looks very nice. Maybe a few less photos and knicknacks. And remove (hide) the catbox.

Oh my I think it looks fantastic as is. I love your home! I definitely would get rid of the cat box and any animal food dishes. Don't let there be a chance the animals get into the pro pics and take them out of the house if at all possible when showing. I have asthma and even if your home smells delicious, just seeing a dogfood dish (psychologically) would turn me off. And that's from someone who LOVES your home!

Lovely home! I'm envious! The family room looks a little "side" heavy with the sofa and the leather chair all on the same side...I would suggest rearranging the furniture if possible. Is there room to move the sofa so it is facing the fireplace and then put the chairs on the window side? or possibly switching the smaller living room chairs with the bigger leather recliners? The living room looks sparce and the family room has too much.
Would also recommend hiding the litter box as well, and probably removing the scatter rugs in the kitchen.

I'd remove the pictures. All of them! Other than that, looks great :-) I like your colour scheme, but others might not.

beautiful house!

Your living room is pretty bold & dramatic, & the pictures are pastels, so I think I'd change them out for something more bold, but I wouldn't remove all the pictures.

I think bare walls make a house look vacant.

Even builders put pictures on the walls.

You might ask the photographer, but I think I'd hide the kitchen mats/rugs;
the more expanse of beautiful floor, the better.

When the photographer comes, & when you have showings, turn off the tv & hide your dishtowel & wine bottle (or whatever that is on the counter) & the big plastic bins.

Your house is gorgeous! I think it would probably be great as-is but since you asked....

Dining room: I would remove the candles next to the windows. They distract from a great selling feature (windows) in the photos (you could put them back after the photos are taken).

I see that the room with the two chairs and the bookcase is a living room but I only knew that because you labeled it. I would consider staging that more like an actual living room to suggest more of a use for it--or at least consider that. I might also move the chairs from their location against the wall and move them more into the room a little bit.

Family room: I would remove the leather chair in the corner next to the fireplace (at least for the photos). If you need it to live, then stick it back after they come take photos. Also, is the rug centered? it looks a little off somehow. Check it and see what you think.

Kitchen: I would remove the rugs for the photos. Then you can put them back. Gorgeous kitchen.

Eat-in area: Some kind of centerpiece (white flowers in a simple vase?) for the photos.

Powder room: I would remove the little towel holder with the wash cloth on it for the photo. Then try switching the candle (is that what that is?) to the right of the faucet with the hand soap dispenser to balance out the tall vase a little. See how that looks.

Definitely remove all evidence of pets at least for the photos.

It looks great! You could just put it on as-is and I'm sure it'd be fine. Lovely home!!

Great suggestions from all! And thanks for the kind words about the house, we like it (now if only we could pick it up and move closer to my new job). For some background, it is a standard midwest suburban 1990 home. We loved the bones and big windows and some of the features when we bought it. We've lived here for 8 years and did a bit of updating along the way to make it look more custom and less builder grade, so it is good to know that other people appreciate that. Here is the outside (mother nature helped today with the backdrop, but we pretty it up with flowers in the spring). To be honest, I am not super crazy about the curb appeal, but I don't know what can be done in the winter.

Now here are a couple of changes based on suggestions....

For the living room, we actually had a rug down with the chairs moved more inward, but removed the rug to highlight the wood floors and then the chairs just got pushed against the wall when they were put back. That room isn't very big, so I don't know if I could put anything in there, plus to me the draw of the room is the arched doorways (which does make staging the room more complicated). I did move the chairs forward a bit and took a couple of other pics to show the dimensions more. Plus I took the majority of the personal photos down, but that shelf could probably stand to be pared down a bit more I think.

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Family room - we took out one of those black chairs along the far window wall. I like it much better. Took down the pictures on the shelf. My concern about taking the wall hanging pics down is that the holes in the wall will show! I could take up the rug, again to highlight the floors, but I think in the family room, it adds a nice softness. What do you think? I don't really have any backup artwork to add, I could look around for something else for showings, but don't know if I can get that done for the pics!

I will definitely hide evidence of the pets, ditch the candles in the dining room, pull up the throw rugs, turn off the tvs, and pick up misc. stuff for the pics. I was also planning on stopping tomorrow for some fresh flowers for the centerpiece but didn't give them a chance to wilt on me.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I want pics that will get people in the door and think staging properly will certainly help with that. I'll move on to the upstairs in a bit..... this is exhausting.

Ok, moving on to the upstairs, which hasn't gotten quite as updated or decorated. We are planning on getting new carpet, so while that won't be done for the pics, hopefully it will be for the showings.

Master bedroom

Guest Room- I think maybe we should take out the TV and stand

Office - not sure what can be done here, we decluttered the best we could

And extra bedroom that would make a great nursery. We currently use it as an exercise room (just noticed the cat bed, we'll get rid of that and the stuffed bear)

I don't like the tv next to the fireplace in the family room. No suggestion on where to put it, but takes away from the fireplace.
Great looking house and nicely decorated.

I agree I don't like the TV, and don't like the plant on the mantel. Remove all the scrawny plants.
Move the palm closer to the wall.
I also don't like the red stripe on the ceiling, I'd keep it white.

Oh, the TV. Well, when we went tv shopping my one requirement be that it was not bigger than the fireplace, my husband's one requirement be that it be as big as possible. Guess who won. I am afraid that this will be a non-negotiable thing unless we sell our house in....say....1 hour. I probably should have turned it off for the pics since I think it is less obtrusive that way. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking. Just say we did move it out only for the pics, would you recommend moving the TV stand too? Because what would be left would be a jumble of wires. And if not the TV, I am not sure what should be placed on the stand. Ideas?

The red stripe is a tray ceiling, when we painted it I thought that it accentuated the depth, but maybe there is too much contrast? The plants can all be moved.

I must say that this has been a very great exercise. The things you don't "see" when you look at it every day! I'll quote myself "I don't really have any backup artwork to add, I could look around for something else for showings, but don't know if I can get that done for the pics!", then when I was looking at pics I realized a switcheroo would help.

I think this looks better here, while the pastels of the prints from the living room perfectly compliment the colors in the master bedroom. Thank you for the suggestions, this has been ever so helpful!
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This post was edited by kellienoelle on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 21:00

On the tray ceilings, the whole thing should be painted white. The stripes of colors distract the eye, not accent the height.

Start packing up the knicknacks. Almost every room has too many of them. Nothing smaller than a basketball should remain. It gives a too busy look. For larger accessories, no more than 3 large ones per viewpoint.

Swap out the black chairs in the family room with the grey chairs in the living room. They are smaller scale and will help the family room appear more spacious. Get rid of the rug in the family room. It's pattern is too visually busy. And get rid of the leaning shelf and all of its contents entirely. And the bookcase in the living room. It's the wrong scale and will be too dark with the black chairs transplanted.

What's missing in some of the rooms is crown molding. The inconsistancy is what will look odd to people. If the home had full on modern bones, then no crown would be fine. Or a simple crown in all rooms. But, some with and some without looks unfinished, like you ran out of money. It's a project that I would get some quotes on pronto.

Also, even in the lesser used rooms like the office and guest room could benefit from the softness of some fabric around the windows. Not to obscure them, just to add some softness and detail.

And although I love the home's colors, some won't. Be prepared to paint over the darker colors if you get feedback that indicates that it's a turnoff. One thing to help to counteract the impression is to go through the whole home and up the wattage in all of your light bulbs. Fixtures are rated by the amount of wattage that incandescent bulbs put out, and compact fluorescents (DAYLIGHT CF's!) can be "upgraded" to a higher equivalent wattage without damaging the fixture. So, for fixtures that say 40 watt max, use 60 watt equivalent fluorescents. For 60 watts, use 100 watt fluorescent equivalents. Etc. And make sure that ever single light in the home is on for the pictures as well as every showing that you have.

The thing you most need to consider is pricing. Adding updated features like your lovely kitchen will help with market appeal, but it won't really add a huge amount of value to the home for a buyer. Don't make the mistake of doing the "Whatever I spent in renovations gets added to the home's base price in added value." That's a HGTV myth. If you live in a neighborhood of 250K homes, and have spent 80K over time "upgrading" the home, then you might be lucky to get 270 for the home. The most determinant feature for pricing your home is it's overall location, i.e. region of the country. Location within the region/zipcode is second for pricing. Location within the zipcode/neighborhood is third. Condition is fourth. Amenities are fifth. Yes, location, location, location, is trite. But, it's true.

Thanks for all the feedback GreenDesign. I will certainly take all your suggestions to heart. So, about the crown molding, funny that you never notice the distribution is inconsistent when you live with it. I can see adding it to the kitchen (as the entire rest of the first floor has it), and honestly probably should have considered that when we remodeled. Not sure how to tie in crown with the existing ceiling cabinets though, but worth looking into. But do you think it is necessary throughout the upper floor? Not sure it would be worth it to add to, say, the office. Upstairs, only the master bedroom has the crown (which feels appropriate) , but not the other three rooms or the hallway. They don't have the taller ceilings of the first floor. Hmmmm, this is a nice neighborhood, but not one where crown molding throughout would be a deal breaker.

I see what you are saying about the paint scheme, we like it but maybe too bold. I'll wait for feedback there and pray to have somebody who appreciates or looks past it (the main living space looks yellow in the pics, but in reality it is a pretty neutral beige - SW Ivoire). It's funny, we bought this house when it was entirely sponge-painted and just changed it to what we liked, but I do know that some people can't overlook such a simple thing.

I'll try swapping the black chairs from the family room with the blue from the living room and see how it looks. The black chairs are pretty large, so I think that they may be too large scale for the small room and block too much of the architecture (arched doorway). Of course, I may be saying that because I am used to seeing things as is. I also worry about the black not looking good with the dark walls (again, I could also just paint the same neutral color as the family room).

I had been debating the rug in the family room since I do love the look of hard wood floors, and again the boldness may put some people off. If I take it up (since it is so large), do you think it will look too "cold"? This is a family neighborhood and I wanted somebody to imagine their kids playing in there. I unfortunately don't have a less graphic rug to put in it's place.

I'll check into the lightbulbs, that is a good suggestion. I can look into some inexpensive sheers for the windows. And declutter, although that feels empty to me, I do understand that how you show isn't how you live.

We are being realistic in price. I think anyway, I guess time will tell. Our REA lives in the neighborhood and she suggested exactly what I had in mind. What I have said is I know I won't get every single cent out of the upgrades we have put in, but I hope it makes a potential buyer choose mine over my neighbors!

by the way, I mentioned the TV thing to my husband and showed him the picture. He agreed it would look better without! But still isn't willing to move it out. Maybe I'll start picking away at him and wear him down.

This post was edited by kellienoelle on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 22:35

I'd dress up the master bedroom a bit. Your bedding set doesn't say "inviting and relaxing" and it looks more like it belongs in a kid's room. Buy a new set, in something that coordinates with the (mint green?) walls, and make sure the comforter goes down further on the sides and covers up the box spring. Also, it looks like you're storing something under the bed...move it elsewhere. And replace the red, white and blue shade with something more master bedroom-like.

I think you're ok with not having crown in every room. And the bold colors look fine if your decor fits in with it. Where it really screams is in an empty house, because then the colors are a lot starker and without context. I also like the bookcase on the wall between the FR and the kitchen. I think it goes well in that space.

The living room looks sparse, like you couldn't figure out exactly how to furnish it, and you don't want potential buyers to face the same awkward dilemma. Could you borrow a grand piano and stage it as a music room? :-) What about moving the TV and stand into the LR, along with the brown leather chairs from the FR, and make it a den. Then put the LR chairs in the FR (or the Master BR).

The most important thing to do is de-clutter and clean, clean clean. Touch up the dings on the baseboards, scrub the tile grout with a toothbrush, get all the nooks and crannies spotless.

Maybe I could swap the beddings from the master and the guest room. The gray in the guest room is more elegant, and the bright colors, bumble bees, butterflies, and flowers from the master (that I must admit, i love) could read perfect for a kid's room!

I'll suggest moving the TV into the living room. that may solve two problem areas.

Short of a piano, is there anything else that you would recommend adding to the living room? We had some other chairs in there that were larger scale, but I didn't like them. We ordered these, and do agree that they are bit on the light side. I will fully admit that this is a room that we never use so I am not sure how to show somebody all the ways it can! I do have an extra green sofa in the basement, maybe I could try that out tomorrow after work .

Speaking of basement, it does have a partially finished roomy basement that has a couch, TV, pool table, and ping pong table down there. It certainly isn't "finished" but could be a fun area for kids as well as adults to play. It isn't completely redone (that sponge-painting I referred to earlier), but could offer a fun escape for both kids and adults to play games, watch the game, etc. I'll post pics of that tomorrow. However, we aren't willing to put in too much extra money and effort down there. Obviously we would be open to cheap and easy suggestions for change.

This post was edited by kellienoelle on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 23:34

I initially suggested swapping the chairs from the family room to the living room, but I like weedyacres suggestion of also moving the tv to the living room. I think the leather chairs and the tv will make an inviting room to watch TV. A sofa might be too large for the space in the living room. The smaller chairs will go well with your family room decor and the fireplace as that reads more "formal" to me.

I agree that the the TV should be moved. Your fireplace is beautiful and cozy, but the TV just takes away any WOW factor I would have felt upon seeing it. Makes me want to leave the room to search for "the wow" somewhere else. I'm very visual and look for a somewhat-sparsely decorated, soothing, balanced atmosphere, and the fireplace is an important element to catch the eye of your buyers. DH may have to consider that his sacrifice may help attain a faster sale.

Make it simple for the buyers who do not have strong imaginations to see how great your house is; those who can't picture what they would do with the space, but want to imagine themselves living in a tidy, great space. Meet my need for homey comfort, plus the subtle idea that I can live "better" in this house and I'll get emotionally attached much more easily.

Your wall colors are mostly updated neutrals with style and personality, though I agree with others that the red may have to go. The red is really the ONLY color to which I reacted negatively after seeing your neutrals. The brown is rich and cozy like creamy hot chocolate in the winter. Use accessories to add color to a room with neutral paint. Accessories can be changed more easily.

Neutral, solid-colored curtains, not just sheers, would soften bedroom windows and add a luxurious factor that blinds do not. Your master needs plush, luxury bedding and curtains to match your nice furniture. January is a great time to achieve the luxury look with many linen sales! Avoid busy florals in favor of a slightly masculine look.

Add medium and large potted plants with tan or grey river rocks covering the soil. It adds texture and nature to any room. Dried or silk flowers might need to go, as it's a trend that has largely passed and usually takes away from an updated look. Small plants may need to go, too, if they add visual clutter.

For showings you could get a simple $10 flower bouquet at the grocery store to add to vases on small table in the room with two chairs and in the formal dining room.

The small amount of "clutter" I see can be pared down, keeping just enough to add drama, yet soothe the eye. It also allows people to take in the important details of the house. You have a good eye for furniture and wall colors, so you have a huge head start! Your goal is to cater to the emotions and needs of your buyers without going over budget. They want to do as little work as possible when moving in.

Thanks for sharing your pictures! Your house is very nice and I wish you a quick sale!

This isn't what you asked for, but I do have to mention the living room. As a buyer, if I read in the description that there's a living room and a family room, I would expect two separate rooms, one where the parents can sit and talk and read while not being bothered by the noise of the kids in the family room elsewhere in the house. So from the start, the way your living room is so open to the family room would be a surprise, and not a good one.

But I'm not sure I'd even recognize your living room as a living room. Right now, it has the atmosphere of a waiting room, with just the two chairs side by side. As a PP mentioned, it looks as if you don't know what to do with the space and it has no purpose.

I don't know what other furniture you might have in the house, but I'd consider either moving the TV into that space, or getting a lower, coffee table height table and putting it in the middle of the room. Then move some chairs around the table, making it look like a place for grownups to sit and chat over a cup of coffee or a drink.

Or turn it into a cozy reading nook. Fill the bookcase with books, put in two comfortable reading chairs with arms and maybe a footstool, a floor lamp and side tables.

In a room like this, you can "block" the archways a little bit. You don't put furniture in the archway (although Martha Stewart did in one of her homes), but a few feet in front of the archway. People walk around the perimeter of the room to get from one room to the other, instead of walking through the center of the room.

I really like the rest of your house. The warm colors, the windows, the daylight--they're all great. But the living room looks more like a hallway or foyer than a living room.

You have done a good job so far. I would also get rid of the scatter rugs, put away a few more things that are sitting out on the kitchen counter, put away all photographs and collections such as the one on the shelves in the bedroom, declutter the living room shelving unit, and for showings and pictures turn on all lights and lamps. Your front looks welcoming for a winter photo, but if you could maybe put two large pots on your porch or steps with either an evergreen in each or something flowering (I know, freezing there) it might help.

Upstairs carpet--it looks fine. I would get it professionally cleaned and then have a carpet installer restretch it wherever it needs it. It is a nice, neutral color, so just fix it up unless you have wood floors upstairs and you want to remove the carpet to expose them.

Well, change in plan. We put the offer in on the house we wanted, they countered at full asking price with a clause that they would continue to show and had the ability to accept other offers during our contract period while tried to sell our house. We walked away because that doesn't sound like somebody who is willing to negotiate.

But the biggest issue was prior to hearing this we had a health scare with my mother who lives a thousand miles away, she may need to have surgery. My mind just wasn't in the "game" anymore. We are holding off listing for now until we find out what is going on.

On the positive, you guys have given tons of helpful advice! We got a lot of things done so when we do decide the time is right we are already halfway there. And that gives us more time and less pressure to make some changes! We are sad because the house we bid on was really speaking to us, but who knows, maybe it will either still be around or we'll find something better when we are ready. Many thanks to all who took the time to respond, I value the opinions and will file them away!

Getting financing is pretty difficult these days. If I were the seller, I wouldn't pull it off of the market either for an offer as it might not pan out for financing to occur. Since the buyers bank can continue to keep buyers on a string right up until closing, an actual sale isn't sure to happen until AFTER it's closed. Keeping it on the market protects them in case that happens. That's NOT unreasonable on their part. Your offer is contingent upon the sale of your home, which puts you in a position of weakness, not strength. And that's also reasonable of them to counter with a full price offer as it could take years to sell your home in some markets. Yes, years.

If you are truly house hunting, then you need to get the house on the market ASAP and potentially be prepared to carry two mortgages at once if you are financially able to do so. Otherwise, you are premature in your house offer. And that's just what the seller basically told you with countering with the full price offer and keeping on showing it. You have to look at things from the seller's point of view. You're not a cash offer. You have a burdensome contingency. And you don't have financing lined up yet either. Of course they are going to keep their options open!

If you ARE really interested in this house, then keep negotiations open. And get that house on the market! Price it aggressively, so that you actually sell it in a matter of weeks and not years, and you can still possibly make this deal work.

I hear what you are saying. To me it is a business transaction. Their counter was telling me they think the house is worth asking, I am responding saying I am not willing to pay that so let's not waste each others time. Maybe our market is different but there isn't much inventory out there and we have seen everything available within our parameters. Probably nobody wanted to be listed over the holiday (can you blame them). I am hoping that will change in the next couple of weeks or so.

Our financing is pretty set (we are pre approved at least and I know getting a loan won't be an issue) but I am pretty conservative, so won't carry two mortgages. I completely understand why people would be hesitant about a contingency, but on the flip side this is also a non-negotiable for me. Actually with our current house the sellers wouldnt accept our contingency so we sold our house, then came back and bought it for less, so i worked out. I do understand the market is different this time around. Fortunately a move is not an absolute must. While I would prefer a five minute commute, 45 minutes for a few months won't kill me. We'll probably list in the next month. Our neighborhood also has little inventory (only 1 house for sale and frankly ours is better) so I may be making a mistake by not jumping on that now but I want to make sure we know what is going on with my mom before adding another stressor.

Remove the large picture from the fireplace mantle. It draws attention to your low ceilings, which is a negative.

the living room or family room or whatever you call it. It's small. Or it seems small. Maybe remove the coffee table from that room. That would help alot.

Possibly rearrange the furniture in that room in other ways to make the room seem larger. It's very nice as-is, but you want to make that room appear as large as possible.

The rest of the home is lovely. It should sell fast. My guess is that your lookers will comment that the family room is too small and that is what will keep some from buying the place.

The home you make an offer on. You can always go back later if it is still available and make an offer close to yours. Or you can consider removing the contingency for selling your home. Worse case scenerio - you hold the note on 2 homes at same time. Your place should sell quickly so this should not be much of an issue for you IF you can qualify for a mortgage while still owning/selling the current home. They have bridge loans for this. Maybe worth looking into?

You can push the closing on the other home 60 or 75 days if you can to give you extra time to sell your home (even if no home sale contingency on home you are buying.)

Get rid of the tvs and any extraneous things on the floors just for the photos. Get rid of the exercise equipment for the photo because it makes the room look tiny.
Presumably the pro photographer will know how to light because right now everything looks dark and gloomy.

I am actually thinking that this "setback" may be a positive as it allows we time to implement some of these changes!

Sweet_tea, the ceilings in the family room are actually 11 feet, so I don't think that my photos are doing any favors! I think maybe one thing that I could do to make the room seem larger is get rid of the rug, I keep going back and forth on that. The room is 19'6" x 15'5", so not huge, but it isn't too small. Maybe since the sectional is flanking the rug, it is pulling the room in. I keep flip flopping between the rug adding softness vs. being too bold and now making the room look smaller.

I am afraid of a bridge loan, I won't lie. I have hopes this house will sell fast, but I don't want to act like I know the current real estate market so would rather miss out on this house than get in over my head. Sure, we could float 2 mortgages for a few months, but I am sure lots of people had that same thought before the market sort of bottomed out and they found themselves in a tough situation. I am probably conservative to a fault actually

I think your house is beautiful!

When you are ready to sell, keep in mind you just need enough photos so the buyer is intrigued, feels they have a good idea if the layout/size/condition meet their needs, and wants to see the house. Don't need to show every single angle.

Some random thoughts:

Family room- Personally I like the rug. You could go either way & it's not easy to store. Esp. in winter, I would leave the cozy rug.
Love the shot taken facing the sectional. It keeps the tv out of the frame. Really really don't like the angle in family room taken towards kitchen. TV is what it is. If it must end up in pic, at least turn off, but I would just keep it out of pics, even temp. move, at all costs. Showings are different.

Kitchen-Minimize accessories on that top shelf over coffee maker. Move coffee maker so you're not looking at the cord. Towels are pretty but detract from oven..would remove. I like the rugs, maybe remove just one? Replace wooden bowl on island with 1-2 petite flower arrangements. Subtle.

Nook--LOVE the angle looking over table out the windows, and I really hate the reverse shot aiming over table into house. Some shots are just better visually than others, and you only need one to showcase that area.

Masterbedroom-just generally needs to feel more luxurious. Another area where the camera angle is going to be critical. Try from a bunch of angles. I also really notice the lack of a second nightstand..looks kind of unfinished. Would you consider getting something new or moving a piece from another room just for the photo?

Area over desk in office needs some artwork. Feels stark. Could be cheap...frame some calendar pages, maybe even some small decorative shelves? Just something.

Obviously move exercise bike out of room for photo.

Living room-Tough call. I would play with diff. furniture arrangements for showings, see what works. Try to get one good picture, don't post more.

Assuming you plan to show shots of all bathrooms. Very important.

Obviously get rid of/hide anything animal related.

I think if you're priced right you'll have no trouble selling. Your house looks great! Good Luck!!

Beautiful home - though I'm sure the one you are buying is beautiful too! Congratulations.

I'm not a fan of the TVs. I would actually remove them for the pictures, though I may be too late.

This is a great idea! I may give this a go.

IMO, that sectional is too large for the family room and that is what is making the room look small. It's the chaise portion that seems so big. That chaise also appears to block the flow from the family room into the kitchen.

Is there any way you can remove the chaise from the sectional? Then you'll have the loveseat/sofa but with one end that is unfinished. Maybe you can put something next to the unfinished end of the sofa to hide it.

I agree with the above poster... I like the rug in the family room. The rug doesn't seem make the room seem smaller.

It's the furniture that makes that room smaller....chaise and also the large coffee table. That room needs a tiny coffee table(end table acting as coffee table) or possbily no coffee table at all for photos and while selling.

Designers like to use smaller scale furniture/less furniture to make a room appear larger.

I love the home and the decor and everything about it. I even love the decor and furniture in the family room. I am just being picky to try to make that family room appear larger than it really since that(smallish family room) is the only issue that I can see that might make someone buy another home instead.

We've just gone through the whole two mortgage thing and it was not fun.
Bridge loans are available (though possibly hard to find) but they only work if you have a certain amount of equity in your current home.
You may find it harder than you think to qualify for having two mortgages.
One creative solution we found was to go for a high interest rate mortgage on the home you are buying, which allows you to reduce your monthly payments and may enable you to be under the required Debt To Income ratio when taking your current mortgage into account. Your intent would be to refinance this high interest mortgage soon after you close, in essence using it as a bridge loan.
You will find smaller local banks much more able to do this type of thing than the large banks.

This post was edited by GromitInWA on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 2:09

Seriously.......tan or grey river rocks, remove the teddy bear, get a bridge loan!??! This family does not HAVE to move, and the OP has a Mother with a health crisis. Do yourself and your family a favor. Take care of what's most important first. There will always be other houses to buy and other opportunities to move. You do not need the stress of buying a house, selling a house, taking care of a parent who is ill AND additional financial burdens all at the same time. Take a deep breath and step back. If a door is closing, a window will open. But, you don't want to open that window during a storm. BTW, your home is beautiful and your doggies are adorable. I wish you all the best with your Mom and your home.

Bossybear, Kellie asked for any input before she decided not to pursue the sale of her house at this time. She asked for opinions and many responded in detail before other issues changed her timeline.

Her home is gorgeous and she obviously has a flair for decorating a cozy home, but she wanted to maximize the home's impact on as many buyers as possible by borrowing our eyes to add insight.

She welcomed ideas without taking offense, knowing we wanted the best for her and she could pick and choose her own changes. Seems you have decided to be offended for her.

I appreciate the kind words from all, things are actually going well. My mother is thankfully not going to have surgery, as she is going the conservative route with repeat testing in 6 months. The "counter" from the seller came on a very bad day when things were more up in the air. I was actually happy that they didn't drag out the negotiation when they obviously knew (and were holding out for) what they thought was fair. Now I have time to make the changes suggested for staging. We are moving forward, but will likely wait a month or two for some inventory to open up. Plus we can get the new carpet in place and hopefully make a great first impression. This has been a VERY helpful exercise. I know how quickly I have written off some houses based on their pics, so want to make the right first impression.

With that being said, here are some changes that I have made based on the recommendations here, mostly in the upstairs. (keep in mind, the REA will have somebody much better than me taking the pics)
Master with different bedding, side tables, and something on the windows

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Office with window treatments and an office like corkboard on the wall.

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And guestroom with different bedding (and dog bone that was sneaked in and will be removed)
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And I had not posted the master bath because I am not sure what to do with hit, but here it is for critique, it is a good space, but could use some updating that we won't be doing. I just cleared off some of the stuff that usually resides on the counter.

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Regarding some of the other suggestions, I have convinced my husband that the TV must be gone....for at least the pics. Maybe I can convince him for the showings too. I still don't know what to do with the living room. That room is so small so my options are limited. To be honest, I am hoping our new house won't have a "living room" so don't want to invest in new furniture. The family room sectional has taking a beating over the years, so we will be getting a new sofa, I was really hoping to wait until where we know where it is going before making the investment. Sadly, the chaise side can't be removed without it looking awkward. We do have a sofa in the basement that may look better so maybe we can try a switch. The exercise equipment, sadly will stay. I don't know if we would be able to move it to the basement. That is one room that I am hoping people can use their imagination for, it has a nice bay window (sadly blocked by the elliptical), right across from the master and would be PERFECT for a crib.

I appreciate the info on the bridge loan and options for not selling for a purchase, but that is just not something I would consider. I would rather list my house and hope to sell with no viable options for purchase. Although I am hoping that changes in the next month or two!

This post was edited by kellienoelle on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 22:08

Kellienoelle, glad to hear that things have calmed down somewhat, and that your mother is going to be okay.

My suggestion for the living room is to post a few pictures of it over on the Home Decorating forum and ask the people there for some advice for staging it. There are some pretty talented folks over there who could probably come up with ideas you could use.

On the master bath: Hide the toothbrush/paste and remove the bottles on the shower floor, both for photos and for showings. That just announces that whoever built the shower forgot to put in storage.

The home decorating forum was helpful, good suggestion. I think that I am going to keep things as they are now, maybe add a small footstool, and stop obsessing about it! Most thought it was OK, but a few people mentioned more furniture, but I just don't want to look at the back of anything in that small room. I will still tidy up the bookshelf, but here is where we are...
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Regarding the bathroom...I will absolutely do those things. I actually have something hanging off the shower head, but prefer to keep them there so I don't have to face the water. My biggest question is the vanity, that seems like an expanse of space to leave empty, but I don't want to clutter it up. What items should be added?

Hey!! The rug did the trick for me somehow. I'm on board with the living room. It should show great.

Glad your mom is doing better. Sorry about the people with the spectacular house. Guess they know it's spectacular! Maybe it will still be there when you're ready. Best of luck!

P.S. Bathroom should show well, definitely good enough for people to figure out how/if they want to update it. It's cute. Office: Bookcase and big black thing (lateral file?) need to go, I think. They are making it look like a closet. That's a big desk for a small room so since I'm guessing it can't go, the other two things probably should. Possibly the bookcase could get moved to where the lateral file is after you get that out of the way.

It all looks really great though.

Looking good! Totally agree, not worth obsessing over the living room. Everything looks pretty, so even if the use of the space isn't perfectly defined for the buyer, at least it's extra SPACE. Usually not a negative!

I want your master bath! I could spend alot of time in that tub.

Love that the color scheme is neutral, not really dated. It's only when I really look that I notice the dated faucets. If it were me, I might put a small something (shelf, art) over that towel ring, hide all the obvious personal stuff for showings, make sure the stuff on counters is pretty, AND..I would consider replacing the faucets. You could get something relatively cheap but decent at Home Depot/Lowes, possible to replace yourself, but even if you had to get a plumber, it would be a lot of bang for your buck. A really up-to-date, spiffy, but not high-end faucet (or I should say faucets-plural) will catch people's eye, give a perception of newness. Easy for me to suggest, it's not my money, but if it were possible I think I would do it. Faucets and light fixtures are high impact items.

I think that as far as possibly putting your house on the market, you're in great shape. It's so much better to do all this planning and tweaking before you list, not after. I did the same thing, took lots of pics ahead of time to analyze, etc. and we got 3 good offers at our first open house in 2009. It really is worth the effort ahead of time. (Also went to a ton of opne houses to check out the competition ahead of time.)

Again, I wish you the best of luck!

Yes, I totally see what you are saying about the office, I believe that we will remove the filing cabinet but will likely keep in the bookshelf, but move it. Another thing that I have been thinking of is moving the L shaped desk into the corner so there is more open space in the middle of the room. I know I would never ever want my desk like that, but for staging it may make the room feel bigger. Another downside to that scheme is that it will cover up the curtains and be placed in front of the only window in the room.

Good suggestion on the faucets, unfortunately, my husband has about a hundred projects related to this so is so is starting to resist my adding new ones. Maybe it is something that I could try to tackle myself even. I'm smart, surely I could figure it out!

I couldn't agree more on doing the planning and tweaking, I just hope that it will pay off for me. If I have one good offer after an open house all the extra work will be worth it. As I previously mentioned, we have 2 dogs and 2 full time jobs, so showing will be a struggle.

Well, we are not even on the market yet, but we are showing our house for the first time tomorrow, several weeks before we were planning on listing. The REA (who we haven't signed a contract with yet) says she has a potentially interested buyer. So....glad we have put the work in that we have, apparently they know we aren't completely ready. The buyers just want a house in our neighborhood and have already seen and rejected the 2 houses that are actually for sale in the Neighborhood. They know the specifics for ours and are interested!

Fingers crossed! If anything pans out from this I can thank many here for their advice!

I didn't read all the comments above, but agree on the pet stuff.

For the photos, take everything off the bathroom counters and out of the shower (bottles, etc.) including the little towel stand in the powder room. Things like your pretty soap dispenser are fine but remove tooth brushes, tooth paste, etc. Any towels left out should be pristine and very neatly folded.

In the kitchen, I'd put the coffee maker in front of the outlet so the cord isn't snaking across the counter, or put it away altogether. On the shelves above it, I'd keep just the pictures and put the other items away to keep it super tidy.

Your house looks great and I envy how neat and clutter-free it is!

Wow!! Good luck! Ask them for feedback if they don't want to make an offer.

Our REA said the feedback was great! The only negatives were regarding the squirrels snacking on our wood (probably a common problem around here) and our cracked front porch (which we have scheduled to have replaced). She said that she fully expects them to make an offer. Soo.....if this happens I feel like I am officially the luckiest girl in the world (albeit potentially a homeless one).

The thread about houses that don't hit MLS was interesting, and kind of ironic with the timing considering the potential here. IF there is an offer (a big if), I am assuming that only something close to what we were planning for listing price would be acceptable, right? On the one hand, we don't have to go through the hassle of listing and showing, on the other they don't risk competition and get a clean deal themselves.

Since the theme of this thread has changed so much, if an offer does happen, I suppose a new thread is in order.

We sold our house! Well, waiting for the paperwork on some minor things that we countered with, but I think it will go through!!!!

So, anyway, now we will be homeless unless we find something to buy. And we have looked at houses and I am realizing how far apart my taste in from my husband's. Seriously, who despises Tudors????

You all have been so helpful so I am sure I will have some questions along the way for the house search! The current closing date on the contract that hasn't been signed yet is for March 29, so that gives us some time.

Congratulations! SO happy you had a quick and happy outcome! The buyers had to be thrilled to see your house so early on and knew it wouldn't stay on the market long.

Thanks! I am quite thankful to not have to go through the showing process! I love our neighbors, and it sounds like the sellers will be a good fit, which I am also thankful for.

I am honestly pretty shocked about how this all panned out.

Congrats!

As far as buying a home, are you going to inquire about the home you already made an offer on? They will take you much more seriously (and maybe will be more open to negotiating seriously) now that you have a contract on your home.

If they still don't have another offer, they might be getting nervous now that a couple weeks passed since your offer. The fact that you walked away once will be in their mind and they might not want that to happen again.

Happy for you! If you still want that other house, go for it.
You have more strength now.

Congratulations!

We are looking at houses today, including the one that we had previously placed an offer on. Oddly enough, they wouldn't counter our offer, but they have already lowered the price 10K. But I have already talked myself out of it for issues such as the easement and the street that it is on. I don't know if this was a self protection, my way of dealing with disappointment, or if these things are still really valid and need to be strongly taken into consideration. I'll see what my reactions are to it this time around!

Check out this beauty of a room at the house I loved but my husband didn't. This is a master bedroom with gorgeous wall and ceiling moldings and bay window nook. I can just picture it with a vintage chandelier in place. We are revisiting this one today to see if the second impression is different (for either of us) and bringing a friend who is a contractor to tell us about the feasibility of remodeling the bathrooms (vintage yellow and black tile that is probably fabulous but has my husband running away screaming)

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and the dining

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This post was edited by kellienoelle on Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 11:14