CB, thought of you today when I drove into Pacific Beach and hit a crazy hard rain after a clear and sunny morning. Good news is that the view should be crystal clear for your photo shoot tomorrow.
looking good! staging is nice and simple . . . like the telescope and chair. it’s pointed toward the ocean or sky right? 
thanks for showing all the pix. i like the light colors - and since you’ve been working on decorating part of the house, i’ve been inspired to lighten up some rooms my way; and i’m getting some new flooring and lights and countertops in the bathrooms.
Wow – what a lot of work you’ve gotten done today, coralbrook. If I was in PB I’d grab a bottle of wine and pour you a glass.
I don’t think you need to be 100% to sell a house. So relax and don’t work yourself to death.
I tested the market a bit and invited three people over who have not seen the house. All of them went gaga over the views and hardly even left the front entry area. But, both the two men, and one woman were drawn to the fireplace mantle and loved it. They asked all about it and where I got it. It’s interesting what people are drawn to and which detail ‘makes a statement’. I thought it was my giant chandelier, but it turns out that the distressed driftwood mantle is interesting to them (and the kitchen ceiling)
The baseboard makes a big difference. I continue to love the fireplace, and I’m so glad you decided NOT to tile it. The main bath looks great, but frankly I think that the basket of towels next to the toilet is a little icky. 
I thought you guys were having a major drought? I guess the rain is a good thing…in a way.
The house looks wonderful.
I was JUST going to write a comment about that. Towels on the floor by the toilet make one shudder - you know some guy would miss and pee on them. Just one nice hand towel is needed, and the rest can disappear. Everything else looks beautiful!
Thanks for the insight on the towels. It helps to have an extra set of eyes. My agent stuck them there because, of course, the tile guy set a 12 x 12 set of mosaic right there that is a lighter tone than the others surrounding it and it kind of stands out as weird. She thought she would cover it up with the basket. I’ll move it somewhere else for the photos.
How about a tasteful wicker wastebasket on that spot or silver waste basket?
I like the spy nook.
For those that know the San Diego area. We discovered today when things cleared up that we can see the cross on Mt Soledad in La Jolla, we can see Big Bear mountain with tons of snow (I think it is Big Bear based on the direction), we can see the beaches on Sail Bay, we can see Pacific Beach point and, in the distance, we can see Camp Pendleton shoreline, further distance is Dana Point. On a really clear day we can see Catalina Island. We see San Clemente Island further south often. We see the Mission Bay Jetty very clearly and a portion of Ocean Beach Pier from the patio on top of the garage. This was all pointed out by one of the visitors today.
The telescope is currently trained onto Mt. Soledad in La Jolla.
I love the bathroom lights and the shell at the end of the hallway. And the sailboat painting - I always appreciate the pictures in the staged houses but never see anything like them when I go shopping. I’d love to see a cup of Bird Rock coffee and a Cravery cookie on the tray on the bed. You wouldn’t be able to get me to leave!
The views sound fantastic. You should put up one of those signboards like they do at national parks that tell what everything is. Or maybe take a panoramic photo and add the specifics, just so the poor realtor doesn’t have to spend her time telling everyone over and over.
Include the mention of specific views in the marketing materials!
I’m hoping the photographer will be able to capture some of the views!
Pictures of the views are very big in San Diego listings. Sometimes there are so many pictures of the views that you barely know what the house looks like.
I mentioned this earlier: I think that fireplace mantel is going to get you an extra $20K! People buy emotionally, not logically. Someone is going to see this house and have to have it. I predict a bidding war.
Have you decided at what price to list it?
Last night was a very tough decision for me on listing price. I have to balance the fact that my realtor wants me to try to get every possible dollar for this place versus the fact that I am personally flat broke. I know this is Too Much Information, but I will not be able to pay property taxes due on April 10th or my own personal mortgage if I do not sell this house by April 1st (which probably isn’t going to happen anyway, but one can dream). So, I have to balance the fact that I truly need to sell fast against her desire to get top dollar because she feels that I worked way too hard for 6 months to take a quick sale.
Normally I will chose to list slightly lower than market value in order to generate a lot of interest and get multiple offers. But she convinced me that we are going to start high based on the low inventory in the area and see what happens.
We are going into the MLS today at noon with no pictures. This is an absolute No No but we cannot help it because we need to get the property on the list for the Broker Caravan Thursday morning. Their rules are that they make their list for Caravan based on listings posted by Tuesday noon. We will put the photos into the MLS tonight or tomorrow. Even if we cannot get good photos of the garage patio or the view deck (which doesn’t exist yet, but got started yesterday until it started pouring) we will add those photos later.
My strategy is to list today at $925,000!!! We will ask every single local realtor that comes through on Thursday if they feel that the property is priced right and possibly drop the price immediately if the feedback is not good on Thursday.
Here’s to hoping that I selected the right pricing strategy - it’s not the normal approach for me.
Good idea about trying to find a subtle way to point out the details of the views. Crossing my fingers that the clouds will clear enough to possibly get snow capped mountains in the view because this is very unusual for a coastal property.
Today at 7:30am one of my guys is coming over to my personal residence and we are digging up anything tall in my yard to drag over and put in pots to stage the courtyard. I cannot afford to buy anything large and big at this point so we are going to steal from my house.
How about a magazine rack with magazines next to the toilet? Or just take out the towels and put in magazines in the basket.
cb, from my vantage point of 3,000 miles away, $925K doesn’t seem outrageous at all, even for such a small house. The house is perfect, with wonderful views, and that’s what the buyer will be paying for, and they’ll understand that.
ETA: Regarding the towels on the floor, I agree they should be removed. They don’t make any sense where they are – it’s not like you’d need to grab one while you’re on the toilet. You don’t need to put anything there.
Couldn’t you rent plants in pots for cheaper than having a worker dig up and replant your garden? They’d probably be more lush than transplanted garden plants, too. Isn’t plant staging a thing? I would try to get your agent to kick in some funds toward plant staging.