<p>Well, it used to be DH and me in one BR, one child in a 2nd, another child in a 3rd, a nanny in a 4th, and one BR a sewing room and one BR a study.</p>
<p>But that was then and this is now.</p>
<p>We’ve had about a half dozen showings since the house went on the market, but no offers. Hoping for more interest as we move into spring. The house is in good shape, though, and not all that cluttered. However, now that the snow has melted, the yard is looking a little beat … Hoping for more interest as we move into spring.</p>
<p>Half a dozen showings is great! Shows that you’ve probably priced it right. And you never know which person will say ‘hey, what about that house we saw last month…’ </p>
<p>I don’t think buyers feel much pressure from the market to buy, whatever may be happening in their own lives to force a move. If they feel they have time to look around, that is what they will do. Also, some folks will look at a hundred houses only to buy the 2nd or 3rd one they looked at.</p>
<p>Oops – just realized I posted the same sentence twice. Sorry!</p>
<p>I am not good imagining what something will look like with different furniture/paint etc.
I don’t know if most people are.</p>
<p>When we first looked at houses ( we have only bought one), we stopped after looking at them for several months, because we didn’t see anything that fit our minds eye. ( or my minds eye- my H doesn’t care- just as long as he had a huge area for a workshop=staging center for tool/toolbox accumulation)</p>
<p>There were a couple I had really liked but they always had a deal breaker- one would have been perfect- kitchen in back of house with wall of windows that looked out onto backyard. With formaldehyde insulation.</p>
<p>Another one- was a in a great neighborhood- lots of light ,decent yard , but it was on an alley and I just wasn’t used to that.</p>
<p>We took a few months off & started looking again when the agent had some better stuff to show us.</p>
<p>It might help to make the house as bland as possible re furniture & fixtures to aid those of us who don’t have an imagination.</p>
<p>^^^^And then you’ll always remember it as that “really boring house”!</p>
<p>I’m learning a LOT from all of you. The most significant thing…I’m doing this clearing out and painting and fixing up so that <em>I</em> can enjoy it for a few years before we sell.</p>
<p>Oooo, Thumper, you’re retired now, aren’t you. So come on down and do my house!!</p>
<p>Not yet VH…June 17 is my last day (but who’s counting?). I’d be glad to come down and help you out after that!! I’m great at purging things…especially OTHER people’s things!!</p>
<p>dstark - depending on how quickly my brother and his team work (still have floors to refinish and an entire basement to paint) I’m thinking 2 weeks at the earliest before the house can be listed. </p>
<p>And yeah, we’re trying to make it much more bland. No more wallpaper, no more red entryway, just gray and beige and light blue. But it is starting to look pretty sophisticated with all these neutral tones ;)</p>
<p>Those are my colors too…plus hampshire taupe.</p>
<p>We painted 3 bedrooms yellow…which I originally hated…but now…those colors are growing on me…</p>
<p>They add a little pizzaz…so things aren’t too dull…</p>
<p>I have gotten rid of most of my possessions as I mentioned earlier. </p>
<p>I will never buy as much stuff again. Having said this…this week we bought a bedroom set for my daughter and a bedroom set for my wife and me. We bought the Jackson set from Crate and Barrel and it looks
great in my daughter’s yellow painted bedroom. :)</p>
<p>My wife and I went shopping for a bedroom set in the Mission area of SF. Not the greatest area for people who don’t know. And I can see how
staging a house works…how atmosphere affects a decision. Because we
didn’t buy anything because the area and the stores weren’t appealing.</p>
<p>So then we headed to Union Sq and Crate and Barrel. And We looked
around and we thought…these are the people who are likely to buy our
home. So we bought the Tate bed and the Dawson furniture…for those who know what they are. We bought a cloth headboard…which I never thought we would buy. It grew on me.</p>
<p>Now at least we don’t have to pay a stager to rent us that bedroom furniture.</p>
<p>Right now…getting the house ready is taking two weeks longer than I thought. I hope we are ready by mid-April. Oh…and we are 10% over budget so far in getting the house ready.</p>
<p>FauxNom…I am wishing you no delays and hitting your budget.</p>
<p>I am reading with great interest and crossing my fingers all of you sell the first week you’re listed:) Please post updates!</p>
<p>We recently went from 6 to 2 bedrooms… I don’t miss that extra space at all. Or the bathrooms! Now I can clean my whole house myself in less than a day even though I am getting old and slow.</p>
<p>“We recently went from 6 to 2 bedrooms… I don’t miss that extra space at all.”</p>
<p>Nice.</p>
<p>So alh…was it hard to sell your house?</p>
<p>I love this thread.
Not quite near retirement yet, but did spend the weekend painting our bedroom.
Chose a neutral (for the potential resale) ‘grege avenue’ (one shade darker than ‘hampshire taupe’):)</p>
<p>This room was formerly a two tone apple green and maroon, 2 walls of each. Think Pottery Barn Teen.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>yes.</p>
<p>We were moving from the northeast and put our beautiful antique with acreage on the market in early summer '08. We didn’t list it earlier because we were worried it would sell too quickly and make our move more complicated. 
It was hard to sell because there were literally no buyers in our price range after Sept '08. We ended up selling in a different “price range” more than a year later to a realtor who had been lusting after it from the first broker’s open house and finally managed to sell her own house.</p>
<p>I am almost recovered from the experience. I will never sell another house.</p>
<p>“I am almost recovered from the experience. I will never sell another house.”</p>
<p>I understand. 
It has to be a relief to be done. </p>
<p>“We were moving from the northeast”</p>
<p>So…where did you move?</p>
<p>“Chose a neutral (for the potential resale) ‘grege avenue’ (one shade darker than ‘hampshire taupe’)” :)</p>
<p>So…how does this work?</p>
<p>We paint the house. We get a buyer. We move out and when we move out…we scrape up the walls. It is not that easy moving furniture.</p>
<p>What is the custom? The expectation? We have to repaint the areas scraped?
The buyers are going to screw up some of the paint when they move too. </p>
<p>The painters are really nice guys…but we are getting a little tired of each other. ;)</p>
<h1>536</h1>
<p>down south to a “supposedly” lower col area
luckily we would have wanted to end up here anyway</p>
<p>A friend travelling through recently said the silver lining is that all our children will probably be able to buy houses pretty early in their adult lives. One of hers just found something wonderful outside Boston.</p>
<h1>537 keep the left over paint for the buyers</h1>
<p>My husband was still patching plaster/painting/doing minor repairs after our movers were across state lines and the new owners were pacing the yard with their baby and parents and dogs. </p>
<p>We had a hard time saying the final good-byes</p>
<p>“down south to a “supposedly” lower col area”</p>
<p>Supposedly?</p>
<p>“A friend travelling through recently said the silver lining is that all our children will probably be able to buy houses pretty early in their adult lives.”</p>
<p>That would be nice. </p>
<p>Hopefully…our kids won’t buy too much house. Maybe our kids will go back to our parents’ era and buy smaller places.</p>