they're imagining the home with their stuff in it, and they'll repaint it anyway. :) Good luck with the move!
ReplyDeleteDeclutter and take down pictures. You have No Idea who is coming through your house - creep or nice LOL. i would err on the side of caution and get all personal belongings WAY out of sight.
ReplyDelete