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[Crankin]

Heard from our painter yesterday, so he is coming to see what needs to be done, a few hours after we close.
Feeling like a guest in my own home, right now. Hoping we get an offer after the open houses.

[emily_in_nc]

Heard from our painter yesterday, so he is coming to see what needs to be done, a few hours after we close.
Feeling like a guest in my own home, right now. Hoping we get an offer after the open houses.

Good luck! I know you will be glad to have it sold and all the staging bs behind you! I think the new house choices and fix-up would be lots of fun, though. Not something you're really into, I know, but I love that kind of thing. We haven't been homeowners for several years now, and even though I love the freedom we have not being tied down to a place, I do miss having my own place where I can paint, put stuff up on the walls, and otherwise make it my own.

[Crankin]

Ack, no one came to the open house! Our agent said it was like this everywhere. However, we have someone coming for a regular showing tomorrow morning, before the open house. That is a good sign.
Once the pain of picking out stuff is over, I enjoy setting up the house, etc. We are looking at window treatments and and lighting stuff on line, but that will be done after we move in. We also decided to get new furniture for the sunroom, and we will need some additional chairs/pieces for the great room. DH just left for 10 days in Europe, so t will be interesting if we get an offer while he is gone. He'll be home for 10 days and then will be going to Japan for a week, at the beginning of October. Thankfully, both of these trips are a bit shorter than they usually are, this year. I just want this to be over with. I have no reason to worry, we can easily pay for 2 mortgages, but the thought of having to de-list the house for the winter and then start again is not appealing!

[ny biker]

I actually like the part where you pick stuff out and make the decisions. I do admit that it can be very time-consuming, but it's also a chance to get creative and learn some interesting things. I planned the tile design for my bathroom myself, using photos from some home-renovation forums, the sample bathroom setups they have at The Tile Shop and a careful study of the tile in the restrooms and locker room at my gym and my office. I drew everything out on graph paper for the contractors, specifying tile sizes and which corner to start in and how to line up the niche with the wall tile. Overall it came out nice and was worth the effort. But yes it was an effort.

The part where the contractors come and do the work is the part that gets to me. Too much disruption and messes to clean up.

In a way it's good to feel like a guest in your own home at this point -- I think you stand a better chance of selling it quickly when you are able to think of it as something you want to sell rather than "home." Some of the stuff the stagers did does seem over the top, but many people really don't have the imagination to envision themselves in a house where the current owner's personality is very visible or there's any sign that a place is really lived in.

[shootingstar]

I learned some things I never expected when I sold my Toronto condo and some unexpected surprises about buyers:

*There are very judgemental buyers who are racist/judgemental on your last name. My real estate agent (who was white) told me that people would scan the names of owners/occupiers on a condo directory and comment it the names were not Anglo-sounding or European-sounding. Meaning any Asian, East Indian last name was suspect to them as undesirable neighbours.

*There are people who will avoid buying in an area with a lot of local neighbours who have Asian faces. What is the problem?: I'm willing to bet a huge hunk of those "foreign"looking faces know how to speak English.

*My real estate agent had an interesting experience of finding a home for a blind client. She walked with the client around in potential neighbourhoods.

*My condo was sold...interestingly to a woman who was the executive-director for a national non-profit organization for Canadian women prisoners. Her son, a real estate agent brokered the deal for his mother.

[Crankin]

We took down our mezuzah, and all of Jewish art work. However, down in our family room, there are a couple of prayer books on the shelf... not in a really noticable place. I know about that prejudice. In fact, before 1980 or so, Concord was an NJA place. I'll let you figure out what that means. I'd say at least 25% of my neighborhood is Jewish, now, though. There are very few Asians in my town, but the last place I lived (next town) has about a 25% Chinese/Indian population. They often come here with cash in hand, so I don't care who buys my house!
The family that came yesterday is mildly interested. They are relocating from NY, and therefore, do not have the prejudices of a New Englander, against contemporary homes.

[Crankin]

New England. Very common in certain waspy towns. Obviously, not where I grew up.

[ny biker]

We took down our mezuzah, and all of Jewish art work. However, down in our family room, there are a couple of prayer books on the shelf... not in a really noticable place. I know about that prejudice. In fact, before 1980 or so, Concord was an NJA place. I'll let you figure out what that means. I'd say at least 25% of my neighborhood is Jewish, now, though. There are very few Asians in my town, but the last place I lived (next town) has about a 25% Chinese/Indian population. They often come here with cash in hand, so I don't care who buys my house!
The family that came yesterday is mildly interested. They are relocating from NY, and therefore, do not have the prejudices of a New Englander, against contemporary homes.

Even when a potential buyer has no prejudices, I think it makes sense to remove things like religious items as well as family photos and other personal items. Anything that makes a buyer think about the current residents is a distraction from the decision to buy or not.

Pax, I hope your friend is okay.

[Jolt]

Wow, all that "staging" stuff sounds crazy, I wouldn't like that either! It doesn't look like much of that is done around here, at least from what I am seeing online (thinking of buying a house this spring…because of a merger, my job is being transferred next month to a hospital 25 minutes away by car and that is a little too much of a commute for me to put up with long term, plus I will be done paying my student loans and ready to buy). Some of the places I have looked at photos of are obviously still being lived in (though spruced up for the pictures), others are empty. I do look forward to picking out a house and then setting it up the way I want it.