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stumpyouch

I mjust not watch enough TV

stumpyouch
17 years ago

Since I don't see any of the home staging and decorating shows on television, I think I must be missing something when I'm looking at houses for sale. It seems that the "staging" is more important than the house itself. I so want to tell the owners of the houses that I look at that

1. I am not interested in your decorating ability. I am not looking to hire you as my interior decorator. I just want to buy a house.

2. I am not interested in your personal posessions. I am not planning to buy the sofa that you went out of your way to point out at the last showing. I just want to buy a house.

3. I am not interested in buying your lifestyle. I just want to buy a house.

Why is it that people look at me funny when I ask things like "When was the furnace last inspected?" or "How old is the roof?"

I guess I should invest in cable so I can get HGTV and find out what I've been missing.

Stumpy

Comments (52)

  • quiltglo
    17 years ago

    Staging seems to be pretty localized as to the response. Harriethomeowner had a great staging job done. Other things like have the jetted tub running and the table set for a dinner party bring on the snickers.

    We are a pretty independent lot here in Alaska. I think staging will be a long ways away. Many people come here from other states and only stay a couple of years. They don't seem to be able to see past paint color and granite counters. Those who are here for the long haul look at different neighborhoods and have a different eye for the homes.

    We don't have cable and I'm afraid I would sit there like a zombie if we did. We buy or sell something on the average of every two years. People are starting to take the decluttering to heart, but not all. Now, I look at the pictures of kitchen packed with stuff with a different eye. Some of that is just coming with age and experience.

    If staging is common in your area, then it will be important because of how the eye of the buyers is skewed.

    Gloria

  • FatHen
    17 years ago

    It's good to hear others besides me snicker at "staging!" LOL!

  • likesdoilies
    17 years ago

    My view is that items 1, 2 and 3 in the OP indicate very much an UNstaged house. The whole point of staging - as I understand it - is to make the house so that potential buyers can see themselves living there. If one's "decorating ability," "personal possessions" and "lifestyle" are so prominent/evident, I'd say the owners of those houses have misunderstood the point.
    When we bought our house 19 years ago, there was no wall anywhere that was white or just plain. Grasspaper, gold and brown and orange plaid wallpapers, cheap sheetpaneling, an orange painted wall, brown carpeting, and in one room wrinkled red carpeting in a room with peeling wallpaper. We spent the next 19 years staging it for sale in 2006 - LOL!

  • graywings123
    17 years ago

    I have to agree with likesdoilies - Stumpy is clueless as to what staging is all about. But that's fine. When it comes time to sell this house, Stumpy and folks like him or her are my competition, and the less they know, the better for me.

  • lisa77429
    17 years ago

    Yes, having to stage bites, however, it is amazing to learn how many people make more comments about your furnishings and personal possessions than they do about the house in question. I, too, can look past other people's stuff but it is suprising how many people can't. I also think all of these tv shows (which are now worse than plentiful) have added a few more thorns in our sides.

    Now that staging is so popular, you almost feel that you have to participate 50 to 100% in order to join the ranks of the new sellers and buyers or be chastised by your realtor, prospective buyers, buyer's realtor, friends, neighbors, family, etc. Just watch your weekly newspaper in the housing section - staging is a frequent discussion.

    Buy hey, if staging helps grab a sale, then by all means I'd do it!

  • patti43
    17 years ago

    I just saw my first staging show tonight on HDTV. What they did was clean out clutter and optimize the space available. It was done on $2000 or less, so no major purchases were made. Nothing wrong with that that I can see. It'd be really hard to decorate in order to sell your house, since everyone's tastes and color choices are different. I say, just keep the clutter out and hope for the best.

  • OllieJane
    17 years ago

    I think all the shows on HGTV (which is what I mainly watch, btw) does make it harder for us that are selling the homes difficult and time-consuming!

    Our agent told me that one of his clients just staged their home for $3400.00-and it sold very quickly after it had been on the market for quite some time. I think I know the house he was talking about and the pics of it before was NOT GOOD! Then, I went to look at it in person after it was staged, and WOW, it was amazing! I guess she got her money's worth in the end-because I was going to lowball cuz the house was really ugly before (I was looking for a house that needed some updating, but had good bones) and before I knew it-it had a contract on it.

  • pompeii
    17 years ago

    I think there are different degrees of staging. I absolutely feel that a house should be decluttered, clean, and freshened with new paint and general fix-ups. You want people to feel that they can at least move in, and then take their time repainting, etc. You don't want them to look at cracked tile and filthy chipped paint and think "I have to do all this before I can even move in."

    Where it goes overboard are the tables set for a formal dinner party, the mood music and candles, the jetted tub filled and running. That's just silly, and IMHO, distracts from actually seeing the house. I find it a turn off.

    The HGTV shows mostly focus on the first type of staging, not the second.

  • lisa77429
    17 years ago

    pompeii, there is a new style of staging and you can read all about it in "annoying showing stories" or something like that. Go towards the end of the thread and find "doc's" post.

    I still laugh when I read or think about it. I know his story was very accidental but his "brand" of impromptu staging (which did the trick) is hysterical.

  • probookie
    17 years ago

    Although I enjoy many of the sell-your-house shows, some elements appear so often they have become pet peeves:

    Window treatments that PUDDLE ON THE FLOOR!

    On the dining table, a crisp white sheet that DRAGS ON THE FLOOR!

    A dining table set for a meal, formal or otherwise. (trying way too hard)

    A bath tub filled with water with flowers floating in it. (Way, way too hard)

    Candles left burning. (omg, what are they thinking?!)

    I think that the best staging tips are the simple ones:
    (1) Rent a storage unit and put a substantial portion of your household goods in it so the house will seem more roomy and prospective buyers are not put off by clutter.
    (2) If you can't clean the house to a fare-thee-well by yourself, hire a cleaning crew to do it.

    Oh, and here in the DC metro area, too many realtors think that spraying scented products around the house constitutes spot-on staging. Several times, I've had to flee a house literally gasping for air!

  • graywings123
    17 years ago

    probookie - We had a stager help us prepare our house when we sold last fall. None of the items you name were suggested, and she specifically told us not to set the table.

  • Magret
    17 years ago

    I've wondered how people here feel about this. I was watching one of those shows not long ago and the homeowner asked the "designer" why staging was necessary at all. The "designer" responded that unfortunately most people these days lacked the insight or imagination to see much beyond her furnishings and/or personal possessions. Love it.

    The same evening I watched another episode where people were going through a home pawing the furniture complaining about how ugly it was. Give it a rest.

    Decluttering and keeping your home very clean and fresh go without saying. I do it when I expect friends and family so why on earth would I not do it when I'm going to have strangers parade through my home trying to decide whether or not to buy it. But beyond that, try to visualize and use your common sense. My couch is of no relevance to you.

  • lisa77429
    17 years ago

    Staging is subjective. Standard/typical staging to me is declutter, removing family photos and personal items, clean clean clean, fresh flowers and like touches. A step up from standard (to me) would be limiting furniture to 3 items per room - which I did. I can see the benefit of opening up the rooms. Make it look crisp, clean and large. I added flower baskets outside, made my entry attractive, nice small rugs at the doorways, completley cleaned off my kitchen counters, freshened up all bathroom towels and rugs. And yes, several candles for effect only. It was too hot to turn on the fireplace so I found a 10 candle candle holder to gave it the "look" of a cozy fireplace.

    I just wish Roger (the famous tv stager) would iron those darned white sheets he throws on everything LOL. That bugs me to no end. I do have to admit this his staged houses do look quite wonderful by the time he is finished. While they may only spend $300.00, look at all that free labor and free decorator talent they get. It's quite different for us typical homeowners.

    Also notice how they mainly concentrate on the entrance of your home (living room) and the kitchen? I've always heard those two areas are the first deal breakers within seconds of entering. If anything, I would concentrate hard in those two areas.

  • xamsx
    17 years ago

    Lisa, you had three pieces of furniture per room? Didn't that make your larger rooms look empty? Or like you could not afford to buy furniture? I personally prefer empty homes (and am putting an empty one on the market next week), but in a 20' x 20' room I'd think three pieces of furniture would look a tad... empty. (hehe, No better way to describe the idea, I hope my meaning came through.)

    Also notice how they mainly concentrate on the entrance of your home (living room) and the kitchen? I've always heard those two areas are the first deal breakers within seconds of entering. If anything, I would concentrate hard in those two areas.

    Oh boy is this true! We looked at a lot of homes when we bought last year. One home in particular I recall was in the best area of the city. The home was up for a loooooooong time in a very hot market for upper end homes. I think it was because the realtor was a dunce.

    We were brought in through the back door into the kitchen. This kitchen was a throw back to the 60s (and would never have been considered high end in the 60s) wallpapered in faux-Delf tile paper. While quite large (20 ' x 25') it was completely unworkable in it's current configuration. This lead to a bathroom that was from the 1930s and in no way "charming". The tour continued to the basement when the owners put a sump pump in the rec room next to the fireplace.

    ummmm

    After that we toured the rest of the home.

    What the realtor SHOULD have done, was let us in the front door. From the front entrance, the first thing you saw after entering the home was the open foyer with the Waterford chandelier. This opened up to the gleaming hardwood dining room (and that Waterford chandelier) on the right, and the gleaming hardwood and triple tiered moldings of the living room on the left. The living room had the original Waterford sconces on the walls.

    I can not help but think that this house would have been sold long before we saw it if the realtor had brought clients in through the front door and made a positive impression on them before the nightmare of the kitchen and baths.

    The house we ended up purchasing sold us with the kitchen. It is fabulous. (*sigh* How trite. )

  • clg7067
    17 years ago

    Some of those houses on those shows need help bad! Last night there was one woman who's walls were covered with photos and junk. You could barely see a wall back there. Decluttering does make the room look bigger. And fresh paint would have been really nice when I bought my house. After they moved out with all their clutter, I found I had to paint EVERY wall. There sure is something to be said for "move in" condition, but skip the candles and flower in the tub. :)

  • aikidokap
    17 years ago

    Ah, but it's all about sales, no?

    For instance, when many people shop for a vehicle, they ask about engine power and durability, powertrain, warranty and overall price.

    But, if that's all that was important, why wouldn't we all be still driving Henry Ford's basic black? Leather seats? Why when cloth is cheaper and just as durable?

    To some, the material things they own make them feel a certain way. In fact, I would argue that they do for all of us whether you want to recognize that or not.

    So, things like staging or prepping a home is about helping a prospective buyer imagine themselves in a lifestyle. It's funny, we had a condo that we sold a while back. I had made the whole house WiFi accessible, along with hardwired networking throughout the house (I'm an IT guy buy trade). I also put in wall wiring for speakers in the living room, along with professionally installed speakers. We went and bought some of those goofy windsock/banners that people put outside their homes (they're popular here). In our flyer, we put distance to attractions and services that were attractive to young professional couples. And guess what we heard? "Man, can you believe it? IT has EVERYTHING we need to get started, and in a perfect location."

    Was it any different than the other condos nearby for sale? Not much. But we "sold" it in a certain way.

    For me, as a seller, I might appreciate a no nonsense buyer like you, but I'll spend a little and "sell" to another buyer if it nets me another $50k profit.

    aiki

  • likesdoilies
    17 years ago

    Wow, aiki, that is a very clever idea with the windsocks and distances to popular destinations.
    Decluttering and cleaning, yes, that's the bare minimum. We decluttered the kitchen so much it looked rather unwelcome so we put a couple of things back on the counter. We wanted the place to look like a *home*.

  • pharaoh
    17 years ago

    Staging is like make-up, reality hits you only after its gone!

  • lazypup
    17 years ago

    I guess I have been working in the building trades way too long. When I view a home for sale I would be hard pressed to tell you what color the paint was in any specific room, but I can spot a bad sheetrock tape joint in the next room. The only window treatments I am concerned about is whether the replacement windows were properly sized or did they grab the nearest available size off the shelf at the big box store and cobble it in with a bunch of excess wood trim? I might notice the sconces in the bathroom but then again I probably won't but you can be sure I will know the size and vintage of the main electrical service panel as well as the HVAC unit, water heater and AC condenser. Lets be totally honest, $50/yd carpet is little better that a Big Lots remnant when installed on cheap padding and in my estimation that quick overnight paint job to attract buyers serves little more purpose than putting lipstick on a pig. When I look at a structure it is the structural integrity that I am most interested in, the rest is merely cosmetics that will be changed every ten years as styles change anyway.

  • lisa77429
    17 years ago

    xamsa, 3 pieces per room really did work well. I'm not talking about small items though. Used those as extra decoration I suppose - filler. My 3 pieces per room consisted of large pieces - couches, large chairs, etc. Coffee and end tables didn't count. After I did that, I received more comments about it being open, big, free flowing. I actually liked it much better and couldn't believe I hadn't done that years ago. Oh well!

  • lisa77429
    17 years ago

    Oh, I forgot to mention something about staging. NEVER stage your table with live fruit in a bowl. I came home tonight to find thousands (slight exageration) of teeny tiny fruit flies hoovering in my kitchen. Now I wish I knew sign language because you dare not open your mouth in the kitchen.

    AWFUL!

  • drcindy
    17 years ago

    My next door neighbor is in the very beginning stages of selling her home, and her real-estate agent is staging it. There was a U-haul truck outside their house yesterday. On the outside, they had placed large garden containers filled with huge sticks of bamboo, which doesn't coordinate with the house in any way. My neighbor is excited but confused about some logistics. The stager will be replacing some of the furniture, including their kitchen table. They have a family of 4 but the staged table only includes 2 chairs! I will have to take a peek in a few days and it will be interesting to see how successful it is.

  • debraf
    17 years ago

    Hi everyone. I own a staging business and I firmly believe in the benefits of staging. I don't advise my clients to set the table, fill the whirlpool tub, etc. I concentrate on walking through the home and pointing out items that should be repaired so that the buyer will feel the home has been well maintained, removing clutter (including removing items from closests and cabinets) re-arranging and removing some furniture and accessories and updating paint colors, removing wall-paper, etc. I also give my clients a detailed list of areas that need special cleaning attention.

  • Leann Fellmeth
    17 years ago

    We watched the shows, bought the books. Being in a s l o w market, as well as a major buyer's market, we felt we needed every angle.

    Painted, cleaned, decluttered, did I mention cleaned ;-), rearranged the furniture so it looked good instead of being as functional, cleaned :-), minimized furniture, removed personal items, updated several light fixtures, stripped wallpaper, and yet again cleaned the clean. The only thing that we added (as in staged) for showings and the one open house, was vases of our own old garden roses.

    We'd done alot of landscaping through the years, so the curb appeal was there already. We listed and figured to be in for the long haul. I forget the DOM average around here, but it's a l o n g time.

    About a week and a half after listing, we had two offers, countered one, the buyer accepted it and it went under contract.

    The buyer has been cruising the block, and finally stopped by yesterday- very excited about his new purchase. Telling us how he planned on drinking his coffee in the AM on the patio (we had two old outdoor chairs w/a small table between), telling us how he decorated (in his mind) all the rooms in his new home, and other dreams.

    IOW, he could SEE himself living here. In his mind now, it's his house. All the books and all the shows say that's the point of staqging (no matter how you do it, or what you consider 'staging').

    The results were just what we worked our buns off for, and worth every drop of sweat. And as an added bonus, we got a nice guy that will be loving and living in our home!

    IMO, y'all should stage away... Do whatever you think will help.

  • christopherh
    17 years ago

    THe original staging shows are excellent. Roger of "Sell This House" is a good judge of what's necessary and what isn't.

    But now the shows have gone over the top. I was going through the satellite channels (we're so far out in the woods they won't run cable) and found a staging show that should ahve been renamed "Queer Eye For The Homeowner". This guy walked around saying things like "I haaate that vase!" "This sofa is awwwwful!" I realized the staging shows have gone to the entertainment factor over actually helping anyone.

    It's funny though. I had trouble selling my home in PA until we listed with another realtor. He said to declutter by removing all personal effects, paint the trim, and remove all unnecessary furniture. The house sold one week later. This was BEFORE the staging shows were even around.

  • marvelousmarvin
    16 years ago

    What was the point of using the windsocks again?

    As for turning on the jets, I don't think its necessairly that silly as it displays a positive feature that a buyer may have not noticed.

    I don't get why its bad to be considered to be trying too hard when you're trying to stage the place.

  • theroselvr
    16 years ago

    Been cleaning, decluttering, painting, upgrading for weeks. I'll also do some staging. I have an ugly dining table, 1st thing you see. Hubby bought it before we were together, I'd love to throw it out. One chair's rattan is ripped so I bought slipcovers. Normally I have a plastic table cloth due to my daughter who has been destructive so I picked up a nice table cloth with napkins, napkin rings and will do some sort of small center piece on the table. I won't set the table for dinner....

    I'm usually an organized person and could probably do it for a living. I've been down a few years with health problems; the 1st thing I staged is the kitchen. I bought all sorts of organizational items, something IÂve wanted to do for years. I also tiled under the sink, what a difference.

    I will purchase bedding for my daughters room with new curtains, and new towels for both bathrooms. The master bath will also get an accessory change; new toothbrush holder, shower curtain.

    Since I live in a military town, there are a lot of houses for sale, so I want mine to stand out, but not stand out too much.

    I will also plan to list when my garden is starting to bloom. That will be a big selling point I hope.

    Minimal staging I feel can help, it also helps to know the area you live in and how others live. If I lived in an area where staging the dining table complete with dishes was the norm, I would do it, but I donÂt. You have to be realistic.

    The OP stated 3 things, with each saying she/he isn't interested in anything other than the house. I have to agree with others that some people can't imagine their stuff in a house. I made a post on the decorating forum a week ago asking for suggestions on floral napkin rings; the responces I got floored me. One poster had a bad experience in a house that had a lot of floral and assumed that since I wanted floral napkin rings that my house must have a lot of floral. Pretty sure she said she'd walk out if she saw a lot of floral. I also mentioned I used pinks, greens & light blue. I guess she figured the pink was on my walls.

  • cordovamom
    16 years ago

    i think we're talking about two kinds of buyers here, experienced and inexperienced. Staging does absolutely nothing for me, I want to see the house, the bones, don't care about your sofa or napkin rings etc. But I've been buying homes for 30 years and those things don't fool me.

    We went house hunting with my son and his fiancee and although my son realized that it was just paint, or furnishings, my future daughter in law's comments were all about the decorating. I had to turn to her and tell her, it's just paint, $25 per gallon will fix that up. We looked at at least a dozen houses with them and all she could focus on was the decorating. The house they finally bought was totally neutral, realtor beige throughout but was empty of furnishings. My son's common sense finally sold her on the fact that they weren't buying the furnishings in a home, they were buying their own.

  • cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
    16 years ago

    I did what I would call "moderate" staging, but I had to. South Florida is a very tough market right now and any edge I could get is one I wanted. Also we have a very non traditional lifestyle- out of three bedrooms only one had a bed in in and buyers just can't see past that.

    We had over 75 piecs of dog art- paintings and prints all one breed- in storage. We had two rooms of drumkits and music memorablia- in storage. We had three eight foot tall cat trees- in storage. We had three giant reef tanks- dismantled and sold. NONE of our closets had shelves or rods, as we are shorts and t's people and needed TV's built in instead. Fixed 'em. We had no table and chairs anywhere so had to buy a set. And so on.

    After the bulk of our belongings were in a POD, we repainted every paintable surface in the home- inside closets, inside cabinets, garage walls, ceilings, floor, pool deck, exterior- the whole shebang. I put up cheaper window treatments so I could take my good ones with me. And so on. All this was done before the first realtor set foot in the place.

    I sold in 30 days for full asking price. In South Florida where average DOM is 115.
    And the best part is that now- one week before we leave the state- most all of my packing is done.

    I couldn't have done it without months of watching HGTV. I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. It worked for me, so don't knock it!

  • artamnesia
    16 years ago

    I'm currently house hunting and the only staging I care about is what will stay with the house.

    Please give me:

    1. Clean empty rooms
    2. Quality kitchen and bathroom fixtures
    3. Fresh paint
    4. Some attention to the exterior and landscaping (if you can)

    My pet peeve is scented candles burning during my walk-through. Scent and its associations vary from person to person so please don't assume that everyone likes a smell because you do. If they house actually has an unpleasant odor, find the source and remove it. Nothing smells more welcoming (at least to me) than fresh air.

    The most recent turn offs resulted from a house full of sickeningly sweet votives placed on every surface and another that reeked of hotel air freshener. The assault on my senses made it very hard to just look at the house and imagine my family living there.

  • dabunch
    16 years ago

    Stumpyouch-
    There aren't that many realists like yourself.

    Believe me, staging is a large part of selling. It's all about how you present your product & not what it truly is. Sad, but true. Majority of people love pretty packaging ;)

  • theroselvr
    16 years ago

    Good point about the scents; I don't care for the in your face scents but do like a light honeysuckle, which Walmart just changed to Sweet Nectar. It's a pretty popular scent, whenever I go to Walmart they usually only have a handful of candles left.

    I would never leave a candle burning, and would like to have enough time from me using one to blow it out and let the house air out a little before someone walked in because I doubt everyone likes scent in a house. If I only had 30 minutes to get out, my 1st thing would be to open windows then bring the candles outside to blow out (I hate how its mells to blow out a candle); grab what needs to be taken; close windows (unless it's nice out) then leave.

    cordovamom, I realize a lot of people here can look past things and may be able to look past my ugly table & one beat up chair, but some may not. I don't want people getting caught up in my stuff and when I made the decision to put a nicer table cloth on the table, as I said, I decided that napkins, placemats & napkin rings were as far as I was going. The table would look too bare without it.

    Who knows, I may even ditch that stuff and go with a new dinette set. Didn't think hubby was open to it, but we discussed it when my neighbor was here, so a new set may be coming in if I can find one before listing. Then I may only do something on the center of the table. I do think I will keep one or 2 of the current chairs with covers by the front door for people to sit if I get disposable shoe covers

  • coolvt
    16 years ago

    As a guy, I listen to the chat here and think of shopping for a woman. I kind of like them staged up, but try to look under to see what I would be getting.
    A dirty look, messy clothes and too much of the "in your face" scent just doesn't work for me.

  • artamnesia
    16 years ago

    Not to be cruel, but I laughed out loud when I came across the photos for a listing yesterday. Here's a house that really could use a litte staging, as in a removal ofclutter and personalized items and decor.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

  • Vivian Kaufman
    16 years ago

    artamnesia, that's NOTHING. You should see some of the pics from around this town where I've been looking. LOL

    There was even one picture of a bathroom and someone had a curling iron laying on the sink counter, cord dangling...LOL I've seen so much kitchen clutter that you couldn't tell that there even WERE countertops. I've been to open houses with loads of dirty clothes strewn about the floor in bedrooms. Oh YUCK. Luckily I can look past that, but I'm sure some people can't. It's just not good to turn off your buyers.

  • marge727
    16 years ago

    Some of the houses smell moldy, they have cobwebs,and dirty windows. If somebody gave them a good cleaning, they would look better. It doesn't happen across all price ranges though. So maybe staging is an attempt to give the house the same class or atmosphere or smell that a new or more expensive house has. I agree that some people have no clue how to fix anything, so they imagine themselves having to hire countless handymen.

  • subuagain
    16 years ago

    I was house hunting a couple of weekends ago and came to the conclusion that a well staged house, ie decluttered will have a garage jam packed with everything but a vehicle.

    The best creative touch i saw was a pair on old fashioned binoculars placed on the windowsill to admire the creek in the back yard. When we went to open the door to the garage we literally had to push things out of the way to get the door opened.

  • quirkyquercus
    16 years ago

    I think staging is more for the $0.5 Million and up club. If there already is the assumption the house is in tip top shape or brand new with warranty the only thing left to think about is how it will be decorated then we can tell hubby which house we will be getting. For the rest of us, it is probably unnecessary.

  • klimkm
    16 years ago

    You are right about people not being able to visualize stuff. years in the graphic design business has convinced me of it. That is why the real estate people always recommend that you keep everything neutral, walls, carpets, etc. when showing. People get distracted easily and may get hung up on a trivial detail that they just can't get past. I have dealt with people like this for years, being an artist.

    Unless you are lucky enough to get a 'creative" person looking at your home that will appreciate something "different". Those people will also be the ones to be able to see past the brown walls and have a vision of their own for the property.

    There is a reason real estate people say neutral neutral neutral. And I may add, clean and tidy and clutterfree and no personal photos. People just get hung up on inconsequential stuff sad to say.

  • saphire
    16 years ago

    Many years ago in Manhattan at the absolute tail end of a sellers market, there was an apartment with a view of Central Park with its only bedroom painted orange, ceilings too. I still remember it and it is almost 2 decades. It sat for quite a long time. A can of primer and paint would have done wonders

    When we looked in a Buyers market years ago, there was one house that was neat (although in retrospect not completely decluttered) and really decorated nicely. Better than I could have done. It had a bidding war on it. My father looked and said bells and whistles, but obviously he was the only one who thought that

    Frankly a filled bathtub would sort of skeeve me. Would remind me others have bathed there and what am I doing looking at a full tub with things floating in it in my clothes and with my realtor? Yuck For the record I do like a nice tub but I want to see it, not see it filled

    After hearing about BethesdaMans experience I now assume every homne show on TV is BS

  • artamnesia
    16 years ago

    I looked at a house on Saturday that took the cake. Big old victorian farmhouse that from the outside had us antsy with anticipation. Huge, two stories plus attic converted to master suite, above ground pool and deck, etc. etc. Upon entering the house it was pretty clear that they shared their space with some pets - fine with us as we're pet owners as well. But there was a definite dog smell that permeated everything, and as we climbed the stairs to the second floor it was hard to ignore the clotted animal hair along the baseboards and the rising scent of..what? Dirty laundry and dander? Back down to first floor and down to the basement but...as soon as we opened the door we were hit with the pungent twang of dog urine. Husband made it all the way down the stairs, I started gagging after the third stair and the agent couldn't even pass though the doorway.

    The kicker - a scented candle burning in the kitchen adding its very own floral scent to the sickening potpourri.

  • saphire
    16 years ago

    Years ago before the rise of these shows, a friend sold her townhouse with multiple offers before townhouses in our area rose. Her secret was to bake those instant cookies before each showing and then toss them after, I think she even would leave them on the counter for visitors

  • jakkom
    16 years ago

    Having gone to dozens of open houses, I'm not surprised few people are able to see past the clutter, bad decorating, and awful housekeeping that many homeowners can't be bothered to change even though it would mean a faster sale or multiple offers.

    Yes, my husband and I look at things like drainage issues, gutters, heating systems, roof eaves, etc., and I actually will read an entire inspection report if provided. But we're by far in the minority, my RE friend says.

    We staged my MIL's house. Nice house, great neighborhood, but definitely on the higher end of the area. Market was slowing (May 2006) with more inventory and longer DOMs appearing. Kitchen & bathrooms were good quality, showed well, definitely turnkey but hadn't been upgraded in 20 yrs so lacked the "pro-style appliances and granite" stuff.

    We moved my MIL out of the house and got rid of everything; giving it away to relatives/friends and remaindering the rest through a liquidator. The rooms were painted (outside was fine); the carpet ripped out of the upstairs and the wooden floors refinished; all window coverings removed (amazing how much sun that house got, I never realized it before!); the downstairs 'bonus room' had the hideous sheet vinyl removed and flat Berber-weave neutral W2W carpet installed. We took all the advice of the RE agent and used the vendors he suggested.

    My MIL couldn't understand why we needed to do this. She also wanted to sell her furnishing with the house, she was absolutely sure someone would want to buy all her lovely things.

    My DH and I, as well as the extremely wonderful full-service agent we used, told her that no, people don't want to buy furnished houses. They particularly don't want to spend $1.1M on a classic 3bd 2ba Mediterranean full of somebody else's furniture.

    To the day it was sold, and maybe even now, she still doesn't understand why the buyers wouldn't have wanted her home furnishings!

    The stager we used kept the rooms very sparely furnished, just enough to look good. Did a beautiful job in the living room, with big overstuffed loveseat and chairs - LR was oversized compared to new construction around here - and nice large plants. The last was particularly needed since the LR also had a vaulted ceiling so one needed to keep the scale consistent.

    The house spent 28 DOM and got very close to asking, within $50K. Five houses came onto the market around the same time in her area: all were unstaged, 2 were taken off market after 90 DOM unsold; 3 sold after an average 69DOM with price discounts ranging from 10-18%.

  • chris8796
    16 years ago

    I'm surprised no one mentioned the difference between selling a "staged" house and a empty house. I tend to think of staged houses has houses with furniture brought in. I don't consider cleaning, decluttering, and updating staging, rather common sense.

    I see empty houses as a buyers friend. Because 90% of the time the owner is paying 2 mortgages, so you can assume a motivated seller. I see this as a definite negotating advantage for the buyer, espcially if you can close right away. I ended up with my current house by low balling a empty house and was surprised when the current owners made a great counter offer. It was a 4 br house in the middle of winter, so I assumed most families move around the school year. They lived in the house 6-7 years and left closing with less than a grand. They had only moved into a nicer house a 1/4 mile down the street.

  • marvelousmarvin
    16 years ago

    [QUOTE]In our flyer, we put distance to attractions and services that were attractive to young professional couples. And guess what we heard? "Man, can you believe it? IT has EVERYTHING we need to get started, and in a perfect location."
    [/QUOTE]

    Do you still have a copy of this flyer? I'm really interested to see what were the attractions and features that young professional couples found so attractive.

  • yiannab
    16 years ago

    Stumpy- Staging isn't about decorating. here is my take on staging.

    Even if buyers can overlook worn out furniture and extensive personal collections, they can't overlook how they feel when standing in a room that is uninviting or overcrowded. It is all about emotions....how buyers feel when they are viewing a home.

    When potential buyers walk into a house that is freshly painted in a neutral color, with plenty of light and just enough decorative touches and furnishings to make the space feel welcoming, they feel comfortable, like they could live there. They may not know why they feel this way - they just do. When buyers have a positive experience immediately upon entering the house, they tend to focus their attention on things that help reinforce that feeling.
    Buyers do the opposite when in a home that makes them feel uncomfortable, one that is dark, cluttered, or with furniture that is poorly arranged. They may not understand why they don't get good vibes from the room so they begin focusing on the worn out couch or the doilies on the coffee table, even though those are items that won't be staying with the house. Buyers are soon ready to move on to the next home in hopes that it will give them the feelings they are looking for.

    And believe it or not- when you are selling a house for the most part, you are selling a lifestyle.

  • pattiem93
    16 years ago

    "And believe it or not- when you are selling a house for the most part, you are selling a lifestyle."

    I've staged homes for many years and this is a very true statement. A stager does NOT (or shouldn't) come in and do the job of an interior designer. A stager makes recommendations on cleaning, decluttering, and turning your "home" into a "house" which will appeal to the LARGEST POSSIBLE POOL OF BUYERS. Your lovely home which has worked for you needs to be transformed into a commodity which will bring you the largest payoff in the shortest time. A stager can look at a room and determine that by a simple shift in furniture placement, the room will appear larger (square footage sells!) or more inviting.A stager with a good eye might be able to point out that you would be well served to consider a lovely window treatment for that bedroom with the view of the messy neighbor's house. In your mind, this is a rarely used guest room and it never even occured to you that this might be a negative. We get very comfortable and accustomed to our home's "oddities" but a stager can point out what might turn off a potential buyer. Buyers may not be looking specifically at your belongings, but the fact remains thet when they walk into a warm, inviting, seemingly spacious house, it's just easier to envision this as their "home". Also, a stager can, with furniture placement and accessories, show that a house may not only appeal to a certain pool of people. A 50s or 60s ranch with the retro "Brady Bunch" look can be made appealing to someone with more traditional OR country tastes with a little creativity on the stager's part-this opens up your pool of buyers immensely. And if I am buying, I don't want to walk in and feel that I HAVE to repaint and strip wallpaper tomorrow- a more neutral backdrop can be lived with for a while. You don't need a set table or a running tub, but fresh flowers, lighting, and a coffee set on the coffee table can make a buyer remember the feeling of THIS house in a good way
    Pattie

  • Happyladi
    16 years ago

    A true story; a house that had the same exact floorplan as my mom's sold in Febuary for $210,000 in 21 days. It had bad carpet(pets)and needed painting.

    My mom's house was sold for $225,500 in 3 days in March. She had passed away in late December and I worked hard on her house.

    The difference was my mom's house was clean, decluttered, and "staged". I touched up paint and repainted a couple of rooms. I repainted woodwork. I took out extra furniture, pulled weeds, planted flowers and some new bushes. My sweet husband recauked the tub. I did not remove wallpaper, replace any dated lights(lots of shiny brass), or do extensive landscaping. It looked very inviting and nice.

  • OKMoreh
    16 years ago

    I'm buying in an area that is sort of a backwater, and I can say that I saw only one house (out of about 50) that showed any sign at all of being staged for sale. I'm not even sure about that one; it may have been merely that the owner liked all the latest things from Pottery Barn.

    By "any sign at all of being staged for sale," I mean anything that appeared to have been done specifically to promote a sale - that is, different from the occupants' own tastes or everyday needs.

    On the other hand, this week a neighbor complimented me on the way I had staged my place for sale. The thing is, I don't own it; the owners are selling out from under me (but I am moving to another state, so I don't care). Over the past few months I had made some changes, but they were for my own comfort and were all done before I knew that I would be moving out.

  • redcurls
    16 years ago

    I watch that Roger Hazard guy on Sell This House just for a big laugh. Who ever told him he is a DESIGNER? He loves using sheets for tablecloths (and they always look horrible) and then claims to buy sheets for drapes at a couple bucks a sheet..(where????)...of course, he doesn't say anything about the cost of those CLIPS that cost 7.99 for a pkg of seven even at Wal-Mart! If a bed DOESN'T have a headboard, they make one, if there IS a headboard, they remove it. Roger LOVES to put dining chairs in the living room and only 2 chairs at a dining table but they can't slide UNDER the table because of the doggone sheet! LOL, it's a comedy show all right!