Jeannie in NJ Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 our realtor came by Thurs and suggested that we pack up all 2,000 of our books (maybe less as some are already packed and in the attic) and move them and the bookcases into our detached garage. He said that to "most people" books and bookcases look cluttered. So I have spent the last 2 days packing and decluttering books and moving them into the garage. I have empted 3 1/2 LARGE bookcases and moved them into garage and have 7 more bookcases and of course their books to go. We also re-arranged some of our furniture to make the living room (first room that people enter in from front door) look more inviting . Went out last night and bought a nice new area rug for the living room/entry way. At least when we do move, all the books will already be packed and ready to go lol. Oh, I forgot to say that we do have a built in bookcase behind the tv in the family room that I will be keeping school books in, even tho my dc said that it would be fine with them if I wanted to go ahead and pack up all their school books lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Wow, that's a lot of work!! You're right about it being better with it all packed up:) And... you want lots of clean space :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I've been looking at listings online for about a year and a half now. And after reading a couple of staging books, when I look at the pictures online, I would say that the most distracting thing in the rooms is not the books (although I can see that it would look more spacious to have extra wall space vs. bookshelves) but the other items that clutter the room. Sometimes those items are on the shelves along with the books, sometimes they are on a desk or side table, sometimes they are on the windowsill, and sometimes they are small decorative items on the walls. I want to tell the homeowners, *Get rid of the small pictures/home decor/mirrors/pictures on the walls!* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Before we listed, when I was decluttering, the first thing I did was what your realtor told you to do. It was a ton of packing out of the way and I was forever thankful for that. Just keep swimming!:) :grouphug: And, after books, family photos. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 And, after books, family photos. ;) We must be the weirdest home buyers ever. When I see a home with family photos, I get a warm feeling that a family lives there and I can envision OUR family there. When we go into homes that have no personal items out, it just doesn't feel homey to me. Yup, we're weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaeast Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We must be the weirdest home buyers ever. When I see a home with family photos, I get a warm feeling that a family lives there and I can envision OUR family there. When we go into homes that have no personal items out, it just doesn't feel homey to me. Yup, we're weird. :iagree: I know you're supposed to keep it clear so the buyer can envision their things in the space, but I want to feel like a happy family already lives there and loves it. The truth is that we know it's going to be different anyway, so make it cozy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Yup, that's a lot of work! But at least that much will be done when you need to actually move. I like the idea of all the blank wall space. I think it will make the rooms look bigger. Seeing lots of bookcases with books would make me think 'stuff' which would then have me scoping out the amount of storage available in the home. Not having much can be a turnoff to potential buyers. In our last house, we had no linen closet! It was a neighborhood that was selling lots and you choose what house you want to buy. I fell in love with a house that had large rooms and didn't even think about storage places. It wasn't until we moved in and I was walking around upstairs with a handful of towels that I realized there was no place to put them! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I also agree that houses without books, bookshelves and photos feel sterile and unwelcoming. When we bought our house, I loved seeing the baby photos and baby gear ALL over the house. The house doesn't have much storage, so I felt better seeing how a real family really lived in it. Maybe I am just smart enough to understand how a house will look with a different photo on the end table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We had to do the same thing. We packed about 100 liquor boxes of books and put them in a storage facility along with several bookcases (and other things we didn't need). Had we been able to do so, we would have gotten a Pod, but overhanging trees made that impossible. We still had about the same number again of boxes of books to move out when we sold ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Karen, if you used movers, did they moan and groan about the number of books or did they just take it in stride? On, the other hand we do have very light IKEA furniture (the books will probably be heavier than some of our furniture). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I also agree that houses without books, bookshelves and photos feel sterile and unwelcoming. You wouldn't remove all books & bookshelves. How much would depend on how much you have to start with. Do the bookshelves dominate the walls? Do they prevent a buyer from visualizing what to do with that space? Do they cut down on actual space in the room (having bookcases 3/4 of the way around the room removes about a foot of floor space that far around the room)? Walls reflect light better than bookcases, also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hope in God Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 After we did all the decluttering to our house before listing it I looked around and thought "Hmm, maybe we should buy this house.":lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Karen, if you used movers, did they moan and groan about the number of books or did they just take it in stride? On, the other hand we do have very light IKEA furniture (the books will probably be heavier than some of our furniture). I"m afraid I don't remember (it's been almost 7 years). I agree with gardening momma--- the number of books and shelves involved makes a difference. In our case, 1900 sqft house with relatively small rooms (tri-level), 19 six shelf bookcases in addition to the built-in triple bookcase, over 4000 books (not counting the kid books--we were just getting ready to homeschool, so no three bookcases of homeschool books like I have now;)). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We must be the weirdest home buyers ever. When I see a home with family photos, I get a warm feeling that a family lives there and I can envision OUR family there. When we go into homes that have no personal items out, it just doesn't feel homey to me. Yup, we're weird. My husband does too and I LOVE to see gorgeous wedding photos. But just yesterday i was reading an article on staging and it said to get rid of them. my husband likes to see photos b/c it gives him a feeling that real people with real lives live in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Before we listed, when I was decluttering, the first thing I did was what your realtor told you to do. It was a ton of packing out of the way and I was forever thankful for that. :iagree: We must be the weirdest home buyers ever. When I see a home with family photos, I get a warm feeling that a family lives there and I can envision OUR family there. When we go into homes that have no personal items out, it just doesn't feel homey to me. Yup, we're weird. Yes, I feel like it's been staged and that all the personality has been removed. That's the point, of course, but I don't like it. Yup, that's a lot of work! But at least that much will be done when you need to actually move. I like the idea of all the blank wall space. I think it will make the rooms look bigger. Seeing lots of bookcases with books would make me think 'stuff' which would then have me scoping out the amount of storage available in the home. Not having much can be a turnoff to potential buyers. In our last house, we had no linen closet! It was a neighborhood that was selling lots and you choose what house you want to buy. I fell in love with a house that had large rooms and didn't even think about storage places. It wasn't until we moved in and I was walking around upstairs with a handful of towels that I realized there was no place to put them! Yes, taking out the vast majority of books and shelves made our house seem so spacious! We actually loved it, how clean and open it looked. It didn't make me want to get rid of my books, but it did make me want to have more square footage so I could have a spare room to make into a library. :tongue_smilie: Our house didn't have a linen closet or a coat closet. After living off-post in Germany (where we were before we moved and bought the house), we were just ecstatic that there were closets at all, even in the bedrooms. We were jetlagged and a little pathetic. :lol: Maybe I am just smart enough to understand how a house will look with a different photo on the end table. I know, right!? I got tired of being told that people have no imagination. Well, I do. Plus, not that I'm partial, but my kids are cute! :D I think they could help move the house. :tongue_smilie: Karen, if you used movers, did they moan and groan about the number of books or did they just take it in stride? On, the other hand we do have very light IKEA furniture (the books will probably be heavier than some of our furniture). We just moved and we had no problems about them complaining about the books. I will say we are always as nice as pie to our movers. We buy them Gatorade and water and soda. Lay out breakfast. Buy them lunch. We're apologetic about the heavy things and just generally how much there is. They put on the macho and tried to outdo each other with how many book boxes they could do at a time on their dolly. "All in a day's work!" was their motto. After we did all the decluttering to our house before listing it I looked around and thought "Hmm, maybe we should buy this house.":lol: :iagree:I told DH, "Phooey. Now we're like those people on Designed to Sell who look around and think they'd just like to stay put." :lol: But we moved two states away so that wasn't an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 FWIW, the last time we moved, I massively, massively de-cluttered. Then I cleared out a drawer and a cabinet in the kitchen, so that I had a place to stash anything that was on the kitchen counter if we had a showing on short notice. The counters were nearly totally bare, but for a fruit bowl or something. Even the toaster oven and coffee maker were stashed away. Granted, this was at the height of the market several years ago, but we had seven offers the very first day it was on the market, and sold for above our asking price. Thank goodness, because I could not have taken a long, drawn-out showing process with a 4 year old and 2 year old twins. I got the kitchen idea from the people we bought that house from. There was a set of large kitchen drawers in the island, and for some unknown reason I opened one when we were looking at the house. It contained a pile of legos that covered whatever was normally stored there :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) I know, right!? I got tired of being told that people have no imagination. Well, I do. Plus, not that I'm partial, but my kids are cute! :D I think they could help move the house. :tongue_smilie: Now that I've hit the quote button, I don't remember if you were talking about photos or books/bookshelves. In the case of bookshelves, there are lots of people who are no good at estimating space--they can't visualize how much space there will be when the previous owner's belongings are gone. The same would go for lots of little knick knacks and doo-dads on the wall, or a plethora of pictures. ETA: now that I look back I see it was regarding the comment about a picture on a side table. A photo here and there isn't a big deal. Edited May 20, 2012 by gardening momma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I got the kitchen idea from the people we bought that house from. There was a set of large kitchen drawers in the island, and for some unknown reason I opened one when we were looking at the house. It contained a pile of legos that covered whatever was normally stored there :lol:. Maybe a good idea would be to buy an opaque bin with lid (Rubbermaid, etc) that's just the right size for your stash-the-stuff-because-we've-got-a-showing. Then you can hide stuff but if someone looks in the cupboard they don't see what's really in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 In the case of bookshelves, there are lots of people who are no good at estimating space--they can't visualize how much space there will be when the previous owner's belongings are gone. The same would go for lots of little knick knacks and doo-dads on the wall, or a plethora of pictures. Totally agree with you there. I am not a knick-knack person, so those always distract me. Too many or too much of anything is a problem, I think, and my books definitely fell into that category for non-homeschooling househunters. :lol: Even DH and I were amazed at how much bigger the house felt (and photographed) when we took out the books and just a few other things. Things I hated: removing family pictures (and I did not have a lot at all, just my absolute favorites) and painting my DC's walls from their lovingly chosen, perfect-for-their-personalities colors to the "builder beige." The latter made me cry. Hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Our realtor told us the same thing when we put our house on the market. We put what we absolutely needed in baskets, so we could just pick and move school off the table if we needed to show the house. I followed every bit of advice, he gave us. Our house sold in 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We put stuff in laundry baskets for last minute showings and everything went into the mini van. You know, clothes don't have to be clean or dirty and they can be thrown into the washer or dryer. dirty and clean dishes can go into the dishwasher. Baskets with lids are great in the kids' rooms. We had a very large sectional sofa in our great room -- i was not above shoving things under it. When we were being shown with minimal warning, the key was to make it look perfect and get stuff out of the way. we would also (and mind you, our house spent 99% of the time in perfect showing shape) throw things into a black plastic trash bag and sort it out later. We got our asking price in 42 days. Felt like 42,000 days, but the fact is, I do think that what we did and our agent's advice helped.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I live in the same county. She lives on a sand bar. I live on a sand bar about 20 miles south (so Jeannie knows exactly where I live!). What you guys have to realize is that we live in a 9/10 second home market. Yep. 9/10. Our full-time trappings aren't "beachy" enough for the majority of folks who want to purchase that type of dream. When giving adivce to Jeannie, think about what you want to see in a second home, because that's the vast majority of her traffic. Trust me, everyone local already knows her house has been up and seen it if they wanted to already. As for us in this area, getting an offer is nothing. Getting to settlement on a second home is the exciting thing here. Our neighbor had 4x before one of his places sold. Banks are not in the mood to accept less than a "more than sure thing" on a second home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Oh gosh..we are listing our house in a week and a half. I'm panicking here!!! I want to post pictures here and get suggestions on what to do. We have removed ALL the cluttery (about 95% anyway) stuff, most of the books, all of the knicknacks, removed pictures, repainted every room in the house, scrubbed grout, etc. We are exhausted!!!! Good luck to you guys! When are you listing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My husband does too and I LOVE to see gorgeous wedding photos. But just yesterday i was reading an article on staging and it said to get rid of them. my husband likes to see photos b/c it gives him a feeling that real people with real lives live in the house. I just think it is plain sad that people want you to remove family pictures and such. I *like* seeing pictures, nicknacks and furniture. It gives me a feel for that a house can be and is. I also can look past everything to see what a room would be like empty and what I would/can do with it. I don't think I will ever sell once I buy. I'll just rent it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 But we had a LOT of books... I wouldn't have packed up all of them anyway -- we actually read them pretty often! :tongue_smilie: But we left two large bookcases in the living room, the built-in bookcases in the den and the kitchen (of course), moved the DVDs to the guest room where they weren't so obvious, and left two bookcases in DS's room. Everything else was boxed up and stuffed in the attic, and we gave away nine tall bookcases before we left. The bookcases we kept had plenty of books, but no single shelf was entirely full, so they didn't look stuffed... and I really did arrange the books to look good - general color groupings and heights together (not like rainbow order here, just a bunch of warm colors on one shelf, a bunch of blues and greens on another, neutrals on a third...) And then in the spaces left around the books, we had something decorative or a photograph. Not a ton, just a couple per bookcase. Visually very open and airy, without looking sterile. It was completely ridiculous of course, but the house did sell, so who am I to complain.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My kids were 8, 6 and 4 when we moved from AZ to Texas. XH was already here, and I was on my own staging, selling, and moving. We played the "Realtor Game". We went to the dollar store, and I bought each child a laundry basket, glass, multipurpose, and wood cleaning wipes. At home, each child was assigned a "zone". I made room in a hall closet for the baskets. I pretended the phone rang, and a realtor wanted to show the house in "1 hour". We practiced cleaning each "zone" but putting extraneous stuff in the baskets, using the wipes to clean the areas, and putting it all away. For their ages, and given the constant clutter and mess of 3 small kids, it worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I live in the same county. She lives on a sand bar. I live on a sand bar about 20 miles south (so Jeannie knows exactly where I live!). What you guys have to realize is that we live in a 9/10 second home market. Yep. 9/10. Our full-time trappings aren't "beachy" enough for the majority of folks who want to purchase that type of dream. When giving adivce to Jeannie, think about what you want to see in a second home, because that's the vast majority of her traffic. Trust me, everyone local already knows her house has been up and seen it if they wanted to already. As for us in this area, getting an offer is nothing. Getting to settlement on a second home is the exciting thing here. Our neighbor had 4x before one of his places sold. Banks are not in the mood to accept less than a "more than sure thing" on a second home. We owned on the corner of 42nd street and west ave in ocean city. ;) We had a terrible time selling (12 years ago) because we lived there year round and people who came to look only wanted to see a place that looked like we would be there for a week. We had to slowly do the Pier One thing, room by room -- and finally it happened. If I am not mistaken, we had to pack away all of our dinnerware and cookware, buy 'beach house quality' at Ikea or someplace b/c prospective buyers wanted the place turn key. I hear you.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I also agree that houses without books, bookshelves and photos feel sterile and unwelcoming. When we bought our house, I loved seeing the baby photos and baby gear ALL over the house. The house doesn't have much storage, so I felt better seeing how a real family really lived in it. Maybe I am just smart enough to understand how a house will look with a different photo on the end table. :iagree: I'm the same way. Seeing other people's furniture, all of the furniture, helps me to figure out how I'd fit our stuff in there. I can't picture my stuff in an empty room but I have no way of judging if it will fit. The last house we rented was cluttered, messy, and dirty when we looked at it. But we we could tell it would work so we rented it. This house was empty when we looked at it. While I like most things about the house, I'm looking forward to our lease being up so we can leave. The bedrooms are too small to give DD2 a bed without giving DD12 a sleeping situation (top bunk) she'd hate. So, for now, DD2 still sleeps with me and DH sleeps on the couch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoGal Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hmm... I have heard about the photo thing, but not about the books. I don't know what we could do if we were to move. We have one long wall of bookshelves that goes along the living room and kitchen. We always get positive comments on it. The living room side has glass doors and the kitchen side has solid doors, so it doesn't look as cluttery as open bookshelves might. If we had to take those down, it would be a big job! The shelves look almost built-in, so it could be a selling point as well. I guess it depends on if the buyers like books. :lol: I could definitely see moving out the bookshelves that have the kids' books, though. They always look a little chaotic just because of the bright colors and small spines. Also, some of them are blocking the fireplace. I'm guessing a real estate agent wouldn't like that. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I hear you.:) Thank you! Not even Memorial Weekend and I'm ready for the post-season. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Thank you! Not even Memorial Weekend and I'm ready for the post-season. :001_huh: My favorite bumper sticker from those days: "Some of us are NOT on vacation." I have to say, I SO miss walking and running on the boardwalk in the off season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Karen, if you used movers, did they moan and groan about the number of books or did they just take it in stride? On, the other hand we do have very light IKEA furniture (the books will probably be heavier than some of our furniture). Not Karen, but I packed for a move many years ago..... put books in a dishpack..... the mover had to use a hand cart and was saying under his breath "yep, she packed herself." So, use small boxes for the books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famof6 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I remember those days. Pack as much as you can in the garage. It gets the packing out of the way and helps keep the house ready to show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 yes, Mariann and Nono, we are finding that everyone looking at our house wants turn key which we are not by any means. Also we have had people come in from Colorado (made us an offer and then while we are negotiating a house down the street came on the market and they withdrew their offer, we then had a contract with people from N. Jersey who canceled on the 14th day of a 15 day clause. We are getting tons of people from Philly that leave within 3 min. of walking in our house and our listing states that our house is a fixer upper (we are going to have to find some money to fix some of the issues). Mariann, we have lived in this house for 19 years so you were a fairly close neighbor to us, about 10 streets away. We live on the street that has the meadows and intercoastal waterway as our back yard and the best sunset views. Our next door neighbors sold last year in 2 weeks but they lived in Philly and only came down a couple of weeks a year so their house was empty of everything but furniture and it was furnished beach casual. But we live here year round. However there is only one other single family home for sale in the south end right now so if someone wants the south end they only have 2 choices unless they want a condo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) yes, Mariann and Nono, we are finding that everyone looking at our house wants turn key which we are not by any means. Also we have had people come in from Colorado (made us an offer and then while we are negotiating a house down the street came on the market and they withdrew their offer, we then had a contract with people from N. Jersey who canceled on the 14th day of a 15 day clause. We are getting tons of people from Philly that leave within 3 min. of walking in our house and our listing states that our house is a fixer upper (we are going to have to find some money to fix some of the issues). Mariann, we have lived in this house for 19 years so you were a fairly close neighbor to us, about 10 streets away. We live on the street that has the meadows and intercoastal waterway as our back yard and the best sunset views. Our next door neighbors sold last year in 2 weeks but they lived in Philly and only came down a couple of weeks a year so their house was empty of everything but furniture and it was furnished beach casual. But we live here year round. However there is only one other single family home for sale in the south end right now so if someone wants the south end they only have 2 choices unless they want a condo. omh! we were neighbors. we lived there from 1995 till 2000 when i got pg with the twins -- then we moved to L'wood. well, i'd have to say that to be in the south end, i would take the fixer upper and be really happy that i am at that end. my sister and her husband bought a fixer upper on the beach 18 years ago (they have since sold it), but they got a great deal b/c the place needed alot of elbow grease -- but it was on the beach which was the best. hang in there -- keep packing and putting stuff in storage -- this time next week, there will be so much traffic down there, you will get a completed sale in no time.:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: we took alot of heat for the 'year round' furniture and finally threw up our hands in despair and 'beached' it. ETA: I worked at the CVS at 34th street near the acme - nights and weekends; one of my daughters worked at the little Christian book store on Asbury (I think) -- my dh delivered pizza for dominos -- we were just married and between the two of us, we worked 5 jobs. Edited May 21, 2012 by MariannNOVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappyhappymama Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Karen, if you used movers, did they moan and groan about the number of books or did they just take it in stride? On, the other hand we do have very light IKEA furniture (the books will probably be heavier than some of our furniture). Every time we've moved with movers they complain about our books. Every.time. Even *before* we started homeschooling and it was just mine and DH's books. We've always had a high book to house/family size ratio. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I've been looking at listings online for about a year and a half now. And after reading a couple of staging books, when I look at the pictures online, I would say that the most distracting thing in the rooms is not the books (although I can see that it would look more spacious to have extra wall space vs. bookshelves) but the other items that clutter the room. Sometimes those items are on the shelves along with the books, sometimes they are on a desk or side table, sometimes they are on the windowsill, and sometimes they are small decorative items on the walls. I want to tell the homeowners, *Get rid of the small pictures/home decor/mirrors/pictures on the walls!* :iagree: And clear the countertops too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 yes, Mariann and Nono, we are finding that everyone looking at our house wants turn key which we are not by any means. Also we have had people come in from Colorado (made us an offer and then while we are negotiating a house down the street came on the market and they withdrew their offer, we then had a contract with people from N. Jersey who canceled on the 14th day of a 15 day clause. We are getting tons of people from Philly that leave within 3 min. of walking in our house and our listing states that our house is a fixer upper (we are going to have to find some money to fix some of the issues). Mariann, we have lived in this house for 19 years so you were a fairly close neighbor to us, about 10 streets away. We live on the street that has the meadows and intercoastal waterway as our back yard and the best sunset views. Our next door neighbors sold last year in 2 weeks but they lived in Philly and only came down a couple of weeks a year so their house was empty of everything but furniture and it was furnished beach casual. But we live here year round. However there is only one other single family home for sale in the south end right now so if someone wants the south end they only have 2 choices unless they want a condo. :grouphug: Seriously, our next door neighbor had one of his other places (and mind you, he's not a full-time resident) take 4x with 3 buyers before he got through settlement. It's rough. I think the problem right now is that no one feels compelled to buy -- meaning there's none of the 10 years ago, "If I don't snatch this up now, I'll never be able to afford another the next time something in the south end comes up." There's just no urgency. Here we have the added fun of the rateables almost doubling due to zoning changes and redevelopment within the last 10 years. So folks with older single families or duplexes aren't competing in the same type of market it was when they bought... The town sure is richer, but the folks living here aren't. :tongue_smilie: Hence, we are now seasonal renters of our other place. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Wendy, it is amazing that it takes so few books to fill a box. Mariann, I am pm ing you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Books and bookcases are nothing in the staging department. If you want to see the best of the "Don't do this..." category check out Hooked On Houses blog and select "Bad MLS Photos" on the top bar. Makes me feel better about my overloaded cabinets and multitude of book cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well see all those books would be a draw for me because I'd be thinking...hmmm I can fit all my books in this house. :D Book packing is a pain! It's the one time I curse all of my books. Me, too! I like to see bookshelves in a house because I have SO many that I need to make sure mine will fit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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