Thursday, July 19, 2018

How much house cleaning can one person do?


With the house up for sale it seems to be an endless chore making sure the house is spic and span just in case someone wants to see it.  I have sold numerous houses over the years so know what matters and what doesn't but I feel everyone has their own way of doing things.  I found that dealing with this agent has been totally different from dealing with our last agent. Our current agent is more relaxed and we have a few more things on display that I thought would be acceptable.

I know that having a clean house makes it an easier sell than having one that is cluttered and dirty.  I personally can see through clutter and dirt; hence we bought the farmhouse.  Some people though can't see through things like that.  Mind you I have walked through houses for sale and they were so badly cluttered that even I struggled.

Before we looked at the farmhouse we looked at a converted school house.  There were presents laying around everywhere, plus boxes of thing, and hanging up was a rented tuxedo in a bag and underneath it a fancy dress in a bag. Every where you turned there was "stuff" Turns out the couple had just got married and left all their presents laying around.  It turns out the couple had just got married and went off on their honeymoon without tidying anything up.  We didn't buy that house........not because of that but other issues with it, but the mess didn't help.

I also know that the house photos people see online make a difference.  However what you see in the photos and what you see in real life can be a totally different thing.  We had an agents open house yesterday and the feed back was good I am pleased to say.  Enough that what you see in the photos is as good as what you see in real life.  I am "house proud," so I was super happy with their remarks.

When looking at homes can you see their potential through dirt and clutter or does it have to be super clean and staged?

Tomorrow I am going to talk about Real Estate Agents.


6 comments:

Anne in the kitchen said...

A long time ago I learned to look at the ceilings of extremely cluttered houses to get an accurate view of the total space. Though I had rather see a house that is neat and tidy, paint, carpet,,excessive furniture__none of that makes a difference to me if I am looking to buy.

T'Pol said...

I cannot see the potential if there is clutter. Before I bought my apartments, I looked at the apartment ads for a very long time. I cannot believe that some real estate agents take pictures of cluttered homes and post them online. I just will not even look at them. The places do not need to be staged either. Anyway, staging is not a "thing" i this country. I prefer to look at empty places.

Anonymous said...

I can never understand how people think their house will show well if not tidy and clean, it turns me off right away to see a cluttered dirty home, it never ceases to amaze me the people that have real estate photos taken of their house in a state of disarray, my husband is good at seeing past the mess to find the bare bones but I'm afraid you lose me if it is a mess, I know we're not buying their mess but if people are serious about selling clean things up at least!! I guess I haven't much experience in buying or selling, we have only bought two homes in our life but I do know what I like and don't lol, I understand you wanting things nice, I'm the same way, its exhausting having the house show ready all the time, hoping for an early sale ,,

Karen said...

I've looked at several ads for houses that really appealed in the village I want to move to. What gets me are the unmade beds and counters and tables piled with mess. Clothes on floors. Sinks and counters full of dirty dishes. WHAT is wrong with these people?

One Family said...

as someone who just sold their house (and another one two years ago) I totally agree that a very clean house sure helps. I also have trouble seeing the potential through a messy house. We looked at so many pictures online and I was always amazed at how people wouldn't even clean up. I make my house look almost staged when selling. Our previous house the realtor had someone take amazing photos of our house and yard. Even we were impressed and several people even said it looked even better in person than the photos. For heaven's sake - if I look at a photo of someone's bathroom and there are dirty towels and such hanging over the tub. Just no. LOL. How hard is it to clean up. Plus, if they can't even take care of tidying up, I'm sure they didn't take very good care of the house itself, maintenance, etc.

William Kendall said...

I would have to see things being tidy.

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