Last thought before bed

[unixronin]

And it's more than half rhetorical, inspired by a mention on a mailing list of selling your house yourself, and advice on preparing to do so.  Right there on the list of to-do's, sure enough, was"de-personalization".

I've always wondered about that.

Why is it that, when endeavoring to convince some person that your house is a place they want to live in, the first thing a realtor will advise you to do is to remove all personal touches and turn the house into a bland, sterile, cookie-cutter place that you wouldn't want to live in?

Comments

[anda.livejournal.com]

Because what they like is probably not what you like, and lots of folks have so much personalization in their houses that buyers can't imagine themselves living there because everything in it screams "this is the seller's house!"

At least, that's my understanding.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I think that's the explanation usually given, yes. Most people I've actually talked to about it think it's creepy. You walk into a house that you know six people live in, and it seems like some kind of Stepford house that has no-one and nothing actually alive in it.

[drdemure.livejournal.com]

Ok, what I call it is the "blank canvas". A house is a reflection of your personality, and it's a lot easier to picture what you would do with a place if it isn't already decorated, i.e., the canvas is blank.

Our house stood empty for six months when it was painted strong colors. They came through and painted the walls white, and a month later, we owned it. (I know this because the website had a virtual tour of the house before it was repainted.)

[elegantelbow.livejournal.com]

Our house stood empty for six months when it was painted strong colors.

*nod*

Strong colors can make the rooms look smaller. Most buyers judge house size by how big it feels, not by the square footage on the sheet. And, truthfully, two houses the same size can feel completely differently, depending on how the square footage is used.

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

Because realty studies have shown that people are more reluctant to buy a house that hasn't been depersonalized because it's easier to view it as "someone else's home". Once you depersonalize it, it's easier for them to view their pictures on the wall, etc. because there aren't already pictures of other people hanging there.

[elegantelbow.livejournal.com]

Because it's easier for them to imagine their personality if the house is in a neutral state.

Did you read ossuarian's journaling about selling his house with the reality TV show, Sell This House? Apparently one of the biggest complaints potential buyers had about the house was that there were too many books in it. They thought maybe the owners were from Russia because of it.

The bigger issue, though, is bad smells. Catbox, mold, mildew, anything like that. People buy houses because of how they feel when they're in the house, most of the time.