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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Is it possible to be messy and sell a house?
Our house is so messy, I'm embarrassed to call a realtor for an evaluation. Not hoarders messy, just working mom combined with lazy messy.... clutter everywhere.
We're obviously not in a need to move situation, but in an ideal world... Getting a storage unit doesn't seem like a good solution at this point.
Sorry for my rambling, does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?
*~*~Christina~*~*
Wed to M on 11.05.05
A, born July 30, 2007
E, born April 20, 2010
Wed to M on 11.05.05
A, born July 30, 2007
E, born April 20, 2010
Re: Is it possible to be messy and sell a house?
Selling a house SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS as parents!! I wasn't working when we were on the market which was good because I was home to be more on top of it, but bad because a) we were HOME so we were messier and b) more of the responsibilities fell on me.
Is it possible? Of course. Does it suck? Hell yeah. You pretty much need your house to be a half hour away from show-ready at all times. Kinda stressful.
ETA: We DID rent a storage unit and it was a godsend. We got rid of outgrown baby things, non-seasonal clothes, clutter that isn't necessary (you know, snack tables, that lamp in the corner that never gets used, etc). This made our closets look more spacious while also giving us room to put more things away.
*always remembering Annaleigh Lucy*
I'm not even thinking about on the market! If we list, I think we'd have to move out stuff, either to parents' houses or to a unit.
I keep having visions of calling the agent for an appraisal and what to fix and saying, "I'm kinda embarrassed to have you come in my disaster in the first place... can you not look at the hole in the ceiling that's waiting to be fixed....?"
Wed to M on 11.05.05
A, born July 30, 2007
E, born April 20, 2010
*always remembering Annaleigh Lucy*
I would agree with Lauren, take care of outgrown items first. We were lucky enough to have parents with basements (eek some stuff is still there).
You're going to have to declutter to take pictures and list, so you might as well do that before calling an agent. I took our own pictures for the listing, that way I could clean and keep clean one room at a time rather than have the whole house staged for a realtor to take the pictures.
And hopefully your agent will have some handymen they've used before to help with things like the hole
Make sure the realtor is a mom.
Seriously, when house buying, a mess didn't bother me at all...in face, I got a very clear view of what was ahead for me, LOL.
I'd say, clean out stuff you absolutely don't need...get rid of it. Then, hire a cleaning lady once or twice...then see what NEEDS to be worked on...My cleaning lady comes one a month...she's a godsend.
so are you just looking for someone to talk you through the comps/market value, getting ready to sell? call my brother, he's a dad of 2 kids the same ages as yours. he gets it.
Are you talking about just having an agent over? Do your best to de-clutter first to give him/her the best view. We want to list in the next few months and have spent the past year (slowly, obviously) getting rid of the "junk" and fixing stuff before we have anyone in.
For selling? I don't know, but when we were hunting I walked out of a few houses that were completely cluttered and not 'loved.' the house doesn't have to be perfect, but I always thought, if this is what they're willing to show me, what other surprises are we going to find, structurally, if we buy it? I have a low threshold for stuff like that, though.
as someone who's buying- mess never bothered me at all. What bothered me was FILTH. i wouldn't be able to see past the house that had a litterbox in a carpeted living room with OBVIOUS mounds of litter trailed all around the room. I was gagging at the kids toys in the same room, knowing their kids were rolling around in dirty litter (and i do have a cat, it's not like i don't know litterboxes have to exist).
Toys around, or a "neat" pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the room, a stack of bills and junk mail, even dirty dishes all over the counters never phased me. Just the gross dirty stuff.
We are in the same boat. We have been packing up all of the stuff we barely use and bringing it to my dads. We brought 8 storage totes yesterday and we have another 6 to bring this week. Luckily he has a huge basement that is practically empty. We are listing at the end of the week.
My agent came over when the house was cluttered (not at it's worse, but not at it's best). She always says "how we live is not how we sell." She looks passed the crap. I really like her (although we haven't listed yet). She is super responsive through e-mail and she recommended a handy man to come do some painting and fix a couple things. Let me know if you want her info. I wouldn't feel uncomfortable at all having her over.
Definitely get input from an agent. Clean up what you can. Get rid of stuff! I know you're a working mom, but there's no reason why you can't purge on a weekend.
Having said that, the last house we bought (in 2006) looked like a tornado tore through it. There were toys everywhere and the kitchen could've been condemned. We were able to see past it and made an offer. That was, of course, a different market.
When we sold last year, our house was spotless. No clutter, and you could eat off the floors -- and it took us over a year to sell.
I think most buyers will jump on a house if it's priced right; they won't run away from a great, well-priced house in the right area if there's toys everywhere.
As a buyer it didn't make me walk out of a house but I took it as the current owner's are bursting at the seams, is this place really big enough for our growing family? When I sold I worked full time and had two kids, really tough to keep it spotless and neat at all times but I did stay on top of it and it was a huge help when those showings would pop up without much notice.
Agreed.