Re: [gardeners] Rosemary's house
Rosemary Carlson (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sat, 03 Oct 1998 17:38:14 -0400
THANK YOU, PAT!!! If nothing else today has made me smile (and nothing
HAS!), THIS email did! Everyone should print this out and KEEP it! I
certainly have! Being a somewhat reclusive individual, the sense of
violation that comes with strangers parading through my house, going
through my closets, and looking through my medicine cabinet is damn near
more than I can STAND.
This would all be better IF my new house was ready for me to occupy it.
THEN, I could run there. However....they are drywalling and it ain't a
pretty sight - not to mention I'd be living on the subfloor. :)
I have a silver tea service for Pat's table by the fireplace. Now, to go
FIND it! :) :)
Tomorrow is the dreaded OPEN HOUSE. Everyone keep their fingers crossed
that this house sells TOMORROW - else I will lose my mind. Ya'll don't want
a babbling idiot on this list, now do ya?
Rosemary in Lexington, KY
zone 6a - who will have NO yard when I move! YEA! My yard will be forest
floor with a SMALL patch of grass.
At 04:01 PM 10/3/98 +0000, you wrote:
>It is an old formula, but having sold houses using it -- and for my
>price -- consider doing the following -- keeping in mind that you
>are making a "stage setting" for a lifestyle the buyer hopes to
>duplicate. (AND that in love, war and real estate, image is often
>more important than full disclosure.)
>
>a. Buy a bunch of freezer bread dough. Divide into small hunks.
>b. When a shopper is coming, pop one of those hunks in the oven to
>create the scent of "home."
>c. Never draw attention to your garden. If asked about it, say, "Oh,
>that? I do have a junior high school boy who comes by once in a while
>to mow. Actually, it takes care of itself."
>d. Have a pot or two (NO MORE) of a somewhat exotic something
>by the front door. Say to shopper, "Wasn't it nice of the last person
>who came by to send those?"
>e. Have a fire laid in the fireplace. Put herb cuttings on top. When
>the shopper gets out of the car, light the fire. The scent and the
>welcoming sight of a fire says "HOME."
>f. Rearrange the furniture a bit to set a generous size table to one
>side of the fireplace. On it place your grandmother's lace
>tablecloth, a silver tray, 2 or 3 of your finest teacups, and a
>pretty container (covered) of cookies. When the shopper arrives, say,
>"I was just having a cup of tea. Do sit down and have one with me."
>g. Keep Mozart. deBussy or Sibelius (no Wagner) playing at all times.
>It will keep shoppers soothed and will muffle any mysterious pipe or
>plumbing sounds. It will also contribute to your mental ease.
>h. On days when shoppers may arrive, all meals are to be prepared and
>eaten in secrecy! One's kitchen must be pristine at all times. It is
>essential, however, that a perfect vegetable or two (or perhaps the
>meticulously posed ingredients for a gourmet omelet) be posed in the
>kitchen. Make it an artistic presentation: bowl, pan, basket,
>utensils -- all must be in harmonious balance.
>i. Refer to "h" for clues for arranging bathrooms. They must always
>look like they are used only by two-dimensional models from Country
>Living.
>j. If storage is a problem, and your house is cluttered, rent
>off premises storage. Closets and garages should echo with emptiness.
>In one house, I totally emptied one closet and "forgot" to point it
>out until late in the tour, with a "Oh, I'd forgotten about this
>closet! There ARE so many of them in this house, you know."
>
>Tips "a" through "j" have served me well. Indeed, the last house we
>sold went for more than our asking price. Two buyers arrived
>simultaneously - each wanted the house and they entered into an
>immoderate bidding war, each upping the other's offer. Person A "won"
>out over Person B. I have been told that subsequently Person A
>went on to grander and greater quarters, and he first called
>Person B who then bought it from him!
>
>And, if you promise never to tell them, it wasn't all that great a
>house! Good luck on selling, and don't let the shoppers get you down.
>If you can find it, Robert Benchley (the grandfather of the Benchley
>who wrote "Jaws" etc) has a wonderful essay on selling a house and
>the sense of violation one feels when others go through your
>refrigerator!
>
>Pat
>
>
>