OMG! Moving Part Three

Today is Tuesday. This time last week, we were on a two hours into a ten hour drive to our new state of Maryland.

In those seven days, we have received 6 offers on our house in Michigan and have just received word that our offer was accepted on a home here in Maryland. I'm in shock. There's a weird calm about me right now. I'm betting this won't last and I'll spontaneously break out in a spazzy dance.

We have to pass inspections on both ends, but it looks like we're well on the way to being buyers and sellers all in the same week! Woo Hoo!!!

How did the house generate that much interest and over-list offers? These are some basic principles that everyone can use to help sell a house (pictures are from my awesome Realtor - Stacy Miletti of Real Estate One in Troy):

1) Declutter
2) De-personalize
3) Clean
4) Here's one especially for this market; listen to your real estate agent about realistic pricing

Living Room Before:

We angled two chairs into a large tv as that is how we live...

..but it does nothing for the flow of the room and cuts it off. 

Living Room After:

In the after pictures, you can see I took out the large tv and added a loveseat (part of the sectional from the basement). This created a more open space and a conversation area, without blocking the bay window. I also moved one shelving unit to another wall.

Kitchen Before:

This is unfortunately what our counters looked like most days...can't use the excuse of 'we were moving'!

Kitchen After:

The main difference is take away ALL clutter. Pack up any non-essential cooking items. No one cares if you have the latest Keurig coffee maker, or you make floral arrangements, or your little one's artwork. Pack it away for your next home; not everyone has your taste :) Take everything off the refrigerator and leave your counters clear and open.

Bar Before: 

Lots of personal photos, and misc. bar items

Bar After:

All personal items gone and same clear counters as in kitchen

Basement Family Room Before: 

Can you tell we like to watch tv? Half this sofa went upstairs...

Basement Family Room After:

Taking away the return opens up the whole space.

This is actually the Master Bedroom After, but all I did was take the bed and angle it, and put the storage bench over on the wall. It didn't fit at the end of the bed anymore, but I liked the way the angle looks, and it opened up a built in bookcase blocked by the bed before. Not much else changed up here.

I'll have pictures of the other two bedrooms when I get back to Michigan; they were cleared of everything but a desk in each, and yes, my Gator office was neutralized with beige paint :)

And in this market, the realtor knows what the price should be. Not what you paid for it. Not what you think you should get. What someone will be willing to pay for it. That's the hard truth. We took a hit, but it's SOLD...in 6 days. That's realistic.

In a nutshell, the home you love and have decorated to your personal taste is now a house that you'd like to sell. In order for that to happen, you have to take 'you' out of the house.

Not everyone likes faux painted walls, huge ficus trees, or aquariums. Those are your tastes...and just might turn off a potential buyer. Think hotel room. Think model home. Both of these are spaces people can walk into and start to envision themselves putting their things into the rooms.

You have to pack anyway, start with your 'stuff'. You saw my pod...it was filled with random junk from my business, personal items, and extra furniture.

And after you've made your home model-home-worthy, clean that sucker! If the home is dirty, or if little things aren't fixed (like a broken light or switchplate), it makes a buyer wonder what bigger things might not be taken care of. It can be done in this market; it takes some hard work and detaching yourself from this house and looking forward...to your new home.

As for the home here...we were in serious sticker shock arriving here from the SE Michigan area. The home we chose has TONS of potential. Yep, that means it's kind of a wreck now :) Livable...if you're from the 1960's :)

Here's a little sneak peek of my (hopefully) new home:

Check out that floor! And the paneling!!

The realtor thought I was crazy, but that bar is so retro-cool! Can you see it? We actually wrote that bar and the three stools into the contract...no one was taking any of that from me :)

Obviously, there is going to be a lot of work to make this house uniquely ours (and bring it into this century), but it has good 'bones'.

Looks like this blog is going to take a little turn into 'Rehabbing a 60's Era House Into a Modern Home' :)