A few things were mentioned in yesterday's comments and I thought I'd address them here.
Paint and carpet replacement - the agent suggested we do this and I completely agree as at the moment the house is half cream (previous owners) and half grey (us). The carpet is however many years old and is cream.
The front porch has some sort of crappy finish that is chipping and lifting and looks terrible. AND can't be painted over. So we are looking at doing something (Himself spoke to someone at Bunnings and this is one of the areas where I nod and say yes dear!) that will cost around $700 but will greatly improve the first impression. If it was out the back I wouldn't bother but street appeal and first impressions are so important.
The curtain rails and light fittings in the front room are gold coloured so they have to go and they scream '80s. We will replace with Ikea products as they are inexpensive and the curtains will come from spotlight - again, inexpensive.
The Stalker suggested getting a stylist in. When we sold our house in East Bentleigh in 2008 we were given a complimentary style consult and I learned a lot from her about dressing a place and furniture placement etc.
Initially I was in sell asap mode but now I know that we can get a mortgage on this place (cheaper than bridging finance) the pressure is off. I no longer have the end of April as my self-imposed deadline. We will need some new furniture for the new place so I am happy to buy now and use it in this place.
The real estate agent has someone that comes and makes suggestions as well. Also, we only bought this place 6 years ago and very nearly didn't because of how it was styled. Not the furniture but how they had placed things which made it hard to see how it would work. I think what we have done makes more sense.
The biggest immediate challenge is clearing out cupboards.
Yarn, anyone?
The best thing you can do is declutter. And since you need to move it all anyway it’s a perfect solution Pack it all in big plastic tubs that way you won’t get mould, or vermin ruining it.
ReplyDeleteThose plastic bags that you suck out all the air are also great. In there. Suck out air. Put into tubs. Perfect
I need to cull a whole lot of yarn before I store it!
DeletePersonally I didn't think our neighbouring apartment's stylist did a great job, not even blinds, just long terylene curtains for the bedrooms, but she must have gotten somethings right as it sold for a good bit more than we thought it would, and predicted. As Angela says, declutter. Surfaces sweetie, surfaces, to quote Patsy.
ReplyDeleteI have so much STUFF. I need to remove the sentiment and just get rid of it.
DeleteSimplifying the house is a great idea. That way a prospective buyer can visualize how they'd live there. But if it's in a good location, no worries anyway!
ReplyDeleteRule no. 1 is to remove all personal stuff and I am surprised how many people don't.
DeleteIt all just sounds so overwhelming to me. But one step at a time, right?
ReplyDeleteOh, Mary, it is overwhelming. And my reaction to being overwhelmed is to do nothing! One task at a time. One task every day.
DeleteSounds like you have all the right moves to make a good sale! Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteSelling in Winter is not ideal but it does mean fewer houses on the market to compete with. I just hope the right person comes along very quickly!
DeleteSell that yarn on ebay. I remember one year hubby bought a room sized carpet from a mate, it was an awful greyish colour with stains, so we hired a steam cleaner and the carpet turned into a lovely cream colour which I soon discovered was terribly hard to keep clean with three small children and a crawling baby as well as a hubby who liked to eat dinners and drink beer while watching TV. Cream carpet should be outlawed. Sometimes on real estate sites I can tell which houses have been "styled" because the imprints of other furniture are still visible. I hope it all comes together well for you and sells quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe tell tale imprints!
DeleteI will be selling a bit of stuff online so I guess I can add the yarn!
I agree about cream carpet. And there is no such thing as a truly stain repellent carpet.
Step by step, right? Maybe you can Freecycle your yarn? (Or even sell it on eBay or something?)
ReplyDeleteOh, I see that was already suggested above. :)
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