It had to be a joint decision for us, and admittedly it was a very hard decision. A very rough process for us, in part because my ultra careful, methodical husband was having a really hard time with the speed at which you have to make a decision. I had to let one go that he couldn’t get over worrying about, but it was for the best because I truly hated the kitchen in that house and it would have been difficult to fix. We ended up in the right place and we both knew immediately that it was the right place. We made a full price offer the day it went on the market.
EVERYONE wants an easy, move-in ready house. Nothing to be fixed, no walls to be painted, no carpet to be replaced, etc. It’s fine to sell a house as-is, but expect it to take longer and to get less money for it.
You’ll never know what makes a buyer decide to buy a house, and what’s more, the professionals don’t always know, either.
The last time we sold a house, the professional stager our agent hired advised us to get rid of all our books, because “buyers don’t like books.” At the time we had (by actual count) more than 2,200 books on about a dozen full-height bookcases in two rooms.
We did not take this advice because 1) we disagreed with it and B) where the fuck were we supposed to put 2,200 books? And all the empty bookcases?
The people who ended up buying the house told us a big factor in their decision was all the room for books. And because we were moving into a much, much smaller house, we gave them several hundred.
This is what my real estate agent keeps telling me, and what she’s trying to achieve. I’m 100% in agreement with repainting the whole downstairs. I’m pushing back on some other stuff, though I accept that she has excellent contacts and is giving me very fair prices, which the LXW agrees with. I object to stuff like trimming trees and bushes. She says the house has a very pretty appearance from the street but an unkempt front garden spoils it.
The “professional stager” sounds like an idiot. I have books scattered all over the bedroom and bedside table, and in the de-cluttering process my agent is going to stack them all neatly on the headboard bookshelves. My previous house was sold with an entire wall of filled bookshelves and no one had the slightest problem with it. It sold in around three days for full asking price.
My agent does her own staging anyway, and has practically a warehouse full of doodads to bring in for the purpose. Like bringing in a table and chairs for the breakfast nook in the kitchen which is currently a vast empty space.
She is correct here.
I agree. The term of art is “curb appeal.”
Yes. In the buyer’s mind, unkempt or cluttered yard is exactly equal to “Has never been maintained at all anywhere. There will be horrors in the plumbing, HVAC, and roof.”
Going to the meta-issue of selling houses in general …
I do not know how hot or cold the market in your area is. I do not know the seasonality of real estate sales in Canada.
But I do know that any given house has exactly one chance to be newly on the market. And that the half-life of buyers’ and buyers’ agents’ interest is amazingly short, like a couple weeks. i.e. If 100 people see and want to visit your listing when it first appears, 2 weeks later it’ll be 50, and 2 weeks later 25.
Far more than in personal life, you have exactly one chance to make a good first impression. If you waste that chance with a poorly prepared house, or a mispriced house, expect to pay dearly for that mistake.
Part of this is the whole scammy nature of the real estate agenting biz, where their interests, whether “representing” buyer or seller, are really just to slam out a deal ASAP with as little effort as possible. And with scant regard for whether their customer is being served with a good price for what they’re getting.
The other side is nervous buyers who “know” a house that’s sat unsold for long must have something the earlier buyers didn’t like. Even if they can’t find it, they think it’s there. And will either pass it by, or demand a large price break = subsidy from the seller to take that lemon off their hands.
You will feel cheated by the time the process is over. To the tune of a very non-trivial stack of money. So does everyone. Don’t make that worse by half-assing the sales prep effort. You pig needs all the perfume it can muster. Even if it’s objectively already a truly beautiful pig.
Not to sound like a sexist pig, but the agents are almost all women. At least half, and probably 3/4ths, of the buying decision is made by the woman of a couple. The stuff that matters to them, not the stereotypical male DIY stud, is what sells, or doesn’t sell, houses. At least statistically speaking. Certainly there are exceptions. But you want to go for the fat part of the buying envelope, not the fringes.
You can’t fight all that reality. You can only go along with it.
It’s one of the first things people are going to see and it will immediately sour it in their minds no matter how well-kept everything else is. It’s a literal first impression.
It’s like showing up to a job interview in shabby, dirty exercise clothes. Maybe you took a good shower, shaved, did your hair nice, have a great resume, have great answers to questions, are pleasant and clear and witty and have just the right experience for the job. But if you didn’t even bother to dress properly, that will stick in their minds. It will bias them against you. Just wear something nice, and just fix up the front yard.
Adding on to the consensus, if you get the yard work done, your real estate agent will be able to highlight the beautiful, well-maintained, mature landscape. If you don’t get the work done, buyers will think it’s an overgrown mess they will have to tear out. Because buyers are rarely logical.
Thanks, all. As a mere male, it was impossible for me to fight the advice of the aforementioned two strong-willed women regarding the front landscaping, one of whom is a long-established real estate agent. In any case, the front (and back) lawns have actually been well maintained, and I’m really glad that years ago I hired a guy with chainsaw to chop down and remove the Giant Mutant Bush that I ranted about a long time ago that was not only obnoxiously large and fast-growing, but interfering with the growth of the other shrubbery.
The only real problem, actually, aside from some minor cleanup of detritus in front of the porch steps, is the fairly large tree out front on my lawn, as opposed to the town-planted tree near the curb. I think my tree is a Weeping Mulberry, or something very close to that. It’s supposed to have a mushroom-shaped profile, but currently has branches and leaves hanging down right to the ground.
And from inside the RV came: “This is my own private domicile and I will not be harassed. Bitch!”*
Mine’s pretty mini but oh-so annoying.
I received a letter from my state gov’ment, income tax collection department. The official statement informed me that I owe a $50 penalty fee. No further explanation. I could, however, if I desire more information, contact them via phone or on their website.
So I went to the web address, painstakingly entered all the info it asked for, and was eventually given two options: 1. Make payment or 2. request further information via email. I entered all my info again, stated that I was given no reason for the fee, requested an explanation, and sent it off. The reply I received: Call 123-456-7890 if you do not hear back from us within 12 weeks.
So, I hop on the phone, now near-irate. I navigate a very large phone tree, finally arrive where I think I need to be, and receive a message that my wait time is two hours.
I’m out fifty clams and I’ll probably never know why.
mmm
*(Breaking Bad reference)
On a different topic than houses for a change, I just received a notice from Dell that my laptop warranty expires soon – Dec 9, apparently.
The only problem is, I have no warranty. The one-year manufacturer’s warranty expired a year ago, and I never took out an extended one. I’ll have to double-check the statements on the credit card used to buy the laptop, and there’ll be hell to pay if the bastards are charging me for an extended warranty I never asked for!
Which suggests maybe you can wait 12 weeks = 3 months to pay them. In effect you’ve started an appeal process. Maybe.
Good luck and sympathy in any case. The tax office, whether federal, state, or local, is always a hotbed of sloth and stupidity.
Quoting myself for context
I found some at a Target I don’t usually visit. In a truly ginormous jug. And only in a truly ginormous jug. Might prove to be a lifetime supply for me and I hope to last another 25 years. Of which ginormous jugs they had exactly two when I walked up and only one when I walked away. Did I mention they were ginormous?
Who knew this stuff was so precious?
Memo to the “drivers” in my area:
Great new driving concept called “following distance”. LEAVE SOME! I am thoroughly sick of morons who can’t manage their time willfully putting my life in even more danger than driving in this area normally represents because they couldn’t get their tailpipes out the door in a timely manner. I do not know you well enough to be comfortable having you climbing into my trunk at 5-10 OVER the speed limit when I am pacing other traffic in the vicinity and would not be able to change lanes if I WANTED to (which I don’t. I intensely dislike the notion of caving in to your life-threatening bullying).
On a related note, the number on the Speed Limit sign represents the MAXIMUM legal speed to travel at, NOT the MINIMUM! Unless you’re willing to pay my speeding ticket, higher insurance rates for several years, etc., don’t even TRY to get me going even faster than I already am just to keep up with other traffic around me.
Gridlock is NOT a good thing. Don’t block the damn intersection to (supposedly) avoid having to wait at a light!
I was just awakened by a weird thump. I thought it came from inside, but a quick peek through the back windows has revealed the likely cause: my big, fluffy poinsettia is no longer on its table on the back porch. 
There’s enough wind out there to rattle the wall cap, but I’m thinking it’s more likely some kind of animal may have pushed it over.
Fucking insomnia. Fuck fuck fuck.
Have you heard about the sleep disorder where you eat a lot in the middle of the night? It’s called insomn-nomnomnom-ia
I’m in the market for a new car. I really want an EV, but SHMBO is dead set against it and will not be swayed. So I’m looking at getting a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
I did actual research, got a list of models, spent yesterday driving to various dealerships to try them out. I found two dealerships who had them on the lot - a used Lexus (more $$ than I’m willing to spend) and two Mitsubishi Outlanders. I guess it’s a chicken/egg thing - various salesmen said they sell as soon as they come in, but very few people ask for them. I just want to test drive some options!
Username definitely checks out.
Ah, taxes.
This reminds me of an ongoing issue we’re having with the IRS. My Father in Law set up some kind of account for our son, I’m not sure about the details, but we received a letter that we have to verify his identity and to please provide a photo of his driver’s license. To which my husband replied, “He is six years old.” This did not stop the letters from coming. Now they want a photo of his school ID. Again, he is in first grade and has no such thing.
This has gone on for months. The last time he talked to someone, they rattled off the list of what counts for ID and finally said to him, “Just send in everything on the list to be safe.” This included my husband’s ID and a school/yearbook photo.
My husband said the IRS customer service reps aren’t saying it aloud but he gets the vibe even they think this is ridiculous.