A quick update. Our house officially hit the market Monday afternoon. Since then it has been a flurry of appointment calls, showings and vacating the house. We are lucky, while our house is quirky (which is realtor speak for lack of flow) we live on a desirable street in a desirable town. The more showings the better and I am not complaining.
BUT–this whole exercise has been a learning experience.
The staging process is a whole new world. While my stager (who I loved!) made the house look lovely, she also made the house soul-less. A blank canvas for potential buyers to picture themselves in. Since we watch a lot of HGTV, we knew to expect this–but when it is your house, it is quite unnerving.
Everything is placed perfectly. All photographs and personal items are removed. Sparse furnishings. Very little wall art. It is made to look like a model home. Only not really, because our house is more than fifty years old.
Every morning when my girls go to school I scurry to their rooms and remove their bedding. I replace said bedding with beautiful, crisp, fluffy white comforters. The kind of comforter that no mother in her right mind would ever have in their kids room because it would be ruined in a New York minute. But in staged land, this is all normal and natural.
Same for the bathrooms. Beautiful, untouched, fluffy white towels. Toilet lids down, curtains open. New bar of pristine white soap.
What do people think when they walk through? Does it register that this can’t possibly be the way people live in the house? Or are they painting the blank canvas in their heads?
And then there is the kitchen. I love to cook and my kitchen is normally the most active room in my house. But now? Only three decorative items on the counters. Gone are my toaster, Cuisinart, Blendtec and other cooking tools and assorted seasonings that I always leave out.
I get that this is so the kitchen looks as big and clean as possible. But having to go up and down to the basement for the toaster every day makes me laugh. And what about people who don’t have a basement? Where do they put all their appliances when they are selling their houses?
Oh my gosh, and then there are the lights! In our house, we are always turning off lights and unplugging gadgets. We are conscious of the environment and like to do our part. So putting every single light on in the house for every single showing really goes against the grain. I have to actively hold my hands back from switching them off as I leave the house.
After the lights, it is time to leave. I grab our dog Toby (poor thing–he can’t figure out what the heck is going on) and we jump in the car to go kill the 30 or 60 minutes. There are not many places to go when it is cold and you have a dog with you. We basically hang out together in the car.
When we come inside after the showing we go back through each room turning all the lights off again. I haven’t timed myself or counted lights, but there are a lot!
We continue to live in this strange stark landscape of a house. It feels sterile and not much like home. It has been an unsettled week in a new and unknown land. Fingers crossed that this is a very short term exercise.
To be continued…..
I loved all your advice and words of comfort last week. It is so nice to know that I am not alone and that people have survived this process! If you have any more words of wisdom, please leave a comment below. It means more than you know.
Hugs,
Lorna
Lois Mariano says
March 21, 2014 at 10:16 amAnyone with a house on the market and a dog can relate to your tales of sitting in the car together! I was told to get rid of all traces of dog ownership in the house and yet when I was looking for my new place to live, I felt more comfortable if there was a dog dish and toy or two in evidence! Your market is much stronger than it was when I was trying to sell – I’m so glad for you. My un-air-conditioned house was being shown over the summer and early fall so making it feel cool was my challenge. Hang in there. I ended up selling to a wonderful young couple and love knowing that my house is in good hands 🙂
Sue Ann says
March 22, 2014 at 4:15 pmIt’s been a very long time since I staged a home for selling but I can totally relate to the soul-less “home” your stager created here. Wishing you a speedy sale so that you can get back to REAL living.
Michelle says
March 22, 2014 at 9:43 pmOhhhh… I hope your home sells quickly. “There’s no place like staged home” doesn’t sound quite right. 🙂 Good luck!
Susie says
March 22, 2014 at 9:55 pmI can’t wait to read the post on where you wind up! Wishing you a quick sale!
Heather says
March 22, 2014 at 10:29 pmI was laughing out loud at all the white that you had to put in your house, with my three kids I would never consider white anything for them and would think that people would see right through that – but I guess that is what people want to see! I have lived in my house for 15 years and my husband and I have put a lot of love and hard work into it. I know one day we will downsize and sell, and that will be a very hard day.
Susan says
March 22, 2014 at 10:53 pmoooo…I remember well the weird feeling as I packed up all the lovely things around our home. What I remember even more precisely was the realtor who looked efficiently around and stated emphatically that all ‘that stuff’ would have to be packed up for showings. (gulp) It took us 6 weeks to prepare. I hope you have the luck we had. We accepted an offer on the first day of showing…a much higher offer than the realtor expected too!! Best of luck!!
Kelly Hine says
March 22, 2014 at 11:01 pmOh it’s not an easy time. I really hope your house sells quickly Lorna! People buy houses with a lot of emotion involved and I think they like to pretend to themselves that they would live in this kind of perfection when they look through a staged house.
Elizabeth MacLeod says
March 22, 2014 at 11:26 pmHoly crow . . . It’s been so long since i sold a place I forgot what it could be like. And it was a bit different then. Time to call in the right buyer who can see beyond it all so you can get back to your mindful way of being and back to you. Calling all souls for this perfect for them house.
Dana says
March 23, 2014 at 3:48 amOh yes, memories flooded back from 20 years ago when our children were young as we were trying to sell our home. Kids and dogs..and a staged home = stressful times and hilarious stories. Wishing you a speedy sale.
Marg says
March 23, 2014 at 11:57 amWow! I didn’t realise people actually did this! Although I know this situation is not comfortable for you, I loved the way you described your story. I felt like I was right there experiencing it with you. I hope your house sells very quickly so you can create a new loving home that is filled with heart and soul.
Zoe Richards says
March 23, 2014 at 5:51 pmI’ve sold so many houses using these techniques. They work! But oh my, I could never live like that!
april says
March 25, 2014 at 12:48 ami can totally relate to what you’re describing and feeling, lorna. we went through this same process last year. for nine very long months. four people, two cats, one dog – and 1 to 3 showings every single week of the completely staged and unlivable home. as well as trying to figure out what to do while the potential buyers were in our house (we lived on the water on a 5-acre property and sometimes we would have to stay away for over two hours)! it was by far the craziest house-on-the-market experience we’d ever had (it was the fourth time we’d sold a property we were living in). my family had cleaning down to an exact science – everyone knew what to do and how to do it, down to the perfect placement of hand towels and pillows. and then running out the door right after turning on the lights. i sincerely hope your sale happens quickly and smoothly.