How is the house selling season going?

Parent Cafe
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<p>VeryHappy…it only takes one buyer…</p>

<p>14 percent higher is a lot…</p>

<p>You should be ok on that…</p>

<p>Good luck tomorrow…and Sunday.</p>

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<p>Thanks. This will either be very fast or painfully slow. You know which one I’m hoping for!</p>

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<p>Lol…</p>

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<p>How would you deal with an inactive herb/veg garden when selling your home? Weeds are killed (just did a final spray today). Just not sure what to do there, pop a shrub in and mulch or leave it as-is a usable herb/veg garden for the buyer? It bugs me because it’s right by the deck, and I don’t plan to plant a garden there this year.</p>

<p>Photo:</p>

<p><a href=“https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MUGozAopfho/T610GPD7kuI/AAAAAAAAKnQ/KDqN8PJh6bc/s800/IMG_20120511_161601.jpg[/url]”>https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-MUGozAopfho/T610GPD7kuI/AAAAAAAAKnQ/KDqN8PJh6bc/s800/IMG_20120511_161601.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I don’t think that garden is make or break…</p>

<p>Don’t worry about it.</p>

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<p>Thanks dstark. It just looks…dead. I know my realtor will say the same as you.</p>

<p>So far the only negative feedback I’ve had from 5-6 showings this week (other than floorplan which I can’t control) was from one buyer about the older kitchen appliances. Personally I’d rather make an offer and ask for an appliance allowance and get what I want new but I guess not everyone thinks that way.</p>

<p>No one has mentioned the garden :)</p>

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<p>Is that what it looks like now? That is pretty scraggly…</p>

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<p>Yes it is, just took that pic. Whatever is green won’t be by tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I plan to do something, if anything, open house is Sunday.</p>

<p>There’s plastic landscape fabric over it, and some stones on the edge.</p>

<p>The only way I can think of to make it look OK but not plant anything is clear the dead stuff and mulch. A friend has offered day lilies if I want them.</p>

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<p>How about a couple of plants in a great big clay planter? Might look as if that was the intention all along.</p>

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<p>ohiobassmom, I would definitely plant it with something. A few tomato plants in cages plus some basil plants, maybe with a border of marigolds, would give people the idea that it can be a nice, manageable vegetable garden OR a place to plant annuals. Most people have no imagination at all, and it does look scraggly.</p>

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<p>Maybe herbs and mulch…not feeling like watering/feeding a new veg garden. But herbs are pretty carefree, and a marigold edge could work. It was mainly an herb garden in the first place - I put it there because the kitchen is off that deck so the herbs were handy for using. Of course now I hardly cook because I don’t want to mess up the kitchen…sigh.</p>

<p>I like the big clay pot idea but I don’t have one. My mom has a ton of annual pots I could borrow, though. </p>

<p>I guess I might at least clear the old stuff, pull up the fabric and see what I might do with the patio stones then decide.</p>

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<p>I think if you just cleaned it out and mulched it would look fine… no plants can be easily explained because you are selling the house.</p>

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<p>Heck, if you’re going to put mulch down, you don’t really need to clean it out.</p>

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<p>We have a very long trough planter brick box-thing (hard to describe) running the length of our pool. We gave up trying to plant in it years ago… parts are sunny, others shady. Finally figured out the best thing was to pull the weeds and cover it with a fresh layer of cedar mulch every spring. It keeps it clean and manicured. Might work for a spot like this that you’re trying to prep in a hurry.</p>

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<p>Ohiomom, don’t put the lilies in if the are already tall-ish. They will just look wilted until next spring. I would do some fresh mulch and put in some annuals, like impatiens and begonias. Annuals are pretty cheap and your house may be on the market for several months.</p>

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<p>Three showings scheduled for today. Not bad.</p>

<p>Need to be out with the dogs for virtually the entire day. Not good.</p>

<p>But, I’ll make it work!!</p>

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<p>VeryHappy, good luck!!</p>

<p>OhioMom, a neglected garden does look straggly but so does a planted garden that you don’t have time to weed and water a lot. </p>

<p>I agree with dstark that you ignore it, or at best mulch over it. After all, it’s in the back, right? By the time buyers get to the back yard they probably been through the house and already have a strong sense of whether they like the house enough.</p>

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<p>Why not just clean out the garden and put down fresh mulch or pinestraw? </p>

<p>Any chance you can stain the deck? We just had ours restained (not paint/solit dolor but a wood stain) and it makes a WORLD of difference! Not terrible expensive either. Couple of hundred bucks. And our deck is pretty big.</p>

<p>** crossposted with Hayden</p>

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<p>** ack! Typos again-- use wood stain- dont paint it a <em>solid color</em></p>

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<p>Advice needed: Our house has been on the market nearly 6 months. 29 showings, no offers. We’ve lowered the price once, but the market in our neighborhood is DEAD. It’s not just us. Lot’s of inventory. Now our realtor has approached us about putting a deal together with some interested buyers to whom she showed our house early on (they saw it online and contacted her). Our agent listed their house because they want to move to our area, and she has commented twice that they are in love with our house. The deal she wants to approach them with is a contingency contract (contingent upon them selling their home). She said they are willing to lower their price. I’m not sure about the market in their area. I know about knock-out clauses and all of that, but does anyone have any advice on what we should do/ask for? Given the market here, I hate to turn anything down. Of course, the agent would be thrilled to get commissions from both sides I’m sure, but it seems like there might be a domino effect if they too accept a contingency, right?</p>

<p>(Also, our contract with this agent is expiring in a couple of weeks and I think she may be scrounging. We haven’t answered her about renewing it, although we are considering doing so for 3 months.)</p>