Archive for the 'Furnishings' Category
I Love My Table
Buyers have different “deal breakers” when it comes to searching for the right house. Sometimes they must have a garage. Sometimes they need a fourth bedroom. Sometimes the yard has to be a certain size. And sometimes they just need to find a dining room large enough to hold their dining room table and 10 chairs.
The last “deal breaker” might seem like a unique one, but it’s really not uncommon for buyers to pass on a house because it won’t accommodate their furnishings. Right now I’m working with a buyer that enjoys entertaining and they really love their dining room table. It’s a substantial size and has been in the family for awhile, so we must find a dining room where it will fit comfortably. Buying a different table is not an option that they would consider and I really can’t blame them.
In this case, room size becomes the determining factor. But in other examples I’ve seen, room layout becomes an issue. Earlier this year, I showed a very charming house that had lots of windows in all of the bedrooms and a few of the bedrooms also had doorways out to sleeping porches. Furniture layout in these rooms was clearly an issue, even for the current owner. There wasn’t enough wall space to place a double bed flush against the wall, the bed was oriented kitty-corner to the wall. A dresser was blocking a doorway to the sleeping porch, simply because there was nowhere else for it to go. Those buyers liked the rest of the house, but decided to pass because they felt the bedrooms weren’t furniture friendly.
A final classic example is when a stairway to the second floor does not offer enough clearance to fit a queen sized (or larger) mattress. Hopefully if you’re a buyer with a queen sized mattress, you figure this out before you’ve closed on the property. When I’m showing houses, I try to keep a close eye on bed sizes when we’re looking at the bedrooms. If I don’t see any queen beds I’ll make sure I check the clearance on the stairs. If it seems like it will be a tight or impossible fit getting the mattress up the stairs, I’ll ask the seller’s agent to check with the sellers to see if it is actually possible to fit a larger mattress up the stairs. It’s often overlooked, but important to most buyers. This was a practice I picked up when I was working with a buyer that had a king sized bed. Bedroom size and stair clearance was an issue in many homes for them, so we were always checking on this.
As a seller, there is not much you can do about a buyer’s existing furnishings and how they’d fit in your home. But what you can do is to arrange your furniture in a manner that shows a room as functional and make it look as spacious as possible. Your agent or a stager should be able to help you with this and put your home in its best light. Your home still might not work for the buyer with the dining room table requirement, but will hopefully be more appealing to the majority of buyers that see it.
West End Weekend
Won’t you visit my neighborhood in the West End of Hartford this weekend? We’re having a host of activities and surely there will be something to make everyone smile.
Kick off your weekend yummy-style Friday on your way home from work. Stop by the United Methodist Church at the corner of South Whitney and Farmington Avenue from 4-7 for the season’s first West End Farmer’s Market. Partake in the (free) Strawberry Shortcake Festival and support some local farmers by purchasing produce, breads, and meats for your weekend meals.
On Saturday, from 9-2, be on the lookout for bargains and come to our first annual West End Neighborhood Tag Sale. Tons of families will be participating. You’ll be sure to find some treasures, and it’s a great opportunity to admire some of the fine architecture in the West End. Kyle and I will be selling some of our stuff, so cruise down Oxford Street and try to find us.
Free items for you if you say “I read your blog!”
On Saturday and/or Sunday, stop by Elizabeth Park for the Annual Rose Weekend Festival. It’s running both days from 11-4. Check out the rose gardens, perennial gardens, annual gardens, arts and crafts, and other activities. Just don’t feed the ducks!
Making Your Home Your Own
I ran into a neighbor the other day and our conversation went along the lines of this:
Neighbor: Hey, I have a real estate question for you. Now, I’m not looking to sell my home, but I’ve heard that having a lot of books is bad. Is that true?
[Side note: many of my neighbors and friends preface their real estate questions with "I'm not looking to sell my home" whenever they ask me a question. Really folks, I am not some idiotic, blood sucking agent. I don't mind giving advice or my opinion without forcing you to sign your home away. See this blog? I just like talking about real estate, no strings attached. Back to the story...]
Amy: A lot of books are bad? You’ll have to expand a little more. Reading is generally a good thing.
Neighbor: Well, I have this friend and an agent told them that having a lot of books is generally frowned upon.
Amy: Uh, are the books of an unacceptable nature or something along those lines? Is their house entirely cluttered with books?
Neighbor: I’m not sure. It’s just that my wife and I are thinking about turning one of our bedrooms into a library. You know how these [West End] houses are, they have 5 bedrooms. We’d like to fill one of them with bookshelves and books. But then my wife heard that having a lot of books is not good.
Amy: Ah, okay. Now I understand. Here’s the deal, if you’re selling your house, it’s best to declutter as much as possible. You want buyers to focus on your house, not your stuff. The agent was probably telling your friend that a lot of books are bad because they may become a distraction to a buyer or they’ve lost the purpose of a room that they should be displaying in another way.
Neighbor: So making a library room in our house would be okay?
Amy: Yes, you’re perfectly fine making one of your bedrooms into a library. It’s your house. You live there. Enjoy it and use it however you want. If you decide you eventually want to sell your house, you may need to pack up your books and return the room to its original purpose. But for now, live in your house however you like and use the space in a way that fits your lifestyle. Make sense?
Neighbor: Great, thanks for the advice.
Amy: You’re welcome. Enjoy the day.
I am a fan of staging, but if you’re living in your house with no intention of selling, live in your house. Heck, I have an extra bedroom in my house that’s used as my closet because our master bedroom has inadequate closet space. Would I leave it that way if I were selling my house? Heck no! But I live in my house and that’s its highest and best use right now.
Don’t become paralyzed by HGTV perfection. Enjoy your home and live in it in a way that suits your lifestyle!