I'm having some trouble falling asleep tonight. We've had a busy couple days, and I have to work in the morning, so I'm anxious about getting to sleep, but at the same time, I hate waiting in bed for sleep to come.
My throat has been feeling funny all day. I think I'm coming down with Something. I'm not surprised, as I haven't been taking very good care of myself recently - I can blame it on a number of things, but, well...you know.
It's not all bad though. We've had some recent activity in trying to sell our home. No offers yet, but spirits are high at the moment, and in my opinion, you gotta ride the waves, or it's no fun at all.
As I was drying the tub tonight, I realized that I might be a little crazy. After all, I'm drying the tub in preparation for another house showing. Got that? Bone-dry: We all took showers. I went last. Afterward, I stood inside the tub and dried the whole thing with a microfiber towel thingie. It's shiny. Maybe I've seen too many episodes of "Sell This House." Maybe my true calling is home staging.
Here's the way I see it: The market is slow. Buyers can be fickle right now. They don't have a sense of urgency and so they have time to be more critical. There are things about our home we can't control, such as location, age, and size. We can, however, control how it presents itself. I try to put myself in the buyer's shoes. If I'm looking at several homes, with comparable amenities and price points, I'm more likely to form some kind of attachment to the one that seems most cared for, most well-appointed, and clean. And if all things are equal? I'll take the one with the shiniest tub.
So, besides the obvious cleaning, de-cluttering, and de-personalizing, here's some details I have focused on since our house went on the market - you decide if I am indeed crazy:
-All sinks and fixtures shiny and...you guessed it - dry.
-I also waxed our tub. With car wax. It helps it stay cleaner longer.
-Paint on scuffed walls has been retouched.
-Asked my realtor do the hotel-style toilet paper fold, because I forgot
-Dish rack and sponge and dish soap stashed away (sparse counter top)
-Fresh cut flowers (from the property)
-Lemons and green grapes, arranged in a bowl for the kitchen table
-Perfect towel folding
-Handles, knobs, and hinges polished
-"Where's their TV?" Mwahahaha. What TV? We only read, mostly from the Western canon. OK, OK maybe not so much...I'm just closing the doors of the armoire. But it was enough to make a visitor wonder where the TV was.
-I go through every room and ask, "Might someone mistake this for Pottery Barn?"
Clearly, we are far from it, but it's a good guiding question. I'm not even trying to make you laugh.
-My good friend is pet-sitting the kitty. Traces of our feline pet are obliterated.
-I don't just make the beds - I style them.
-Toys are a fact. We have a child. I won't disrupt his life. But, they are clean, organized and contained in one area of the family room, and in his room. No toy migration is tolerated during this period.
-Plants are perfectly angled to maximize their planty goodness. I don't know what this really means, but I know it when it's right.
-I asked my husband to cut some wood, randomly, on his table saw, because it makes the basement smell good and crafty. As in craft-oriented.
-I looked up some articles on the psychology of colors and home staging. Yellow is cheerful and supposedly puts people in a shopping-positive mood. I have potted marigolds, as suggested.
Finally, this may be determining piece of evidence in my crazy trial: Someone of the Catholic faith, Superstitious Italian Sector, (and not in my family!) told me that St. Joseph is supposed to be the go-to Saint for home selling. Don't you love how there's a Saint for every problem? You're supposed to place a St. Joseph statue in your home or on your property. I put my mom on the case. She produced for me her very own St. Joseph figurine. Of course she did. He is nestled discreetly on my bookshelf near the front entrance. Should I put on my own restraints, or are you sending someone?
5 comments:
And I'm commenting on my own post, first. Give me a break, it's 1 am.
The toilet paper fold...my realtor knew exactly what to do. He's a professor in the hospitality department at the college where I work. I like that combo and he rocks.
I also know the toilet paper fold, having spent a summer cleaning cabins in Yellowstone. I have to admit I wouldn't have gone that far, though I did jokingly suggest that our custodian do it at school recently.
Well... someone of the Catholic (susperstitious Irish Sector - a.k.a. my parents) always buried the St. Joseph statue. Apparently, just having it your home is not enough. Google it... I can't remember all the rules - but it's something like bury it face down with the feet of the statue facing a certain direction...
And if you actually do that, I'll believe you have lost your mind.
Oh, and they've sold bunches of houses, in case that adds any validity to it for you... they were slumlords in Syracuse for awhile. I don't know how many statues they buried... but I do know that they definitely buried one at the house I grew up in :)
Beth - I heard conflicting info on the burying. One person told me to, but my parents were like "OMG never bury a saint!" So I played it safe...but we'll see how it goes :)
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