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jewelisfabulous

I must have HGTV-itis...

jewelisfabulous
9 years ago

...because I'm guilty of thinking most people know how to prepare a house for sale. A tour of a home this morning tells me I'm very mistaken. Packed full closets, too much furniture in too small of spaces, lots of deferred maintenance, and not particularly clean. I wonder if their realtor hasn't clued them in on properly prepping a house for market or if they've just ignored her advice?

Comments (8)

  • gyr_falcon
    9 years ago

    I agree Jewel, I don't think most people do.

    However, HGTV is not real; the shows are scripted. Buyers have already purchased a home, or at minimum have it under contract, prior to the beginning of filming. Some of the supposedly for-sale homes that get toured are not actually for sale. They belong to friends, family, or just people willing to open their homes to tv cameras. So packed closets don't surprise me during the shows--I just look for design feature ideas to lift and satisfy my curiosity about how homes differ from those in my area. ;)

    On the other hand, I still get amazed at the low quality level of photos, and write -ups, put forth by many agents. Too large of a percentage in my area seem to think that level of professionalism is acceptable. Maybe it is within the industry, but I would be embarrassed if my name were attached to such a shoddy effort! One listing had such laughingly awful photos that I checked out the link to that agent's other listings. His $1,500,000 listing in Newport Beach was almost as bad. Even after much effort, I still cannot understand the why, when just a bit more learnable skill and effort would produce such a vast improvement in quality.

  • jewelisfabulous
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    **However, HGTV is not real; the shows are scripted**

    Yeah, I know that the buying/selling aspects of the home buying shows are scripted and formatted to fit a "formula". I was only referring to all the air time all the different HGTV shows dedicated to staging a house. From what I saw this morning, the sellers must not watch the channel at all.

    This post was edited by Jewel654 on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 14:36

  • gyr_falcon
    9 years ago

    I wonder if differing personalities plays a large part. I am a researcher in project approaches, so I seek to make informed choices by internet, book and articles searches, You-tube videos, asking for input from GW, etc. before deciding upon the best approach. But other folks are the fly by the seat of their pants types. Maybe their way is to just list it as it is and see what happens. I have to admit, their way would be a lot less work. ;)

  • cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
    9 years ago

    i think it is area specific to a degree.
    I left a major metro area where staging and great prep was the norm and moved back to my home town in a... shall we say less sophisticated region.

    If you mention house prep or staging around here people roll their eyes and say that's for fancy people in big cities, not regular folks like us.

    Mark Twain once said "I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because itâÂÂs always 20 years behind." and he knew exactly what he was talking about.

  • weedyacres
    9 years ago

    Yeah, but it's not just staging that so many listing photos lack, it's just all around tidiness. In the small town where I now live, there are only 2 agents that do what I consider the basics in their listings: toilet seats down, clutter off counters (and desks and tables).

    And there are way too many fuzzy, dark, out of focus, or badly angled photos. I agree: it's pretty simple and cheap to just take better photos.

  • western_pa_luann
    9 years ago

    " I was only referring to all the air time all the different HGTV shows dedicated to staging a house. From what I saw this morning, the sellers must not watch the channel at all. "

    And that is a GOOD thing!

    Staging never caught on in my area. It seems no one sees the point to it.
    Here we prefer empty (as cleared out as possible) and clean.

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    I'm with cearbhaill. I'm in a large metro area and am struck by how staged/styled many of the for sale properties are. The houses that sell fast are move-in ready and look very much like HGTV properties, i.e. gray or greige paint, white shaker kitchens, marble/quartz counters, HW floors, staged like straight from a Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware catalog. Or the young professional, espresso cabinets, and IKEA/West Elm catalog.