@thumper1 When you say “stored” do you mean on-site in the garage or in a closet, or off-site in a storage unit or POD?
ETA: We are considering renting a storage garage to hide everything away.
@STEM2017 in my case…boxed up and stored neatly in basement. Extra furniture sent elsewhere.
But we also got a HUGE dumpster before we began…and when we move again…that is how we will begin the process again.
I also had towels that were for show only…as well as bathroom rugs. Every morning, I just swapped out the regular rugs, and put in the very light pastel colored ones for show. I also had a laundry basket, and the counter debris went in that…and was only in the house when I was there.
@thumper1 I want the dumpster, wife disagrees. Thanks for the advice.
When we built 14 years ago we rented a storage unit and put all extra stuff there.
We showed in November–with a dog and kids-- and sold in less than 3 weeks.
Once we had to leave in the dark and sit down the street as the potential buyer wanted a second
viewing to see it at night (nice view). They did buy it and were crazy pleased at how clean it was when they
moved in, esp. as they were from out of town.
THEN we had 6 weeks live in an apartment before our new build was ready. This had us in an apt.
over the holidays, with D returning from her 1st year at school.
That time we had the moving company put most in storage and move just enough to get by for those
6 weeks to the apartment.
What a time. I was SO organized. I seriously doubt I could do it all now…
One other thing I did in the two bathrooms that had two sinks… I’d wipe each faucet and handle down with something like Clorox disposable wipes and make sure the handles were all in the neutral position so they didn’t look askew from each other. Also, we really got to the point that, when we were at home, we’d only use two garbage cans… one in the kitchen and one in our bathroom; that way when it was time to leave, we only had to empty one garbage can (bathroom) into the kitchen and just take that bag out. We’d also try not to use faucets in powder room, or guest bathroom once they were clean so no need to go wipe them down every day… stuck to either kitchen faucet or faucets in our bathroom.
When we were selling, the tenants violated the lease and had a dog that made the carpet smell doggie. We removed and replaced the carpet & pad and a cabinet the dog had damaged. We also hung new shower curtains, painted, and hung special towels and she’ll-shaped bath soaps. The place sold at the 1st showing, before it was even listed at full asking price.
We had a condo that had an illegal cat. We replaced the carpet and pad and that sold at 1st showing as well.
So what do you do with the pets when you’re gone and the house might show before you get back?
The other hassle is you can’t cook dinners of the sort with smells that linger.
Neighbor did use a full size dumpster and was stunned her basement things filled it up. Nothing she needed to keep.
We didn’t accept any showings unless one of us was available to go home to get the dog and take the dog out with us. This only happened a couple of times. Many of our showings took place on weekends, so we would take the dog to the dog park or something like that.
Honestly, we had a very thorough security system in our house and we could tell by monitoring our smart phones, when people came and left, so although we might get a request for an hour for a showing, we could tell when they locked the front door on the way out and would often return as soon as we knew that. Or if the weather was not good, we’d take the dog in the car, and park a block away or so and wait until they were gone to return.
Like @teriwtt , we also asked for 1 hour notice for showings…and if they didn’t get a hold of us…showing couldn’t take place. We had. Very sweet geriatric pooch (Thumper) and we just couldn’t leave him alone with strangers roaming the house.
The agent first didn’t like the idea…but she warmed up to it. If she hadn’t, we would NOT have used her…at all.
We were always given ample notice, and our realtor always had to be there during showings. She always turned off lights and set our security system for us when she left. Then she would text us that the coast was clear, giving us feedback about how she thought it went.
Get a zoomba. I don’t do much housecleaning but having things done for me helps. Get a crew to come in and deep clean. Again…my whole family agrees that I missed the cleaning gene…and I do keep some things “just in case”. New mantra…if I won’t wear it…its gone…if I won’t use it…outta here. The last time I tried to emergency vacuum…Mr. Ellebud to a ticked of wife. I couldn’t turn on the vacuum.
@bevhills a zoomba or a rhoomba?
I think you want to give yourself every advantage to sell and get top dollar. It doesn’t last forever, you can do this.
Declutter (we had been in the house a long time and did get a dumpster), de-personalize, and pack up enough so that closets and cabinets look spacious or at least not stuffed. Clean, clean and clean again. Make your floors and windows shine. If you’re not a morning person, pick up before going to bed.
We did have a laundry basket by the door and collected any stuff, including ALL dog paraphernalia, and took it and the dogs with us during showings. Yes to toilet seats down and put on a light in every room, even during the day. Make sure your front door and area is clean. Potential buyers will be standing there while the realtor deals with the lockbox and keys. We think these things helped us sell our house in a buyers market in 2 days. Good luck.
I’ve bought and sold 7 houses, and I am sorry to tell you that you are literally doing everything wrong.
Thumper: I mentioned that I do not use appliances. You are correct…zoomba is an exercise class…rhoomba is the auto vacuum.
Or you could vacuum for exercise… (I have had a roomba, housekeeping is not how I keep fit!)
We never really specified this, but felt free at any time to say no. These days showing requests are made through technology. Whenever there was a showing request, I got an automated text on my phone, letting me know the day and time the showing was requested; those came via the realtor who was requesting the showing through an app some realtors use now. It was my option then to reply ‘Y’ for yes, or ‘N’ for no. Most of those requests were made with many hours notice, if not even a day or two notice. I think once we got a request for a showing within the hour, but we were already out of the house while another showing was going on (Sunday afternoon and the realtor had been showing her client another house down the street on the market when they noticed ours and wanted to see it), so it was no problem. We said yes. That ended up being the couple who made us an above asking price offer. So the hour time slot I was referring to, was actually the time the realtor was requesting we be out of the house, not an hour notice of when they’d be there. I’d say most of our showings gave us 12-36 hours notice. Truly, the new technology made it SOOOOO easy; there were no middle men to go through. They didn’t have to first get in touch with my realtor, who would then have to call me, then call back the other realtor. I also think there was only one time neither one of us could be home at the requested time to take the dog out, and we had to counter back with a different time. We just really made this a priority for three weeks and it paid off.
Of our four offers, one was over asking price; one couple wrote us a letter telling us how much it would mean if they could buy our house as they were recent relocators from Poland; and a third one actually showed up on our front door early Christmas Eve to introduce himself to us, tell us again how much they loved the house… that they knew we had a contract on it, but if anything fell through, would we please keep them in mind. And the fourth couple, who initially came in with a contingency and good price, removed their contingency and upped their price when they learned how many other offers we had.
@MotherOfDragons I’m just curious - not sure who and what you are referring to as “doing it all wrong”??? Can you be more specific? (not sure if you’re referencing the OP or another post above # 53)
I can smell everything. If I smelled a dog or cat or smoke, I’d walk.
We were looking for a vacation place a year ago. While many of the homes in the area are strictly vacation, a number are owned by full-time/retirees. One of the places we looked at had angel pictures and statues everywhere, plus a number of religious items scattered throughout. Framed Letters signed by one of my least-favorite presidents, and too much furniture. I couldn’t see myself in the place. Another smelled damp.
We bought a house that was immaculate, vacant, but some pieces of furniture. Easy access to the crawl space (also immaculate) and no smells at all. It’s on the water, so some dampness would be expected, but not there.
One suggestion: look at the slideshows of all of the homes for sale in your area. We immediately shied away from anything with clutter, toilet seat up (seriously?), dog beds, crammed closets. If things aren’t clean for photos, lord only knows what else is going on.
Rent a storage unit and move half of your belongings in there.
My mothers condo sold at top dollar when nothing else was selling. Staged, clean, and available 24/7 for showings.
@basket, the original poster. Unless she’s in a smoking hot seller’s market, that house is going to sit there and eventually sell for less than others on the market because of what she’s doing (and choosing not to do). I think on some level she really doesn’t want to move and change, and it’s manifesting itself in being really passive aggressive towards the real estate agent about not doing what needs to be done to sell the house well and quickly.
and that’s ok, I get it-on some level she’s not ready to sell. But I think it’s probably better to pull the house off the market and address what’s going on with regards to that rather than try and sell a house you really don’t want to sell, and sabotaging yourself every step of the way by not having it decluttered.