We’re continuing to make progress on our goal of putting our house on the market this spring. The bedroom is done, the bathroom is done, and last week I got the guest room finished. The guest room had been sort of a multi-purpose room for the last few years. It had a bed, but it also had a desk and computer, filing cabinet, and another desk with a sewing machine on it. It made the room very useful for us, but it was very cluttered and not exactly what anyone would call “staged” for sale. So we cleared out everything except the bed and a night stand. We took all of our random maps and travel posters off the walls, and put up a single black and white framed Ansel Adams poster above the bed. The result is a classy room that feels wide open and spacious – exactly what we were looking for.
When we first started thinking about selling our house, my parents kindly offered to let us store our stuff in a house they own that is currently vacant. So last weekend we rented a 17 foot moving truck and packed it from one end to the other. All of that stuff is now stored in my parents’ vacant house, and our house feels so much bigger! We took our bookcases, a loveseat, two desks, our TV and the table it was on, a bunch of baby stuff that our son has outgrown, and TONS of other, smaller stuff. We donated quite a pile too, and threw out a bunch of stuff. It feels so much better in our house now without all of that stuff taking up space. It’s easier to clean, because there isn’t as much stuff to clean around. The best part is that our entire main floor is now babyproofed. All of the stuff that we used to have to block off (gigantic plant, TV, bookcase) is now gone, so he can cruise around to his heart’s content. Much easier. I have a feeling that when we eventually get a new house and go to pick up the stuff we’ve put in storage, we might find ourselves donating even more stuff in order to keep things clutter-free…
I recently googled “staging a house for sale” and have been reading everything I can find. You can pay someone to do it for you, but that’s not my style ;) The basics are obvious: clear out as much stuff as you can, paint, clean, etc. But there’s a lot more that you can do to help a house sell, and we figure we can use all the help we can get. So I’ve been happily browsing the various sites that pulled up in my google search. I had thought we were almost finished with our sprucing-up projects, but now I have a list with about 15 more things on it. For the most part, we’re only doing things that are free (or very inexpensive) and just require time and elbow grease. And things are truly shaping up around here. Hopefully it works and someone will want to buy our house!
trishy says
Don’t forget your chocolate chip cookies or fresh bread in the oven when all those buyers come to look!
Also, why not list some of those staging hints that have worked for you?
FrugalBabe says
Trishy – don’t worry, I’ll be adding posts about the things we’re doing to stage our house as we go along. I spent yesterday working in the garage, so that post will be coming soon!
Kristi says
fb, sounds like you are doing a great job of getting the house ready. I remember a couple of things from books I read. Forgive me if you already know this. 1. Look at the house as if you were pulling up in a car and fix anything that is off for that first impression. 2. Another suggestion was to take photos of your first view as you go from room to room in your house. Hope these help. Love this blog.
Kerri says
You will thank yourself for not paying a stager. Everything you’ve talked about doing is exactly right on. I sold a house a little more than six months ago (it was on the market for five months because of the economy) and it always looked like a hotel when we walked out. I got really good at cleaning house when the agent called an hour before showing. Good luck!
chb says
I know you don’t have cable, and I’m not sure if you can find it online, but one of my favorite house shows is “Sell This House” on A & E. They strive to spend an average of $200 to help people properly stage their homes. It’s much less flashy than a lot of home programming out there, and very down to earth for a “reality” show – plus they have done amazing transformations with very little cash (and no fancy carpenters building custom furniture that doesn’t count in the budget!)
Manda says
You know, your parents seem pretty thrifty… ;) From what you’ve said and from what I can gather, they seem to be well off in terms of organizing their finances also. I would love to hear more about what they’ve done and how hey live, if you don’t mind sharing. You and your husband could be very similar, so I guess if that is the case, I would love to hear about differences in your lifetyles and what the deciding factors are behind those differences. Just some thoughts. Very glad to hear that the restorations are taking shape and making you proud. Everything sounds and looks fantastic!!