Yeah, I’m gonna agree with the minority here…I prefer to see a house that looks lived-in. Much better than a sterile , staged look.
I get a much,much better feel for the house .
Seeing the cluttered bathroom counter shows me that, hey, I have a lot fewer bottles of stuff, so that counter is definitely big enough for me. The same goes for the kitchen table: hmm…4 chairs in close contact on the end of the teardrop-shaped table…a little crowded, but okay. Or maybe I want a little more room, and a larger table…but either way, I have a good sense of the scale, and a realistic basis for my decision.
Better than a cold, sterile staging with only one chair and a flower centerpiece. That’s unrealistic, to me.
Yes probably. I’m just saying that overall the house doesn’t look that messy to me.
As I mentioned, I am looking to buy a house right now, and several of the properties have had tenants currently so they have been kinda messy. As long as I can see the property itself, I don’t care.
Much more annoying for me has been when, for example, there’s boxed up stuff that is occupying enough of a room that I can’t get in to get a good look.
I’m probably actually close to you. When my wife and I have looked at homes, our nearly sole concerns were structural/plant integrity and “flow” of rooms. Always cracked me up when we would watch HGTV shows and someone would say, “I don’t like the paint color.”
We always figured we’d do a deep clean and likely considerable painting upon moving in. One reason we never saw the appeal of “flipped” homes. In our houses, we prefer that things such as paint reflect our specific personal tastes, not what happens to be the flavor-of-the-moment. So we’d rather pay to paint it our chosen color, than pay for the flipper’s efforts.
Our current house was a 1970s Mad Men time capsule. We completely gutted every single room. But we knew we liked the flow and location…
Also, I’ll repeat that asking $900k, this is at the VERY TOP of the town’s price range. At that price, I’d expect SOMETHING in terms of “staging.” Unless the idea is, "Pay $900k, and w/ a little TLC, it will be worth $1.2 mill!
I might be wrong, but if I see an especially sloppy home - even if it is mostly surface clutter, I will wonder if it is indicative of deferred maintenance. As a general matter, I would suspect rental homes might have undergone harder use, and had a lower level of ongoing maintenance than a long-time single occupant showing “pride of ownership.”
I once went with an agent by appointment to look at a house for sale. The agent was annoyed to find that the sellers were home at the time, but the reason became clear when we rang the doorbell and the seller told us to remove our shoes before entering.
No, it wasn’t a Japanese couple selling the home. She just wanted to protect her white carpeting from us filthy Philistines. It turned out there was a LOT of white carpeting in that house (a real turn-off for me as I don’t believe in spending a fortune on rug shampoo and cleaning), plus she had the thermostat upstairs set to around 62F (it was summertime), which makes for a real cozy atmosphere, especially if you’re fond of mauseoleums.*
*also questionably conducive to optimal “staging” is an extensive collection of mounted heads of all the game you’ve shot. The stuffed weasel on the coffee table was a nice touch too.
Carpeting is relatively cheap. And if there is hardwood underneath…
We’ve toured homes that had baskets of booties by the front door.
When we were buying our first house, we passed on a house that was HORRENDOUSLY decorated. Hot pink walls. Black and orange shag carpeting …
After, we repeatedly mused that it likely would’ve been a wonderful home for us, but given our naivete as home buyers/owners, we couldn’t see past the paint and carpeting.
The idea of ripping out a ton of carpeting on move-in, regardless of what’s underneath (nice hardwood floors? decaying hardwood floors? linoleum?) doesn’t sound all that attractive.
If there is anything this thread has suggested, it is that different homebuyers differ greatly.
We’ve removed carpeting for wood floors in multiple homes - either immediately upon move-in or shortly after. And you wouldn’t have to rip it out immediately - could wait until you’ve trashed it. (Can I presume that you prefer wearing shoes inside your house? Taking your shoes off costs nothing. Again, just personal preference. No right or wrong.)
Lol, when i moved out of an apartment in NYC, they were showing the place before we left, and one couple literally came and looked around while we had boxes of stuff filling most of the living room. I doubt we made the beds, either.
But it was a nice apartment and I’m sure they rented it despite it being really FULL of our stuff. (The movers were paid by the box, and used a lot of packing material.)
Honestly, I’d probably hire someone to clean up and make the beds. I realized years ago that if a bed is made, i need to unmake it before i can sleep in it. I don’t like being bound by tight covers. So making the bed is subtracting value. I stopped making the bed, except when i change the sheets. So I’m not terribly good at making a bed neatly.
I’m no neat freak myself. What I find strange is the inappropriateness of leaving a house in that condition when it’s being photographed and shown to prospective buyers. It’s like showing up at someone’s wedding in the same apparel you’d wear to mow your lawn. The nagging thought at the back of my mind would be, if these people are too lazy to do even minimal de-clutter, what other aspects of home ownership have they neglected?
Remember, it might be a shared rental or messy divorce situation though.
Also some houses have issues on viewing that you need to notice but decide if it is something you can deal with or not. Messy should only be a small factor overall.
My house had crappy bathrooms, a poorly laid out kitchen, wall to wall carpet in far too much of the common areas and front walk was a chewed up mess that was probably pushing 60 years old and some other minor issues. I weighed that against location, price and that is was a really solidly built house with an attached 2 car garage in a town where garages are rare. Price for everything we got made it worth offering a hair higher than list and planning to invest another 100k in it to make it the house we really wanted to live in.
In todays market, in just a few short years, its value has shot way up. But we want to stay for the longish term.
When we bought our first house, we opened the door to the crawlspace was essentially a wall of boxes. The crawlspace had a gravel floor covered by a sheet of plastic. We were satisfied to see so many dry cardboard boxes as evidence of no moisture, and that the owners were comfortably storing stuff there.
All my younger friends live in shoe-free homes. There’s a pile of shoes at the entrance, and i take off my shoes and add them to the pile when i visit. That predates covid. And i think the cut-off is about age 40. My older friends all wear shoes in their homes, and expect me to, as well.
When my younger friends visit they take off their shoes at my house, too. When people ask what i want, i tell them to do whatever they are more comfortable with.
A friend brought be a bunch of shoe booties once that were supposed to make it easier to dance (more slippery) but i don’t think anyone has used any of those.
Yep, it might be the fact that my budget is a rounding error compared to $900k, but almost every house I’ve seen needs a carpet change. They are all either ugly or worn out. I’m almost viewing carpet change as like changing the locks: just a standard part of the homebuying hassle.
I’ve seen booties for some time in new construction - I’ve presumed to keep the wood floors perfect.
We generally go shoeless in our home, not only because it is our preference, but also because it keeps the house a lot cleaner. But guests are free to remove their shoes or keep them on as they prefer.
We prefer the look/feel of hardwood, but our preference was enhanced when we had kids who all had allergies. Now in our 60s, I don’t imagine the 2 of us ever again pulling up carpeting/padding, prying up tackboard, searching for nails… Add it to the list of things we did several times when younger.
Agreed, and savvy buyers know how to look beyond the superficial. All I’m saying is that on an “everything else being equal” basis, a property that’s clean and presentable will likely attract more offers and sell faster than one that isn’t. You’re probably right that this is a rental.
Ah, the nail pulling, that was indeed the most fun.
We like a mix of wood floors and area rugs. I would never put in wall to wall carpet. It is also generally considered a negative when you go to sell the house. Funny as in the 70s and into the 80s it was a plus.
Neutral colors are generally better for selling, but paint isn’t hard to change and so you should go with what you like. Wallpaper and paneling though, hoo-boy, be careful if you care about selling down the line.
I’ve was overjoyed this house was wallpaper free and the only paneling was in the basement game room.
My first house, the builder papered over unprimed sheetrock. When I took the paper down, what a complete disaster. Last house at least the wallpaper was over properly primed walls and it came off easier and much cleaner.
The last serious project is happening this spring.
My office and the hallway are being done. They are still the carpet from the prior owners. The hall will be red oak, but my office will be something cheaper and quicker. I’m not doing any of this.
