preparing the house for viewings - can't be arsed!!!

[Tutter]

it's only the third one and i've already got viewing fatigue. putting toys away, hiding the clutter, cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, opening all the windows, making all the surfaces sparkly.

yawn.

does anyone manage to do it properly beyond the first viewing i wonder? (first time i had 3 lots of fresh flowers and banished dh and ds to starbucks)...

hmmm... you could have a point chocmum. maybe an open dirty nappy would give off the right attitude of i-don't-need-you-my-house-is-soooo-great ?!

lol, ok fair point, flowers are nice but the coffee thing is too obvious.
I want a quick sale beleive me so any tips are greatly appreciated but if you look too desperate it puts people off, even the estate agent said that

I agree Chocmummy.
We are viewing houses, and normal signs of life are fine! It's good when you can see how well a room can be used - just the right amount of furniture, and not in awkward places, but a pile of someone's bills and post on the table, or a loaf on the breadboard, or child's toys on bedroom floor are hardly off-putting.
I think the TV 'House Doctor' effect is a bit over-sold!

And fresh flowers and coffee are a bit of a cliche - no-one has fresh flowers in every room unless they live in a country house with maids!

Message withdrawn

thats a good idea! thanks. anyone wanna buy my house! lol

Agree Blu . I'nm fed up looking at "staged" houses where a second rate attempt at accessorising, diy and gadgets means they expect a higher price. However I do want to be able to visualise how we might use the room and live there which could be done with either a minimalist presentation or a slightly "lived-in" look. As long as a property is clean and presentable I can see through the rest but perhaps we're in the minority.

Yep, tricks with coffee pots and breadmakers are so yesterday. You need the vanilla pod.

If notice is short:
Clean teatowel spread over dirty hob.
Clear clutter to one side of a room and drape a nice blanket/throw over it.
Hide everything in the bathroom - if you haven't got a cupboard, stick it all in a shoebag and hang it on a hook. Bathrooms can be very intimate and sometimes you just don't want to get that personal! Close the toilet seat!

If notice is short:
Clean teatowel spread over dirty hob.
Clear clutter to one side of a room and drape a nice blanket/throw over it.
Hide everything in the bathroom - if you haven't got a cupboard, stick it all in a shoebag and hang it on a hook. Bathrooms can be very intimate and sometimes you just don't want to get that personal! Close the toilet seat!

Hurl all the things that make your space look tight and cluttered into the car. High chair, trike, etc etc.

Shove everything out of sight - under beds will do or in airing cupboard (and pray they won't want to see how big it is inside.) Shove kids out of sight - school will do but otherwise the garden shed We have an open fire in the front room and I always used to make an effort to light it because I though it looked nice - but one of the first veiwers took one look at it and said 'well that will have to go - is there a gas supply in this room for a proper fire?'

We went to view a house (not a new one) that was spotless. They had flowers everywhere, a table laid as if for a formal meal and the the top corner of the duvets turned down on the beds Weird glimpse into the effortlessly charming life of a childless couple or just desperate vendors???? Didn't help - the house was lovely anyway without all the primping but it was just too small for us.

It is worth the effort I presented us as the 'Bodens'and it worked when in reality we are more the munsters Flowers good and always clean kitchen and all bathrooms/toilets.A few kids toys are ok Put pets out One of our cats once scratched the agents briefcase when he put it down so I put them out if i can

I viewd a house the other day and it really was like a show home. Pristine. And I walked away thinking:

1. They don't have enough stuff - all our stuff wouldn't fit in.

2. It's just TOO perfect. I can't see myself living there.

Of course, I may just have been trying to make myself feel better about the dusting of toys over every surface in ours seconds after I've finished clearing up. And we're trying to sell a tiny house that will appeal to a first time buyer. We'll never get to move!

We sold our house when DS & DD were 3 & 18 mo. After weeks of keeping it tidy & no interest, I was having a leisurely lunch before toddler group when I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be setting up that week - I left the lunch dishes in the sink, DD had pulled all the sofa cushions off & there was ironing piled all over the conservatory. The agents rang to make an appointment, and getting no answer, decided to bring the people anyway, as they had a key from when we'd been on holiday.
They were the ones who bought it.

no offers so far.

but house officially on the market from today . photographer and measuring-up-man here for 3.5 hours yesterday so am hoping the photos are going to be bloody marvellous. was exhausting trying to stop ds from demolishing pristine rooms.

typical that it was the most gloomy, overcast day in months. he promised he could fake blue skies, but i'm suspicious of the result...

fake blue skies?

apparently so. but i would think the lighting of the rest of the photo would look odd if he does that.

the weather did improve as the afternoon wore on and he took more outside pics so hopefully won't be necessary.

he took his job very seriously - hid all kind of bits and bobs. e.g. took me ages to find my metal jobbie that holds washing up brushes (hidden in oven).

How peculiar. But at least he's trying.

We had house on market for a very long 8 weeks. We had viewings 3-4 times a week but I tried to keep it to weekend viewings. Fortunately it was during summer so I disappeared with DD while DH did viewings.

I kept fresh flowers in house at all times and used a lot of lighting, although natural light during the summer also helped as dark rooms are a turn off IMO.
Good luck

Although, if he can just airbrush stuff out maybe you don't need to tidy up at all. Let photoshop do the work.

i'm just sooo impatient. i want to see the photos now and i want somone to buy our house now. harrrumph.

agent said someone wants to view at 2pm tomorrow. we have visitors staying - arriving at 1ish tomorrow. we'd planned to go straight out for a picnic lunch with them.

what would you do - change plans to do viewing (albeit with a lot more clutter from visitors) or say it's not convenient?

Could you have a late picnic lunch?

Going to have to rejoin you as our buyers pulled out yesterday Looking forward to a weekend of clearing up, cleaning and gardening .

Can your visitors leave bags etc in the car until after the viewing , then you go out for a picnic ?

still no offers

am going to moan about it daily

this could be a loong (and deeply unpopular)thread

Any joy yet Tutter? What area are you planning to move to btw?