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Category Archives: Home Staging

Carol Saves the Day at Villa Park

You may remember our Villa Park casita, where Anita and I lived last year, and which had the most disaster-fraught renovation in history. We rebuilt this little house completely, saving only the shell of the outside (the city required we keep the dimensions and roofline). We even installed a new, real, foundation to replace the three slabs with no rebar and no plumbing it previously had.

We had a hard time renting it out last year, because we were unable to stage it once we moved to the Bobcat Lair, and people being unhappy that it shared the yard with the house in front. But, when we did get a fence and all that, we got some really great renters who were settling in nicely. One of them even got an award at the local elementary school.

Unfortunately, the other renter got a great job promotion that required moving to scenic Bentonville, Arkansas (there are other companies besides Wal-Mart there). We certainly didn’t want to force them to stay, so Carol jumped on getting it rented again.

Why it worked this time

We were motivated, because if we couldn’t get it rented, the renters would have to pay until we did, but if we rented it quickly, their initial deposit would cover that. Carol got to work and made this nice Facebook ad:

You get a screenshot, because I can’t make it play here.

Click the link to see it live, I hope.

https://www.facebook.com/BigAustinHome/videos/1800913923318570/

We all shared it everywhere we possibly could. People lined up to see the space (literally, four families went to see it in 15-minute intervals), and it was rented in just a few days to some other fine folks with no kids and no pets! Hooray!

It worked because the tenants had decorated the casita nicely, which showed how well it “lived.” The current tenants cleaned it up (they were motivated) to perfection, so people just loved the place.

That’s a real lesson to remember: staging truly helps sell or rent houses. I now really wish I’d done a better job the first time.

We sure appreciate Carol’s hard work to get the casita rented so fast! Lee and I won’t even notice a drop in our cash flow. Win!

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What? Open Floor Plans Have Flaws?

These convenient double doors allow us to ban the canines from the room with the good furniture in it, so I can retreat and relax in a space that doesn’t resemble a doggie daycare.

You may have noticed that we don’t always make completely open floor plans in houses we renovate. Sometimes that’s because of budget issues, but sometimes it’s because we really feel like a house needs a separate room or two. How come?

There are lots of reasons.

  • Perhaps you’d like a separate, quiet space for reading or studying.
  • Maybe, like us, you have dogs that you’d like to easily confine to just one part of the house (at the Hermits’ Rest house, the den and guest room are easily closed off, as is the master, leaving the very sturdy great room for the pups).
  • You might want to listen to music, or perform music without the echoes of a huge room with hard walls and floors.
  • Or, you could be a messy cook (I solved that problem at the ranch house by putting a bar-height wall between the kitchen and the living/dining area, so you see the pretty cabinets and backsplash, but not the dishes that haven’t been washed yet.

The Academics Have Also Noticed!

Apparently, we aren’t the only ones rethinking the beloved open concept concept. Lee sent me this link to a very recent article by Ian Bogost (he’s a professor of media stuff!) in The Atlantic, called The Curse of an Open Floor Plan.

In practice, open-plan design has always been a stage to a quiet struggle between freedom and servitude.
Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, May 17, 2018

This article provides a great, scholarly introduction to how open floor plans came to be common in the twentieth century, with architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and others leading the way. It also pointed out that kitchen access in 60s suburban plans wasn’t originally to showcase your white cabinets and backsplash, but so Mom could keep an eye on the kids while she toiled away in her “domain.”

Continue reading →

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Can Curb Appeal Go too Far?

deck

This deck added a lot of curb appeal to the Lakeland house.

There are a couple of reasons I’ve been thinking about curb appeal lately. One is that a friend got into a bidding war over a suburban house that was builder-grade on the inside, but had an amazing back yard paradise, and a beautifully designed front yard, too. People were falling in love with that setup.

I began to wonder whether the potential buyers had thought about the maintenance that koi pond, gazebo, bird house collection, and dramatic planting collection was going to require. I know my friends were aware, but I bet a lot of people just thought the curb appeal was magic.

But It’s Good to Have a Garden, Right?

We’d just received a request to link to an article from the Loyal Gardener blog, on reasons why having a garden will sell your house. That also got me thinking. The gardeners make a lot of sense, because of course beautiful and well maintained plantings add value to a house, entice potential buyers, and increase home values. I’m not arguing with that.

But, sometimes curb appeal attempts can backfire. Here’s what I’ve observed:

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Who Needs Staging? Probably You

The perfect accessories make this bathroom in Oakridge inviting.

If you are a human being of a “certain age,” and if you have looked at houses for sale in the past few years, you may have noticed a change. Back in the olden days of yore (like the twentieth century), people did one of two things when they put their homes on the market:

  1. They cleaned them really well and got rid of random junk. Then they mowed the yard.
  2. They moved out, then cleaned the house up. If they had a room painted by a teenager, they painted it white.

After that, an agent showed people houses, or people called your agent to see the house, and it got sold. You then moved into a new house, which you fixed up to your own taste.

Not Today

Today, if you want to sell a house at retail (not the ones WE are looking for), people feel compelled to do so much more. They put most of their things in storage, especially anything that makes it look like an actual family lives there, they replace anything in the house that is over 5 years old, because it might bring the dreaded word “dated” to the lips of potential buyers, and of course they paint every surface a neutral color, and if possible, remove anything resembling carpet in the house. You then put strategically placed objects around the house to make it appealing. That’s called staging.

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Oakridge Is Popularity Plus!

Nice, fresh exterior shot.

After less than a week on the market, the Oakridge house has proved to be very popular. Lots of people shared the link to it over social media, which warmed my heart, and we even got good comments. We also got much better photos for the virtual tour, so even if you’ve already seen it, you should look again! They make ME want to buy the house, especially with that back yard.

The best thing is how much interest there has been on the part of buyers! We’re happy to say that we officially have a great full-price offer on the house, plus a full-price backup. Inspections and appraisals are scheduled, so we’re into the waiting period.

Of course, as we all know, deals fall through. So if you know anyone who is interested, we’d be happy to look into more backup offers.

Sitting here in the spring or fall, with the little heater going, enjoying the pond…that would be great.

Psst

And hey, do you have a house for us to buy? We are still looking. Some leads, but nothing great.

Call us at 512-807-8777 if you have something in mind!

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