I’M NOT ALLOWED TO STAY IN MY OWN HOUSE
Posted by Karen on Jul 22 2008
Yeah, that’s right. Some realty rule. I can’t be in the house while they are showing it. Now just how am I going to convince someone they have to buy this house if I can’t be here gushing about its many features?
We had a showing Friday evening. And yes, we left the house as instructed. But we didn’t go far. Just one street over. And we spied on people as they were going into the house. They stayed 40 minutes. I think that’s a good thing. But I’m sure they were not aware of certain features that are must-haves. I told our realtor all of the upgrades, but did their realtor know them all?
I racked my brain for a solution. And, as usually happens when I rack my brain, I got a headache. But I persisted because this house needs to sell.
It paid off. I came up with a brilliant idea. And my realtor agreed it was a good idea. Check these out….
These are hung strategically throughout the house to alert potential buyers of things they may not know. Things that will make them sit up in bed at 2:00 a.m. and yell, “I simply must have the house with the tilt-in Krypton-filled windows!”
Features that are obvious are not touted on signs. No point in hanging one that says “6 person hot tub” when they can clearly see there is a 6 person hot tub right there in front of them. I’d say there are about a dozen of them scattered through the house.
I’m really hoping the strategy works. And who knows, maybe my idea will catch on, and in a year realtors across the world will share a home’s features on cardstock.
KT, as a typical teenager, thinks the signs are “cheesy.” What say you?
on 22 Jul 2008 at 8:25 pm 1 Tina said …
I think you are screaming hilarious…and BRILLIANT!
on 22 Jul 2008 at 8:32 pm 2 Amy Lemaniak said …
BRILLIANT!! I would have loved to seen something like this when we were hunting for our home!
on 22 Jul 2008 at 8:41 pm 3 Valerie said …
I LOVE IT!!!!!!
What a great idea! I may have to steal that one!!
on 22 Jul 2008 at 8:57 pm 4 Mary Bee said …
I’m stealing the idea. My parents currently have their house for sale and I hope to have mine on the market in the spring. Hope they put in a great offer soon!
on 22 Jul 2008 at 9:24 pm 5 Teri said …
I LOVE it! Who cares what KT says - she’s 14. How many homes has SHE sold??
on 22 Jul 2008 at 10:02 pm 6 Awesome Mom said …
Great idea! As a person that recently bought a house I can say that it would have come in handy when I was buying.
on 22 Jul 2008 at 10:21 pm 7 Kimm said …
Your signs look really nice. It would be cheesy if they were hand-written, sloppily cut, etc. You took the time to make them look very nice and I plan to steal the idea when we try to sell this home! I’ll pray that the last buyers just want to buy it — even without the signs! Blessings
on 22 Jul 2008 at 10:48 pm 8 Kamrin said …
Rockin idea!
Say…do those windows come with a transferable warranty? ? ?
on 22 Jul 2008 at 10:53 pm 9 Angie said …
That is an awesome idea…you don’t have to wonder if the other realtor is sharing your homes best hidden features because you are putting them out there for everyone. I wish we had though of that when our house was on the market. You may have just started a new trend in home sales….
on 22 Jul 2008 at 11:03 pm 10 jen said …
Cheesy but clever. Keep it.
on 22 Jul 2008 at 11:07 pm 11 Jennifer said …
You are so smart and definitely doing the right thing. Tell KT that “cheesy” just might get your house sold quickly and get you to FL fast!
Something else we did to help our house stand out from all the rest was to bake cookies. I bought several packages of the cookies that were all ready formed and you just had to pop them in the oven. About 20 minutes before we had to be out of the house, I would put 8-10 of them in the oven. They would come out right before I had to leave, making them warm to serve and the house smell yummy!
I placed them on a nice, decorative plate and right beside the plate we had a note that said, “Our gift to you!” We made the note because the first time we made the cookies, none were eaten and we thought… maybe they didn’t realize they were for them!
The only bad thing about it was we had cookies left over, begging to be eaten. At least my girls loved it! So, to you I say, “Happy baking and house selling!!”
on 22 Jul 2008 at 11:29 pm 12 Tammy and Parker said …
How smart are YOU?
on 22 Jul 2008 at 11:59 pm 13 Christy said …
Great idea. I used to leave handwritten notes!
And yes, I would TOTALLY leave a sign that states that the Hot Tub stays with the house. There was a BUILT IN Hot Tub in the deck of our house…we just assumed that it came with the house. It didn’t, and we were shocked.
I guess that’s what we get for assuming….
on 23 Jul 2008 at 12:56 am 14 Beth said …
I would have to say that that idea is smart! The other one is to have something “baking” in your oven to give it the homie smell. I used to sell Gold Canyon Candles that had a great baking line, and I sold a ton to friends selling houses or realtors. They would light them when they knew someone was coming over, and the house just smelled like fresh baked cookies, or something like that. You might want to try that too!
I agree that realtors won’t pass along all the special info, just because it’s hard for ALL the realtors in your area to know all your upgrades, so the notecards seem great!!
on 23 Jul 2008 at 2:30 am 15 Sandier Pastures said …
I think it’s classy! If it had been me, I’d stick post its with my handwriting in it - very cheap, I know!
Brilliant idea, if I have the resources (and in the area, of course), I’ll buy your house!
on 23 Jul 2008 at 6:24 am 16 Ladybug Crossing said …
I was home a couple of times when people came over to look at our old house. The people that ended up purchasing the house pulled up as I was running out the door. I scooted by and said, “This is a great house.”
They bought it.
They were awful people, but they bought the house for asking price.
xo
LBC
on 23 Jul 2008 at 7:47 am 17 Mary said …
What a neat idea! Very tastefully done. It reminds me of the little signs that are around show houses from designers. Well done!
on 23 Jul 2008 at 8:05 am 18 Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama said …
Alright, I think you need to step away from the staging sites…
Wait, are all your coffee mug handles pointing the same direction??
on 23 Jul 2008 at 9:47 am 19 Kiki said …
Great idea… and if its cheesy, oh well… desparate times call for desparate measures! I’m surprised you haven’t filmed a DVD with Nick & KT touting all the features of your home that is set to start playing the minute the front door opens!!! Or… how about a podcast audio tour in KT’s best British accent???
on 23 Jul 2008 at 10:33 am 20 Sue said …
LOVE IT!!! I also like KiKi’s idea for KT and Nick but let’s go one step farther and have them “hologram” something and they can walk through the house with your prospective buyers…yeah right, it would seem like the house was haunted…
Sam Beckett where are you now? Al? Al?
on 23 Jul 2008 at 10:58 am 21 Mamalovelock said …
It’s a GREAT idea!! Now you can gush and not even be there.
on 23 Jul 2008 at 11:39 am 22 reba said …
i think its brilliant!
on 23 Jul 2008 at 5:57 pm 23 ValleyGirl said …
Maybe a little cheesey, but still quite a brilliant marketing strategy. I bet it pays off!
on 24 Jul 2008 at 4:36 pm 24 Linda Switzer said …
They look great. I have done these on a few of my other listngs when there were hidden rooms, etc, that the potential buyers woulod not see if there was not directions…
Great job!!!!!
on 29 Jul 2008 at 12:09 am 25 Janet said …
That amazing!! I love the idea!
My aunt is selling her little house right now and when she had her estate sell she couldn’t be home either!
Good luck!
on 30 Jul 2008 at 6:08 pm 26 Susanna said …
Of course you can’t stay in! When my husband and I were looking for a house, if the homeowners were home it made us feel so self-conscious. We just sort of politely poked our noses into each room and left. I still remember one homeowner going on so proudly about the new pink carpeting she’d just put in…meanwhile we were wondering if there would be parquet under if we ripped it up, but we obviously couldn’t lift a corner with her standing there.
A contradictory comment about the home-baked cookies: our area is quite multi-cultural, and realtors recommend that sellers try to make their homes smell as much like ‘nothing’ as possible. They also recommend taking family photos down (and religious imagery too, sorry), for the same reason. It gives a not-so-subtle “we don’t belong here” message to any prospective buyer from a different culture. And however you may feel about people from other cultures, I’m sure you’d be happy to sell your house to them!
on 31 Jul 2008 at 7:02 pm 27 Maura said …
What an original idea! Brilliant!
I shared this with my realtor DH and he loved the idea!
Take care,
~Maura
on 31 Jul 2008 at 11:11 pm 28 Deb - Mom of 3 Girls said …
I love this idea! I so wish I’d thought of it back when we were selling our previous house - I just KNEW that the fact that furnace maintenance was completely paid for for an additional 7 years would so totally sell that house if people just knew about it.
If we ever do move out of this house, I’m totally stealing this idea. 