Front Page Forum: Dressing Up For Sale
In discussing the shabby appearance of 1370 Pacific Street for its open house last weekend, a reader posted this question: Is it better to gussy up a house for a showing or let everyone see it warts and all? All of the crap is going to come out in an inspection, hopefully. Isn’t it more…
In discussing the shabby appearance of 1370 Pacific Street for its open house last weekend, a reader posted this question:
Is it better to gussy up a house for a showing or let everyone see it warts and all? All of the crap is going to come out in an inspection, hopefully. Isn’t it more honest to just let it be? I hate viewings where the owner slaps some paint on the wall, and covers the holes in the floor with a rug and a plant. I really hate when high priced brokers have the owner do things like strip painted woodwork in a half assed sloppy way so they can jack up the price. You’re only going to have to redo it anyway, why pay for it twice? I only ask that your home is clean when I come see it, it doesn’t have to be out of the pages of House and Garden. I can do my own decorating. Any thoughts?
Our thoughts? A whole industry now exists around making over properties for sale. It must be adding some value.
Open House Picks Comments [Brownstoner]
Re: Joel comments: I assume that participants of this blog are for the most part educated. With that being said, can someone please tell me why it is that every townhouse in a “brown” community that is not in mint condition is repeatedly referred to on this blog as a “crack house”? Please stop perpetuating ignorant stereotypes on this blogsite!!!
When I sold my coop, the agent immediately told me to rent a mini-storage room and store my comic book collection, some odd pieces of furniture, piles of books, etc. And all of a sudden my apartment looked BIGGER! I also spent a bit of money fixing some ceiling cracks (not to cover up anything structural–just needed some plastering). Got a good cleaning, including windows. That kind of stuff really does help with an open house.
My husband and I just bought a rowhouse in Jersey City. We were looking for a gut-reno job to do ourselves but we loved the view from this place, and the price was in our limited range! However it had been reonovated to sell, and it is going to be a nightmare fixing it. Cheap wall to wall carpet with carpet adhesive everywhere, vinyl windows, vinyl tiles, etc. We are going to have to rip it all out and start again and the shame of it is that all these resources were wasted in the first place. I honestly can’t understand anyone who would want to move in and actually live with what these people have done, and would rather have started from scratch anytime.
There’s staging and staging. While it’s awful to see cheap renovations done in a hurry, it’s also naive not to think that cleaning up a little won’t help. When I sold my coop (open house with multiple bids), I did a little painting, put out fresh flowers, cleaned the windows, put Sarah Vaughan on the CD changer, and — most important of all — GOT RID OF AS MUCH CLUTTER AS POSSIBLE! The flip side of this story is that when we finally found a brownstone to buy, it was clearly so in need of a complete gut reno that the fact it looked like a shit-hole didn’t really matter. We knew we’d be starting from scratch the minute we walked in the front door. It even made us less sentimental about the purchase because, while we saw the potential, we didn’t get so attached that we over-paid and ended up getting it for a pretty decent price.
I spent weeks and about a thousand dollars staging our apartment when we sold. My husband thought I was nuts. He thought differently when we had 8 bidders at the first open house and we were selling in on our own (and yes, it was listed at market price). I should have a t-shirt made up that says Paint Works!
Wdding pictures and religious totems are distracting. Make sure you have only enough furniture to make the place seem nice, not stuffed. And my #1 tip: don’t have your TV in the middle of the living room and your furniture arranged to all face it. It’s depressing. Rearrange. Just while it’s on the market.
anon above- i can’t believe they don’t want to do it- even with just NYC audiences it could pay for itself- it’s not big league production of course- it would have been more interesting even a few years ago but everyone has there stories of some of the houses they’ve seen and their crazy closings etc. i can’t imagine it’s like that anywhere else in the country- regardless someone should do it- from the little i know, house hunters as it is has somewhat of a cult following and that’s to look at papier mache houses in the suburbs with tiny windows and carpeting- sorry i’ve been obsessed with the idea for some time…
i just basically want to be able to watch the show.
“I think times have changed from just a few years ago when any house we could afford to buy was a mess- a stained matress in the parlor, the upper floors all needing to be plastered, carpet everywhere etc. that was what we expected when we looked at houses in brooklyn” – luxerterna
Most of the houses I look at still look like that. I just wish I could afford them, they’ve hit the roof too.
Since I’ve lived in old houses in a constant state of repair most of my life, I guess that never being done is the one constant in my homelife. When I go see listings, especially in my neck of the woods – Bed Stuy/Crown Heights, I often see homes that have been in a family for 50 years, with a lot of photos, clutter, and memories. These are the people who kept these neighborhoods from total chaos, and raised their families, and who lived through the bad times, and are amazed at what their homes will sell for now. I find buying one of these homes to be more of the passing of a fine legacy, and would look forward to restoring them to their glory. I can easily see beyond clutter and old paint.
Sorry it’s touched a nerve, but looks sell. And it’s not just Manhattanites. There are a whole lot of people who can’t visualize anything. On some of the HGTV shows like House Hunters, I’ve seen people refuse to buy a house because the room colors weren’t to their taste. And paint is the easiest thing to change. I’m always amazed by this, but I’ve seen it through my own experience.
The other thing that a clean, well decorated house suggests is that the owner actually takes care of the place. Filth and sad sack furnishings make you wonder at what else is being neglected. Besides, if I can get a bunch of Manhattanites to get into a bidding war over my place when I move because I’ve got decent taste, more power and money for me. If I didn’t have decent taste, I’d pay for a little.
“btw would someone please do a cable “hgtv” type show for brooklyn- i mean what would be better than House Hunters in brooklyn- “today this young couple dreaming of woning a home will be shown a burnt out shell for 1.2mil”
Hah! A friend/ex-coworker moved on to HGTV and we talked about lots of show ideas like that. He even pitched the bigwhigs an idea I had for urban backyard ‘renovations’. (Basically I wanted a free makeover!)
But yeaaah. I guess if an hgtv show isn’t about 30-40 something, childless, debtless folk who live in a suburban McMansion, then it ain’t worth doing!