Maine real estate needs staging

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

When I was up here shopping, I was sent out to look at a number of properties that said "waterfrontage". When in fact they had a seasonal creek bed on a back corner.

A couple of times I called the listing agents to inquire about the 'waterfrontage' and was told that they had no clue, as they had never seen the waterfrontage themselves. They simply could not tell me how much waterfrontage the property had or where it would be located.

I got kind of frustrated with a few Maine realtors with their tactics: listing waterfrontage when there is no water, listing properties that they have never walked, etc.

My cousin bought a home in Palmyra. They never did a final walk through...which was partly their own fault, but they were young. After closing they discovered that a fence had been removed from the property along with light fixtures and a built in island in the kitchen. As it turned out the realtor that sold them the house had something to do with it...I never got the complete story..in the end they basically had the option of suing the realtor which they did not have the time to do. They filed a complaint and the board of realtors disciplined the realtor...but they never got back all the things that were missing.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by abatardi

If you could, I would leave *some* stuff to give "scale" and help with the imagery a little (to see what can be done with the space). A completely empty house sometimes gives the wrong impression of size, and it usually ends up feeling smaller than it is. The majority of people would probably tell you "a queen bed comes to right about....here!" and they would be a foot or two off (usually thinking things are bigger than they are and 'wouldn't fit in the room'). On the flip side, too much clutter makes it feel closed in.

On the other hand, I wouldn't want to make two trips hauling furniture from NH to Maine either... on that note, I am lazy and would leave it empty, heh.

- aba

I think for perspective life sized cardboard cutouts of famous people in every room work well. A few well placed motorcycles add to the feeling of hominess too!

[abatardi]

Originally Posted by flycessna

My cousin bought a home in Palmyra. They never did a final walk through...which was partly their own fault, but they were young. After closing they discovered that a fence had been removed from the property along with light fixtures and a built in island in the kitchen. As it turned out the realtor that sold them the house had something to do with it...I never got the complete story..in the end they basically had the option of suing the realtor which they did not have the time to do. They filed a complaint and the board of realtors disciplined the realtor...but they never got back all the things that were missing.

How someone could do that do another person I will never understand. My realtor screwed me on this home purchase as well, but nothing that bad. Well, maybe it was... Made an offer, she said she talked to them and they wouldn't go that low... but told me she told the seller (a new home builder) she would forfeit half her commission to get the price lowered to try and meet in the middle. She worked out the 'lowest they would go' and it was about 10k higher than I offered, with half her commission forfeited to even get to that point. Found out later they would have taken the original verbal offer I gave (never even gave it to them) and she took her full commission to boot on the higher sale price.

- aba

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by flycessna

My cousin bought a home in Palmyra. They never did a final walk through...which was partly their own fault, but they were young. After closing they discovered that a fence had been removed from the property along with light fixtures and a built in island in the kitchen. As it turned out the realtor that sold them the house had something to do with it...I never got the complete story..in the end they basically had the option of suing the realtor which they did not have the time to do. They filed a complaint and the board of realtors disciplined the realtor...but they never got back all the things that were missing.

I am not surprised.