Yeah, it's true. At least a few from my synagogue that I know.
I am going to use this forum as my rant space. What kind of person becomes a "stager?", as in the person that comes to your house, before you put it up for sale and tells you all kinds of stuff that doesn't really apply to me. This woman has been told that we are minimalists, we will take all personal photographs down, there are no pets, and no kids have ever lived here. Some of the other things are: 90% of stuff of the kitchen counter should be gone, must have decorative pillows on the beds (as well as 2 pillows on a twin bed), and white sheets. Are they kidding? I don't have decorative anything. I do have 4 pillows on our bed, but the kids' beds (20 and 30 years old) only have one. No white sheets. No rugs, either. OK, I'll take the bath mat out of my bathroom, and leave a puddle of water for the open house. I put away the food processor and stuck the knives in a cabinet. It was very clear no knives should be out (Why? Do they fear murder?). Leaving the toaster oven, can opener, and ceramic holder with cooking utensils out. Gee, I actually cook, almost every night. And she better not touch my coffee/espresso machine.
This woman is coming with people to "move stuff." They won't be moving anything here. We don't have too much stuff!
DH told her that I may not be here, as I am not a fan. Some of this is common sense stuff, but really, have people become so weird that having a bath mat out would make them not buy a house? All of the other townhomes we looked at had tons of ugly stuff and personal pictures, except the one we bought, as they have already moved. The first house we bought in Massachusetts had ants in the dishwasher and a junk car in the yard.
On a fun note, I cleaned out my desk at home, and found lots of cool pictures of some of my classes when I was teaching. I can barely remember some of the kids, and it hasn't been that long.