Thread Drift

[Crankin]

They didn't just move stuff around, they made us take out several pieces of furniture. The only "real" piece of art work we have, i.e. not a print, is gone from the dining room and downstairs in our guest room. The coat tree is in there, too. The top of our hutch is gone, so a lot of my crystal, wine glasses, and china is packed up in a suitcase, and will be moved by us! I found the magazines andput them out on some built in shelves. You should see the way they need the bed to be made for the photo shoot, with the comforter rolled all the way down. I guess they want the light colored sheets to make everything look bigger. That's fine for the 3 bedrooms that don't get used, but the photo shoot isn't until next Thursday, so DH can do that in the AM, as thankfully, I will be working. I did some reading, and apparently the tolerance for this has gone in and out over the years, but it's now de riguer for homes above a certain price point. All I can say is that this must have been an easy job for them, as we have no clutter. I am not a sentimental person, especially about this house (when I think of "my house," I think of the last one and the one in Tempe, not this one, the first one we had in MA, or even my first home), but I am attached to my stuff. I like to look at pictures of my kids, and since I can't have them up at work, now it really feels weird. And speaking of them, both of them would croak if they saw how their rooms look. I wonder how they handle people with little ones in this situation.
Seriously, I know I am being unreasonable, but I haven't been this upset in a very long time. And yes, this house better sell quickly.

[OakLeaf]

Wow. I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. I think I'd just have to leave town and let DH deal with it!

When we were shown the house we eventually bought, it was pretty obvious there was none of that. The previous owners had several large paintings of female nudes on the walls - tasteful, but kind of in-your-face I thought - and the urns of two of their dogs on a dresser. Wonder what your stager would've said about those.

[emily_in_nc]

I do agree with no personal photos, though. That's a well-known thing to do when selling and pre-dates HGTV. ;-) Other than that, I still find this all very over-the-top and depressing. Makes me never want to own another house for fear of having to sell it one day.

[lph]

You're all spoilt. This is the norm for Every Single House or apartment being sold around here ;-) And taking photos for the ad was even worse. Basically the house was supposed to have the bare minimum of furniture, tastefully displayed against a blank wall, every pillow should be plumped and arranged and preferably white, every counter and table top should have a classy display of either fruit and vegetables, or flowers and candles. I managed to weasel out of the mandatory white orchids and got something else instead, and felt really wild. It was a nightmare. The house was uninhabitable for over a week.

The photos turned out rather amusing, if you know what you're looking at. In front of the house, where we usually kept six or seven pairs of skis, a ski sled, at least four bikes and a bike trailer, and where no-one has ever sat ever, there were two chairs and a small table pretending to be our "breakfast table", with two wine glasses and a glass bowl of *strawberries*. In the photo showing the whole front of the house, down the street you can just make out a big messy pile of something, around a lamppost. That is of course - six pairs of skis, a sled, four bikes and a bike trailer :-D

ETA: I actually spent two weeks polishing the fittings in the bathroom every time I'd been in there, in case someone wanted to drop by and see the house. Shiny fittings actually make a shabby bathroom look quite nice. But it was still an insane thing to do. We were alle slightly intimidated by our scary power blonde real estate agent.

[emily_in_nc]

Man, lph, that sounds rough! Did your house sell in a week? If so, I guess it was all worth it, but wow!

We've just never had to do anything like that in the US to sell a house, and we've sold quite a few. We spent several weeks earlier this summer getting my in-law's house ready to sell, but thankfully we got everything out of it, so it was vacant when it sold, and we only had to "stage" ever so minimally. We had a professional team come in and clean the inside (including the carpets) after we hauled two dumpsters of stuff out and took many, many loads to Goodwill and various other recycling venues. Outside, we planted flowers, pruned trees and bushes, mulched, power washed the exterior of the house, painted the front door, and did some minor staging on the front porch. The house had been pretty badly neglected by my elderly in-laws prior to us arriving to do our magic. It was all worth it in the end when it sold in less than two weeks. Thank goodness we didn't try to sell it while they were still living there -- they both had serious hoarding issues, and they weren't doing a good job at keeping their litterbox area clean, so it smelled like cat pee before the cleaners arrived.

Ugh!

[Crankin]

After our ride today, we brought our closest friends over to see what was done. They have no problem seeing this as a business thing to make the house sell, that as soon as you decide to list your house, it's no longer yours. I just feel discombobulated from this and it's not like this is the first home I've sold, as it's #5.
Oak, DH was upset with me, because pretty much, he is doing everything. I hate dealing with all of this stuff. In fact, it's only been very recently that I had anything to do with even major home purchases/decorating things, except furniture. I make snap decisions and sometimes end up not liking it, but, it's really the insufferable salespeople and endless decisions I can't stand, so I make a snap decision to get away from them. I remember, when we bought our 2nd home, when DH said someone was coming over so we could buy window treatments, I was like, what, the window is getting a treatment? Just the term was foreign to me. Our first house was in a new development, where you went to the builder's office (embarrassed to say it was Charles Keating of the banking scandal) and picked out everything. I sent DH, begging off with work. They did not believe that a wife would not be involved! So, over the years, I've learned a bit, but really, despite liking nice things, it all gives me a headache.
Emily, I do wonder what happens when it's people like your in laws. I've raised the question, are we the only people flexible enough to envision a home the way we would make it? I mean, this house was a wreck inside and packed with stuff when we bought it. It was a for sale by owner, as they were having financial issues. Yet, we made the decision to buy in like 30 seconds.
DH is leaving for Europe for 10 days, and the first open house will probably occur when he is gone, right before he comes back. Thankfully, I will be gone all day Sunday, but she wants to do both Saturday and Sunday. Meh.

[lph]

Well, we did actually sell fast, and for a very good price. But there's no way of knowing if all that staging was necessary or not. I think the idea of giving the house a clean and uncluttered look probably does help some people a lot with visualising how they can live there, it's sort of like dressing up for a nice occasion to look your best. But the extreme staging some people do, bringing in completely different furniture, paintings, etc... Well, maybe it's worth it if you're trying to sell a nice place that has been treated like a dump, otherwise I can't imagine it's worth the effort.
All this does make the few places that are not presented this way really stick out. I remember seeing photos of an artist's flat for sale, complete with dirty dishes, messy clothes and a ton of pictures on the wall :-)

[lph]

Re our intimidating agent: I remember her telling me we needed white pillows, white towels and preferably a bedspread. I was a bit taken aback, as we already had a rather minimalist style, just not pure white. I caved and bought some white pillow covers, and some new ice blue towels. She sighed. I found a tatty fake fur white pillow hidden somewhere, and she was quite pleased. "See, you DO have something white."
Luckily the weather was a bit damp the day we were showing the house, which camouflaged the itty bitty white pawprints caused by our cat tracking fresh paint all over the newly oiled patio.

[Crankin]

Love it, lph!
DH told me last night that the stagers said we needed to get a palm tree plant for the living room. He put his foot down to that. This is Massachusetts, not Florida. It is true our minimalist look and contemporary furniture/prints of the southwest might look different, but I don't do indoor plants. Had them for years, too much work.

[OakLeaf]

ETA: I actually spent two weeks polishing the fittings in the bathroom every time I'd been in there, in case someone wanted to drop by and see the house. Shiny fittings actually make a shabby bathroom look quite nice. But it was still an insane thing to do.

Hint: keep a microfiber kitchen cloth by every faucet, all the time. All it takes is a 10-second swipe after every use. It's like the easiest cleaning ritual I have, and it takes hours off "real" cleaning.

[Crankin]

House is being listed Friday night. Open houses on Saturday and Sunday. It's supposed to be iffy weather on Sunday, so wondering what the hell I will do. DH is leaving for Europe late Saturday, so if it's raining, I may have to go shopping, if I can't ride!
On a positive note, we spent 5 hours at Lowes yesterday. I tried to be enthused, and I endured picking out appliances, tile and vanities for 2 bathrooms, tile for the entry way, granite counters, and a backsplash. DH decided this is the way to go, as it's less money than working with a kitchen/bath store. I pray they follow through, although I've heard horror stories. We met with the managers of the departments, who clearly knew their stuff, it's just the contractors they use. DH already has appointments set up for them to measure and do templates at the condo and hopefully it will all be done before we move. Haven't heard from our painter, which pisses me off, as my older son worked for him for 2 years. It's just the painting (small areas) and window stuff left.

[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.