I've read and heard many opinions on ho to set up a home for sale. Declutter, neutralize paint and wallpaper, etc. What about removing personal items such as family photos, college degrees, posters, etc?
In my opinion, as long as they are not offensive or excessive, I feel it is fine to leave photographs, awards, degrees and other personal items as is. My feeling is that if the current sellers match the demographic of the potential buyers, the house will show fine with these items since the buyers will most likely replace them with their own.
Do you think a house should be neutralized and sterilized or can it be have the same success in being sold if left as is (as long as it meets minimum requirements stated above)? What are your thoughts?
Barry,
I think you are wrong. I watched clients of mine look a family photos of a home the other day...they spent 10 minutes on the home and 15 minutes on all the stuff and pictures in the home. The home needs to stand out and be the star! it needs to be the buyers home...not the sellers home.
If you have ever walked around with Buyer clients, they like nothing more than to look at diplomas and wedding photos. Add in a picture with a celebrity and they are enthralled! I recommend my listing clients remove personal items. I tell them that we want the buyers to be able to focus on their house and not their lovely family and wonderful accomplishments.
Barry -- As an agent who specializes in homes staging, I believe it's best to remove most personal items. It's not a matter of them being "offensive" (usually) it's more that people start to feel as if they're intruding on someone else's space when the home is "personalized". When it looks more like a model home, people can see themselves living there but don't waste unnecessary time trying to "look past" the personalization of the current owner.
Furthermore, you never know what kind of negative reaction someone could have to the most innocuous of photos. A wedding photo? What if someone's just going through a bitter divorce? A photo with the kids? What if someone has been unable to have children and it's a very painful topic for them?
Well staged homes exemplify a lifestyle that the prospective buyers aspire to, so it's important that we don't pigeonhole the house as a "family" house or an "empty nester's" house so people of all demographics can see themselves living there. It's important to play up the benefits of the house (maybe there's a space that would be a perfect play room) but not in such a specific way that prospective buyers can't see other potential uses for that same space.
Here's a quick thought (from someone not in the sales side)...you never know what your buyer will or won't like. Why take the risk of offending a potential buyer with something you never imagined would offend the "demographics" you're targeting. Better safe (and clean and neutral) than sorry.
Barry , How are you guy , long time no see. I would remove most of the pictures as the buyers may remember the pictures more than the house. Hope all is going well with you
As a home stager, I usually recommend removing all personal photos, diplomas, etc. Firstly, they are distracting. You want the buyer looking at the house, not the photos regardless of how charming they are. Secondly, if the buyer is from a different demographic (your term) they might be turned off by something in the photos.
Most importantly, home sellers don't know who will be touring their home. The less private information out there, the better. Do you really want everyone to know that there is a pretty 12 yr. old girl or adorable 6 yr. old boy living in the home? Or dad's full name, address, where he went to college, what he does for a living and when he graduated? Unless you are doing a background check on every potential buyer, remove the photos and the diplomas.
I think if the seller would like to keep their home feeling like their home while it is on the market they should keep some personal things around. I know a lady that had all her stuff put away and a buyer went through her drawers-yes they may be distracting but you need to feel at home-regardless of the fact that you are selling the house. I do agree that you don't need wall to wall pics and stuff like that- but believe that a few photos aren't going to make it or break it
I agree Michelle 250+ %% !
This is really important and something a seller should not overlook. Why have things in the home that do not NEED TO BE THERE !
Thanks,
Tom Davis
World Class DE Realtor
Thank you for your very interesting comments. It seems most of you feel that personal items need to be removed. How many of you have actually had a client eliminate a home because of personal items? Some of you made comments that buyers remember the pictures but not the home. Maybe this isn't a bad thing. Buyers see so many homes on the internet so could it be an advantage to have one stick in their memory?
Lastly, how have you convinced your sellers to remove all of their items especially when homes are taking longer to sell?
I look forward to your replies.