Open House
Today was open house day—the culmination of six weeks of hard work. Kathy and I went over to the house beforehand to make sure everything was in order and to start the fire on the wood pellet stove. While it has been raining nonstop lately, today was clear and sunny, though chilly, and the house showed well.
I felt for Kathy when we did our walkthrough of the house. She lived there for five years and all the while she was frustrated with many things in the house—most of which we have fixed or made over in the past month. It really looks like a different house entirely. However, I don't think she could have done this while living there. Not only did her work schedule not give her the time to work on the house to this extent, but she didn't have the option to, say, do without a bathroom for a week while it was remodeled!
Nonetheless, I know it's hard for her to see her house become everything she wanted it to be, only she doesn't get to live in it. She rightly points out, though, this only would be bad if we hadn't fixed up our new home. Cute as the little house is, our colorful home is better (with half the commute!).
While showing the house, realtor sent us around to check out the other open houses in the neighborhood. That's always educational. I am consistently shocked at the condition in which people show their homes. What are they thinking? I understand that not everyone can do the kind of makeover that Kathy and I took on. But there are some basic things that people ignore that I know cost them money in the end. Some highlights of today's open houses:
- Oppressive early 70s décor, enhanced by matching accessories. Somehow, it's never the cool 70s décor that's making a comeback, it's the what-were-we-thinking-back-then stuff. Play it down, don't play it up!
- Holes in walls. They are always disturbing. Patch them. Do it yourself if you need to save money!
- Mysterious electrical cords dangling from holes in the closet ceiling. Is that an, um, feature?
- Flats of flowers sitting on top of new soil. Is there a reason you didn't plant them—maybe this a serving suggestion? "If you buy this house, you could plant these flowers yourself!"
- Fluorescent green paint in the second bedroom, embellished with big dark flowers that were apparently painted by a child. Get a gallon of primer and go to town.
- Children's toys and bikes in the walkway, inviting you to trip. The kids shouldn't be there during the open house. Stow their toys in the garage if you have to.
- Dirt and grime – you are selling the house, for goodness sakes, the least you can do is clean it. Don't make us wonder what is growing in the corners.
- Sellers who don't leave during the open house—they just sit and stare at you. I know it's hard to leave, but your presence is intimidating to potential buyers. It's in your best interests to go.
I think these are obvious issues when putting a house up for sale, but apparently I'm in the minority. No wonder Designed to Sell and Sell This House are so popular on TV. People really don't know what to do. I suppose, in the end, it's to our benefit that the homes nearby look so shoddy in comparison, but I really wanted to give them some clues.
Back at our open house, our realtor reported a lot of good traffic. People seem to love the house; it's all a matter of whether they can afford it. A lot of the people coming through didn't have financing yet, so it's a wait-and-see game. That's okay. I'm confident it will sell.
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