From: kendall@adobe.com (Janice Kendall)
Subject: Re: Getting Ready to Sell House: How to Make it Most Appealing?
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:29:38 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.192436.11903@i88.isc.com> jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist) writes:
>In article <1992Nov11.180523.20266@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> jadams@vixen.uucp (22475-adams) writes:
>>A really good real estate agent who helped us sell our last house walked through
>>our house with us after listing and offered some very simple, yet effective ways
>>of improving our chances of a quick sale (We did 90% of what he suggested).  Among
>>the things that we never thought of:
>>
>>	Remove all "excess" furniture in each room (We rented a storage unit for
>>	a month)...makes each room look larger.
>>
>>	Change all hanging pictures which are of family members to landscapes,
>>	etc....makes the home look less like "It _BELONGS_ to the current owner".
>
>You know, I sometimes wonder about this.  We "depersonalized" our house.
>We reroofed the garage.  We even had the exterior painted in a color
>scheme we'd never have chosen had we planned on staying.  And we didn't
>get even insulting offers.
>
>When it was all over with, and we decided to stay, we remembered that one
>of the things that endeared us to the house when we bought it was a
>framed piece of needlework that was hanging in the dining room.  It
>depicted the Kiev railroad station, and was completed by the owner's
>grandmother during her boat trip from Russia to America.  It represented
>her last (ever) view of her native country.  You can't
>get a great deal more personal than that.  We knew it wasn't staying
>with the house, but it said, in no uncertain terms, that this
>was a home, rather than a house.
>
>So maybe we're just atypical.  But personal worked on us; impersonal
>didn't sell our house.  Go figure.
>
>
>Comments, anyone?
>-- 
>Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
>jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
>        There are many things a person should experience in a lifetime.
>       Among them are an infant's first cry, and an infant's first laugh.

My Mom saw a house the first weekend she went looking that had not been
"blanded-out" yet.  The main color was slate blue, which is her favorite.
It had some details, such as borders and curtains, to match and she loved
it.  She found out that the coming Monday, the painters were going to 
white-wash the place.  They were able to reach the contractor just
barely in time.  My Mom bought the house and felt immediately at home.

We've done lots of looking ourselves, and by far were attracted to homes
that looked like people experienced "home" there.  Blanded out homes looked
like apartments, like uni-sex clothing.  They don't appeal to me.
If the decor is highly stylized or the house needs painting anyway, go 
ahead and bland it out.  Otherwise, I think character sells.
   
I think cleanliness is more important than bland.  I would look for a house
that looks like it's been cared for.

 Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall

      Don't Panic!  Clinton will be our *42*nd President.

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house