<p>A friend just sold a house in California. Very aggressive staging–and my friend has the best taste of anyone I know! </p>
<p>My kid is starting to look for an apartment in another city and viewing some on line. My stories about my friend’s experience has made her more savvy. She realized she was reacting to staging or lack thereof. When the apartments to let have no furniture in them, she has a hard time visualizing what they will really look like and whether a dining room table, etc. will fit in a space. If the apartment is cluttered, she thinks it’s too small. Some furniture, but just a bit makes rooms look larger. She’s now making a conscious effort to look past the furniture. </p>
<p>Among the seemingly bizarre advice–remove all books. My friend and her H are avid readers, so we are talking about removing thousands of books. Still the stager said that when you have a lot of books, people focus on the books instead of the house. They browse through your titles when they should be looking at your windows and French doors. Also, if people don’t like your taste in books, they won’t like your house. So, if you’ve got a lot of high brow titles or especially books in foreign languages, that will push some people’s off button. You’re also supposed to remove art work. (They have a great Asian art collection.) Again, people react. </p>
<p>You try to make the house “personality free” so people can visualize it with their things better.</p>
<p>I have to agree re the Fabreeze. Anytime I smell an obviously applied scent, I wonder what the person in trying to hide. I prefer naturally occuring scents (open the windows and let the fresh air in, weather permitting). If I walked into a house and smelled obviously commercial vanilla, I would think, hmmm, what does it REALLY smell like in here? What are they trying to cover up? Of course, if someone really did just bake cookies, that would be o.k…</p>
<p>Remove all books??? Wow, if we tried this, there would be lots and lots of empty space…empty rooms even…</p>
<p>My neighbors house has been on the market for two years. I think the main problem is that they are older and the furniture is really grandma style. They are away a lot and I have helped show it a couple of times…the furniture is a total downer…people have no imagination about seeing their own stuff in there.
Absolutely pay for staging.</p>
<p>That’s a lot of endorsements for staging! We inverviewed 4 local realtors before listing All the realtors told us that they thought our furniture and stuff wasn’t too cluttered and they had no problem showing our house the way it was- with minimal staging. But I wonder if they were just saying that to get the listing- and then make us lower our asking price if there are no buyers.</p>
<p>We are definitely going to do some decluttering. Our movers are coming this weekend to pick up a bunch of stuff and take it to storage. Then in another month or so, they will come to pick up the rest when we have to actually move.</p>
<p>On a side note about Febreeze, I tend to agree with the camp that dislikes the artificial fragrances. But there is one kind of Febreeze that is essentially unscented. I think it is called ‘linen’ or something like that, and it really smells like freshly washed linen. Works in small doses.</p>
<p>Ok I am a realtor in No. Virginia, my family lives in NJ, we are selling our home in NC to move back to VA</p>
<p>My advice: 1. It doesn’t matter how you stage the interior if you have no curb appeal…many realtors will set appts. and when they show up at the drive the client is turned off and says I don’t want to see it.
How do you address this: Edge the lawn, plant flowers and Most importantly remove old fake plants, cars that you never drive and keep the garage door close Secondly, PAINT your trim, remove the screens to give more light in the interior and clean the windows…Any smart client will start knocking off dollars before they enter your house (trim needs to be painted…they will then look at your interior walls and carpet… the windows are not shiny clean and then they are looking at sinks, toilets and carpets…cars in the driveway then they are looking for oil stains…weeds and no flowers = how much they will need to landscape…which is how much they will knock off the price and all of this occurs before the door has even opened. 2. REMOVE ALL OF YOUR FURNITURE AND VACUUM…most people do not realize it is the dust that collects behind the sofa, bed, dresser that traps the odor, esp. if you fry any food (don’t cook anything that is fish unless it is on the grill and you eat it outside, the odor will stay…this is true for any deep frying) 3. REMOVE all garbage everynight or in the early morning so no odor stays 4. As far as pics…I have never asked any of my clients to remove them, however, if you have a painting of the Last Supper or the Virgin Mary, than yes take it down, it can be seen as offensive to another religion…buyers who may not share the same faith will walk away for that reason. 5. DO NOT burn candles…most buyers know that trick now and ??? what are you trying to hide…plus it leaves you with the potential for a fire. I suggest to my clients to buy the old fashion air wicks and hide them (the twist and pulls in a cylindric form)…Febreeze is great, but if it is sprayed to early it leaves the same scent and it may over power the room, which then we have a sneezing client who never sees the rest of the house. 6. CLEAN…CLEAN…CLEAN! While you do it take an honest inventory…look at your closet, if you haven’t worn it…DONATE IT (otherwise you are packing it up and unpacking it to not wear it)…BLEACH THE TOILET, UNSCREW THE FAUCET AND GET THE MOLD AND GOOK OUT…TAKE EVERY FILTER OUT AND REPLACE THEM (Dirty filters means same old smells are going around) CLEAN EVERY WINDOW (Vinegar and newspaper leaves no streaks)…DUST EVERY CEILING FAN.</p>
<p>NOW FOR SERIOUS SELLERS</p>
<pre><code>1. Buy the small 6 pack of bake at home muffins, they take 20 minutes, put them in b4 you take your shower, put them on a pretty tray with a couple of apples or oranges and leave a note saying feel free to take. Leave bottles of water also…here’s the reason…1st, they think of you as people who understand what they are going through, and they have a positive feeling for such a small action. 2nd. they will now wander a little longer to really see the house. 3rd. by having only a limited amt of home baked goods (also plays on their mind of cooking and living in your home) you know exactly how much was there, a pack of Oreos is hard to count and doesn’t give them the warmth 2. MAKE SURE YOUR DINING/KITCHEN CHAIRS ARE PUSHED IN ALL THE WAY… most potential buyers who are serious will sit down(thus, a chair will be pulled out which is a good sign…and discuss where the furniture will go, typically they do this in the kitchen…also if you have throw pillows in your family room arrange them in a way that you will know if they sat down (I tell my clients to put them in the middle so if someone sits they would need to move them to be comfy) 3. Have realtor flyers placed inside the house in a very noticeable spot…entry table, kitchen, etc. PUT out only 10, when you come home count them…if they took them it is a good sign since they already have the realtor listing. I have my house 2 piles — 1 LABELED for REALTORS this includes tax record and disclosure in b &w the other is LABELED for CLIENTS in color…if the realtor one is gone that is a good sign…Realtors have enough paperwork we don’t pick up more unless there is a reason.
I know that alot of this post was not about staging…every Realtor will tell you to remove the clutter and show the walls…I was trying to assist on how to finess your property
</code></pre>
<p>I totally, completely agree with the curb appeal issue - when I was choosing our RENTAL property for Miami, I would have appointments, pull up to the property, and, about five different times I called the realtor/owner/landlord whoever from my cell phone and said, nope, uh-uh, cancel my appointment please. And this was just for a RENTAL, so, I can imagine prospective buyers…</p>
<p>I just helped a friend sell her house that had been on the market for three months with no significant interest. We are not real estate professionals and did not hire anyone for the ‘staging.’ House is under contract within three weeks of the re-do.</p>
<p>We:
Put in a new lawn and planted lots colorful annuals near the front door for instant curb appeal.
Painted the entire interior using neutral, creamy colors.
Decluttered big time. There were very few things in the rooms besides the minimum of furniture & some basic decor. Placed mirrors in smaller rooms to make them look bigger.
Replaced the owner’s older, somewhat dated furniture with a few high-end-looking rental pieces.
Scrubbed the bathrooms spotless, hung luxurious-looking towels and put in fresh flowers to distract from the fact that the bathrooms, while OK, were far from spectacular.
Washed all the windows, and took down all window treatments to make the windows look bigger, the rooms brighter and decor more streamlined-looking.
Thought about baking cookies for the open house… but forgot. House got an offer anyway.</p>
<p>Nice tips bulletandpima… I really like the muffins idea.</p>
<p>I think the overall key is that in a buyers market the sellers really need to put on a show to impress the buyers. If you don’t, then someone else will and that’s where the buyers will go.</p>
<p>I forgot to say that I tell my clients you will be going to a new house and putting new linen on, place it now…trick is they put it over their bed linen during the day and remove at night so it stays pretty. THINK COVERLET
I also tell them to spend the 20 bucks and buy new bath towels…it makes a huge difference…tell the kids to grab the ones under the sink and when they are done throw them in the dryer…before you leave for work turn it on for 20 minutes…come home re-fold and place in the cabinet/closet again</p>
<p>FINALLY FOR SELLERS:</p>
<p>BUY THE HOME OWNERS WARRANTY…Two-fold…gives buyers an ease of mind and protects the seller if anything is found during the inspection…AC costs alot of money to fis, so does the water heater…In VA if there isn’t an HOW I tell my clients to place it in at Sellers cost…what is the worst they say no? I have had only 2 no’s and I bought it for both of my clients as a gift</p>
<p>Thank you very much bulletandpima! CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN is what I intend to do all weekend (besides checking this thread for more tips, of course)!</p>
<p>OK…here is a suggestion we used when selling our home, and I’ve passed it on to others as well. We went out and bought inexpensive LIGHT color towels and rugs for all of our bathrooms. Whenever the agent called for a showing, I took the towels that were in the bathroom and tossed them in the washer and put out the new bright clean light towels and rugs. That way the bathrooms always looked fresh and nice for the showings. When I returned home, I just folded everything back up and put it on a shelf in my linen closet for the next round. </p>
<p>I also had an extra laundry basket. When the agent called for a showing, I put all of the “stuff” that had accumulated on my kitchen counter (you know…the mail, flyers, school papers, etc) and put it all in the laundry basket which I put in the trunk to my car. Clutter gone…temporarily.</p>
<p>I never cooked, but I did have bowls of fruit on my breakfast room table (polished apples look very nice). I didn’t do that except for open houses. </p>
<p>Also, we had done quite a bit of recent updating on our house, and we had before/after pictures in a binder. We also had pictures of our front and backyard gardens in bloom. We had a fantastic yard where something was always blooming. No way to see that in April (which is when our house sold). Along with that we prepared a sheet of the improvements and when they were completed. We always left one on the counter near the scrap book and it was always gone when we returned. </p>
<p>By the way…the folks who bought our house commented on the book of photos and said it was one thing that made them buy our house. </p>
<p>Bonus…when we moved into our new home, we had nice new towels and bath rugs.</p>
<p>This is a follow-up to this thread. We followed many of the suggestions given here- mostly we did some serious decluttering, put about 30% of our stuff into storage, rearranged the remaining furniture to make the house look more spacious, cleaned like crazy, and bought some new linens and towels to display when showing the house. We also priced the house sensibly.</p>
<p>We got three offers within three days of the house coming on the market. We closed on the sale last week. We got slightly more than our asking price!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your many helpful suggestions. C.C is awesome!!</p>
<p>congrats - great to hear that you were able to generate the attention!!! After reading through this thread, lots of great tips in here… One I did not see is to increase the wattage of your hallway light bulbs - and if you are repainting use a satin or glossy finish on the hallway walls. The light will reflect around and brighten what is often the darkest part of the house.</p>
<p>Did anyone happen to notice the number of views for this thread? I think we should keep it bumped; clearly people are interested. Plus, it feels right to see threads with LTS in them. </p>
<p>So…in the interest of bumping, my 2 cents on the scents. Some people make negative associations for certain scents. For me, Febreze reminds of the dead, putrifying possum in the attic. Cooking food reminds me of washing dishes, etc… I’d stick with the light, clean scent (not something blech like Pine Sol, of course.)</p>
<p>Couple other things, not sure if mentioned. People tend to open fridges, microwaves and dishwashers when looking at a house. Might check the condition of your dishwasher racks and microwave turntable and replace if necessary. If the fridge is a built-in and therefore staying, pays to declutter that thing as well. </p>
<p>My sister-in-law is an interior decorator (rec’d an actual real world BA with a specialty in lighting design) and works for commercial builders doing lighting plans. She constantly stresses the importance of the dramatic effect of light. Bright bulbs are a turnoff. She suggests nothing higher than 40 watts in accent lamps. Also, if your house doesn’t have dramatic rope, cove or can lighting, you can still create an interesting effect with those little plug-in directional lights behind a potted or silk tree, or accent table with a floral arrangement. If your house may be shown in the evening (smart buyers do ask to see the house at night as well as during daylight), then plant some color beds near the entrance and stake a few solar downlights. For buyers, she recommends using light to detect wall problems, like nail pops or settling that might require repair prior to closing. Visit a prospective purchase at night, turn the lights out and shine a strong flashlight upward on the walls.</p>
<p>I agree, it was nice to go back and read this old thread and find LTS’s post. I felt then as I do now- honored to have her comment on a thread started by me!</p>
<p>Yes, thumper1, we did keep the new towels for the new house. But I don’t know what we will do with all those shams and decorative pillows! </p>
<p>We did keep our dishwasher and all other appliances clean and relatively empty. The kitchen counter was always clean and devoid of toaster/coffeemaker, etc. We had a few flowers in strategic places- some real, some artificial. We did not use fragrances. We kept a dehumidifier going in the basement all the time to keep it extra-dry and odor-free. </p>
<p>The house had a lot of natural light but we also had bright halogen lights in hallways, kitchen, etc. No accent lights. Window treatments were simple white cellular shades- no fancy curtains.</p>
<p>To be honest, the house was a rarity in our town: A gut-renovated, sparkling clean, traditional Colonial with a great backyard and deck, convenient location and ample square footage for this price range. We had just completed building an addition last year, so about 30% of the house was brand new. We only had to sell because we moved out of state. </p>
<p>Perhaps one big factor was that we probably priced the house about 5% below the market. Yet, part of me did not want to let go of the house- at any price. We will miss that house. We poured in a lot of love, time and money in improving it. It was really rundown when we bought it and today it is a gorgeous house. Sigh…</p>
<p>I didn’t read this thread first time around, and my reaction: I am so so glad I’m not selling my house. So much work!</p>
<p>I think I’ve bought 5 or 6 houses in my lifetime, and I’ve never been put off by family pictures all over the place. What typically stops me from buying a house are a poor floor plan, rotten location, and the need to do a lot of work (like replacing hideous shag carpet and velvet flocked wallpaper).</p>