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I am finally listing my house. Today, as a matter of fact. We removed the photos. I found some art for pretty cheap and then I did the scrapbook paper over photos on one wall. Looks great. I also had some prints that I never got framed, so I found inexpensive frames for them and they went on the wall. I tried to work with what I already had. Most rooms don't need more than one or at most two good-sized things on the wall. Some don't need any.
I say maybe just bite the bullet and consider it early packing?
I am looking to buy a house and walked through many houses already. Some had family photos, some didn't. I personally don't care. When I look at the house I am interested in the floor plan, floors, cabinets, rooms/closets sizes, and don't care about somebody's furniture or pictures...
Totally agree. I look for important things--not pictures, wall art, etc. If things are too cluttered, obviously that detracts from a showing and may be sending a message, but if people have a px of their mother, brother or dog on the wall, I could care less.
My, we are an easily distractable society, aren't we? We sound like a bunch of airheaded toddlers.
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Originally Posted by raveabouttoast
I'm with you. Family photos didn't bother me at all. However, there were 1 or 2 houses I decided against making an offering on because they were really messy. First, it can be difficult to judge the size of rooms if they're very cluttered. And second, it gives me the impression that the owners may not have taken great care of the house.
That's very different from getting distracted by a few photographs on a wall or table, and is completely justified.
I bought my first house from a family where the elderly parents had died within 10 months of one another. There were pictures of kids and grandkids everywhere -- on the walls, on the sideboard, on the dressers, in the kitchen. The couple had lived in the house for almost 60 years, and obviously had been very happy there. The pictures added to the warmth of the home. If there had been no pictures anywhere, I would have wondered what was wrong with the family.
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Originally Posted by nikitakolata
every time my husband and I toured a house with a lot of family photos up we ended up speculating about the family. We'd get into a conversation about things like where they could they be moving, why they are selling, their professions, are they getting married/divorced, you name it.
Perhaps your energy would be better spent speculating if the plumbing is in decent shape, if the floors are level, and if the roof leaks.
My, we are an easily distractable society, aren't we? We sound like a bunch of airheaded toddlers.
That's very different from getting distracted by a few photographs on a wall or table, and is completely justified.
I bought my first house from a family where the elderly parents had died within 10 months of one another. There were pictures of kids and grandkids everywhere -- on the walls, on the sideboard, on the dressers, in the kitchen. The couple had lived in the house for almost 60 years, and obviously had been very happy there. The pictures added to the warmth of the home. If there had been no pictures anywhere, I would have wondered what was wrong with the family.
Perhaps your energy would be better spent speculating if the plumbing is in decent shape, if the floors are level, and if the roof leaks.
Agreed. The house we bought here in NY, the same people lived in it for 54 yrs. We saw photos in the cellar, upstairs, etc. I was much more interested in the roof, age of furnace/A-C unit, hardwood conditions, BR.
I look for important things--not pictures, wall art, etc... if people have a px of their mother, brother or dog on the wall, I could care less.
I agree. When we looked, I actually found it interesting to look at the family pictures on the wall....I kind of wanted to know something about the people who lived there. It helped me figure out why they might want to sell their home (retirement, moving up, downsizing, etc).
Our realtor told us the same thing about pictures when we were getting our house ready to sell. And we did put a lot of them away, but I left the pictures on the wall (there weren't that many). The house sold in 10 days, although I'm not sure that family pictures had anything to do with it. When looking at a couple of our realtor's open houses, I realized they were immaculate, so made sure that ours was also.
I agree about the clutter issue. That's one problem that's very difficult for a potential buyer to overlook.
Getting ready to list on 4/1 and our realtor recommended that we put away some of our photos which we were planning on doing anyway. My question is - do you think we need to take down all of the family pictures? I don't mind putting away the ones that are out on shelves, etc, but the ones on the walls will end up leaving some stark spaces and nail holes (and I don't have touch up paint for some of the rooms). I'm not talking about a ton of pictures either just a few in a couple of rooms throughout the house. I suppose I could buy some stuff off the store shelves to hang there, but seems like that would be a waste of money for us as we wouldn't reuse it. Your thoughts? Thank you!
Put them away. Personal photos may just be distracting, why risk it. De-clutter the whole house...it should look staged.
I was thinking about this topic since yesterday and got to the point that I don't really pay attentions on things like pictures. I mean I see it, but never really look at it. I treat it as something personal I guess.
As for somebody's furniture or decor, I always keep in mind that I will bring my own furniture and based on my taste it will be way different...I will repaint walls to colors I like... I treat purchase of a house as a big and important purchase and don't pay much attention to somebody's taste or personal items.
I think everyone likes to think of themselves as a savvy buyer. Most of us (especially those of us attentive enough to these issues to visit a real estate board online) would hope that we could "look past cosmetic issues", "pay attention to the important things", etc.
However, there are many other buyers out there that are not so knowledgeable (we see them all the time on HGTV and the like, rejecting a home because they don't like the chandelier in the dining room!). For my own home, if even one buyer might be distracted by my personal photos I would rather put them away. I don't often put my stock in the intelligence of people as a whole.
I think everyone likes to think of themselves as a savvy buyer. Most of us (especially those of us attentive enough to these issues to visit a real estate board online) would hope that we could "look past cosmetic issues", "pay attention to the important things", etc.
However, there are many other buyers out there that are not so knowledgeable (we see them all the time on HGTV and the like, rejecting a home because they don't like the chandelier in the dining room!). For my own home, if even one buyer might be distracted by my personal photos I would rather put them away. I don't often put my stock in the intelligence of people as a whole.
This is the point I was trying to make. Of course when we looked at houses I paid attention to the construction, layout, maintenance, age, roof, etc. But, in looking I noticed the decorating and personal items. Those things don't factor in to which house we bought, but they were there and during the inspection we speculated about the family based on the pictures (the inspection took 5 hours and we took turns taking notes).
I know a lot of people who, try as they may, really cannot envision a room any differently than how it is right then. They can't really imagine their furniture there. They can't picture it a different color. All they can see is what is in front of them. That's actually how I ended up getting in to real estate; friends and family were always asking me to tour houses with them so I could tell them if their furnishings would work and/or if a house had potential once the current owners stuff was gone. Being able to visualize a space differently from what it is is not something everyone can do.
Also, sometimes it's just fun to wonder about the current owners. Lots of pictures and personal items feed into being able to do that. If there is nothing personal in the house, the speculation doesn't last long.
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Perhaps your energy would be better spent speculating if the plumbing is in decent shape, if the floors are level, and if the roof leaks.
