Monday, December 12, 2016

Yes, still...

Like many of you in the blog world, lately it's been difficult to spend as much time as I would like writing, reading, and commenting on posts. The are a couple of reasons for this. One is this time of year is busy with holiday preparations and the other is we are pretty much still in the "all house, all the time" mode.
This is what I much prefer to pillows, comforters and paint colors.
Yesterday morning, we woke up to snow and this red-bellied woodpecker
at the seed feeder. This was unusual since there was a suet cake nearby.
That's what they normally prefer.

Actually, the latter is the bigger reason I haven't been posting. I got really tired writing about how busy I was and how stressed the whole house thing was making me. About how until we got the other house sold and some money back in the coffers, I was going to be worried. That was part of my money anxiety talking. Not always rational thought, but that's the way my brain works.  Although steady progress is being made, I am still feeling overwhelmed in the house area.

We are cleaning up the old house with lots of cosmetic work--painting, small repairs, cleaning, and staging. Staging. That's my new obsession. I decided that I could stage the house cheaper than the stager who would stage it and rent us her stuff for three months at a time. And we could use some of the things in our new house.

However, I've had to do a lot of educating of myself in this area. I'm not naturally gifted in decorating in the first place and I had to learn the difference between decorating to live in and decorating to sell. And that involves, among other things, taking away personal things but not making the place look too sterile. A fine line to walk for sure.

Aunt Martha and I went out recently, and started to scope the stores to see what was out there and how much it costs. We found out quickly, that we are behind the times in what is current in decorating, and our tastes are not the ones to sell a house. I am drawn to detailed nature themes and Aunt Martha is drawn to Southwest themes. Neither one is neutral enough for staging. In fact, we figured out that if we liked it, it probably wasn't appropriate for the job at hand. Ward went with me recently to do a little shopping in this area and figured out the same thing.

I am using all of our large furniture like couches, tables, beds, etc., so we haven't move those yet. It's funny how the furniture that seemed good enough when we were using it every day, looks pretty shabby when you look at it through a stager's eyes. Sofa covers, new comforters, and lots of throw pillows have helped in this area some.

But here's the frustrating thing with this process. I don't have the eye to perfectly visualize what I find in the store and how it's going to look when it gets in place or will coordinate with the other pieces that we already found. So there's a lot of buying, trying it out, and either keeping or returning. I am pretty tired of shopping for household goods.

But I have learned a few things. There can be individual parts of a room that I don't like, but when combined together make a very nice complete picture. And a couple of times when this has happened, it's been very satisfying.

So I'm still here and fretting about house stuff. But I'm trying to look at the positives and what an incredible amount we've already accomplished. And when I take a minute to let my thoughts slow down, I remember how fortunate I am to be fretting over something like getting a new house.

Until next time...

(You would think that I would have some pictures of all of this work to share, but I don't.)









16 comments:

  1. Oh gee I wish I lived closer. We are thinking of putting our hose on the market in the coming year, year and a half and I am already mentally changing it and mentally staging it.

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    1. I wish we lived closer, too. It might be fun to share what I've learned with this whole process. Especially, when it's not my stuff or money involved. My advice for now, as I'm sure you already know, is to start decluttering and getting rid of stuff and start your painting and small repairs. However, before you paint, find out what color you should be working with. I can tell you what we were told, but that might not work in the south. There are definitely general differences. Years ago when we lived in the south, wallpaper was everywhere, but not so much in the north.

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  2. Oh, dear! It all sounds so complicated! I hope you get the old house staged well enough for it to sell quickly, so you can concentrate on doing up your new house to your liking and enjoy it.

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    1. That's exactly what I want, but I have to be patient and remember a change this big takes a lot of work and time.

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  3. As you buy items fro staging, are you able to find things that you will love to have in your new house, after the old one sells? As everything will likely be neutrals, maybe you could resell all the "stuff" as a staging package.

    You're right about what we think of as just fine for our daily use looking shabby or dated to someone else. I look around our house and we have a lot of mis-matched items from when my parents were first married in the late 50s, early 60s.

    Wishing you continued luck with this. I hope you can take a break from house stuff to just enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

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    1. We will definitely be using some of the things I'm getting now in the new house. And we're trying to think about that as we purchase them. However, the rooms in the new house are configured differently, so it doesn't all translate. For instance, we're staging one room with two twin beds to show that it's big enough for two kids. However, we don't have a need for that in our new house, so the twin beds may not move. It will interesting when it's all said and done to see where everything ends up.

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  4. I had similar thoughts to Lili's--wondering if you can use some of your "staging" items for your own use in your new home. I didn't think about re-selling it, but that's a good idea as well--although I suspect you may be like me, and the thought of re-selling might be overwhelming.

    In the midst of all of this stress, I hope you are able to find some time to enjoy the Christmas season! Loved your woodpecker picture. That seems more like the June we all know and love. :)

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    1. I've never been very big on reselling, however, I have discovered Freecycle and enjoy using it. Maybe for some of the new stuff that was more expensive, I'll find a consignment shop. Some people have suggested that I leave the tags on things and return them when I'm done. Even if we get an offer quickly, it still takes another couple of months before settlement happens. Returning after that amount of time doesn't seem right. Although, there shouldn't be any wear and tear on the items.

      I still haven't figured out the best arrangement for the bird feeders here, but I do see a little bird activity which is always a thrill.

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  5. Let me offer the devil's advocate cynical point of view. Is the "perfect staging" of the house really going to pay off financially? I mean, will the house sell for substantially more money because it is staged correctly? Perhaps the ridiculousness of Denver's housing market is impacting my view on this topic, but in these parts houses generally sell within a few days of being listed, and while having a beautifully staged house would, I'm sure, increase the number of bids you got, I sorta can't imagine it being a really good return on investment.

    I don't mean to poo poo the advice of folks who clearly know what they are doing, but I also just think that perhaps it isn't something that's really worth losing much sleep over. Just a thought from the cynical side... ;-)

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    1. I've read several articles and books about staging and, yes, statistically, staged houses not only sell faster, but for more money. It depends on the market, but the generalities are that staged houses sell twice as fast and for 7% more than unstaged houses. That could be a 20X earning on the money we are investing in staging. Generally, we'd like to get the high end of our price range to offset the price of the new house. And since we're trying to sell in the winter when the market is slow, it could make the difference in selling in a month or two to six months. The housing market here is not as vigorous as Denver and most houses are staged, so staging just puts us on level playing field.


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  6. Sounds like hell, can't wait to hear the old house has sold and you are on your way forward!

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    1. Believe me, you'll be the first to know when this is all over. Some people buy houses and fix them up as a hobby. That is definitely not the hobby for me.

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  7. Sounds exhausting! I have a friend that is very dedicated to her coupons and catching sales and returning items and working loopholes and it's just too much work for me. Best of luck!

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    1. Coupons and such are easier once you get your system set up. I think this staging would be the same. Part of the problem is that I'm trying to this quickly without much experience. That is making it exhausting.

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  8. I think staging would be a fun experiment as a income producing venture but if I were moving houses and trying to prepare for Christmas it would be the last thing I would want to do. With all you have on your plate I can't imagine you would want to be dragging a camera around to remember to snap photos while you shop. I hope the staging makes for a really quick sale and you can put this behind you and laugh about it soon.

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    1. I think (hope) all of this effort will make a difference when we sell. I'm hoping that because it will look good, people won't notice the deficits that it has as much. That's how it's supposed to work anyway. If a room looks nice, people are less likely to see something like scratches in the floor, etc.

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What do you think?