SFGate

Darzy Yes. Listen to your real estate broker if you want to sell your house quickly and for top dollar. He/she knows that many buyers can't "see it" and they want to sell your house quickly and for the best price, just like you.

Darzy PS. If I were selling my home, I would also paint my walls a more neutral color and put 30% of my "stuff" in storage. How you live in your home and how your sell your home is 2 different things. Don't be offended. It's just the way it is.

annieooch lets be realistic, what is top dollar? Paint isnt the big issue. Before you go crazy, be honest about your neighborhood, and home. If its a great one, an elephant in the living room with plaid and polka dot walls would sell-I've seen it. You need to know your area. The home must be clean! Pay someone if you don't want to do it, but clean is key. I would scale as much down, clear out closets, open window views (curtains), and take it from that point. People are not fools, they can picture it, they just dont want to buy it. A modern home buyer will not look at a Victorian home, unless its a steal. They go for a type of house, style comes with the person. A true buyer will redo color schemes anyway. they need to know that they wont have problems along the way, and or have to do it before they move in. Listings are sitting again, people waiting for the summer buzz, be patient. Years back we would urge owns to get a home warranty. Give the buyers something. A home warranty, costs you $500,but it gives a buyer thousands in security in a unknown economy. Go a couple towns over ask strangers (cashier at store, or call realtor's in other towns), see what they think of your towns schools, shops, outdoors activities, and etc. Listen to them, and make sure listing has those "key" words. The true kicker, price. What will 5 months on the market do for you? Could you hold out for only 3? How much is sitting costing you? compare recent sold MLS, with your cost of sitting, and regroup.
Think about it, Good luck.

Meredith Harp This is the room with only one real antique, and the rest simply traditional furniture. The wall is off-white but reflects the sun, the floor, etc. A large blue oriental rug in the center was removed and the small brown or black rug put under the coffee table. Many other pieces were removed from the room for sale purposes.
Suggestions?

annieooch pull everything away from walls. Scale is the problem. The couch is lost on that wall. I see rugs that are way too small, and nothing in between. Use the flow of the room. no sure what that is, use the structures, ie doors, pathway, windows. they tell a story for the room. take the two sets of doors, this defines the space. One for "dining area" and one for "living area". make a conversation area. put couch acroos from of chair set, it will be backed to dining area, and define that with YOUR larger rug. bring that baby back!! same in dine rm. put larger rug under table and chairs.( FYI rugs should come out past, where your chair would be placed at sitting, and should fit under the couch or just the center of conversation area). The rug colors or style wont hurt this at all. Want to add a punch of color buy or use a nice blanket to toss over couch. no need to slip cover. you wnat to sell your home, not your couch. pull the pictures down to eye level (60-68" roughly off the ground) The place looks clean, and bright. maybe bring in a sofa table, or smaller lamps but, dont go crazy. The style doesn't matter, you need to utilize this beautiful space. Buyers know, the rugs go with you. The worst thing about bringing back your larger rug.... they'll walk out saying" uh, horrible flowers on that rug, I'd put a ____ rug instead." Fill the space make it a home.

Abode Your broker has given you best case scenario for selling your home for the highest profit in the shortest amount of time - making it appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. Obviously budget and circumstance have to figure into the equation. My advice would be to follow his advice to the best of your ability - and ask him to prioritize all his recommendations. From what you've mentioned here, I would say the most important item is painting the interior a warm, light, neutral color that tones in with fixtures like granite and tile (those items that are fixed and cannot change.) That way, the overall look of the home is consistent, and fresh paint makes everything look better! It's difficult to step back and be objective when you've been living in the home, and have emotional attachments to your furnishings, but if you can separate yourself from the home you are leaving, and let a professional market it for you, you'll be able to focus on creating your new home just the way you want it!

Linda What is the agent's record for selling homes? Did you pick this person because the homes they list sell quickly for top dollar? Or, did you use someone you know from other circumstances?

What advice did you get from other realtors before you listed the house for sale? Did you have two or three others come through and give you their ideas on how to present your house for sale? What feedback have you gotten from potential buyers? Does the listing have professional photos to highlight the house?

Also, the agent gets paid a percentage of sale price so naturally they want you to improve the home to keep the sale price higher. But, spending $10,000 on fixing up a house so it will sell for $10,000 more is not a winner because you pay commission and fees on the increase in the price.

Before you spend too much money, try talking to a home stager or other agents in your area. Before you take on any major recommendations, get a bit more background.

sam0705 It makes sense to paint bold colors. People feel very strongly about yellow, pumpkin, salmon, etc.
In terms of furniture maybe you can go to target a pick up some neutral slipcovers. Target has a lot of trendy accessories that might make the house look more youthful with the sample furnishings - table runners, throw pillows etc.
unless you live in an area like I do where the location is so desirable that people will buy anything, I think you do need to assume a buyer has no vision and wants to so as little work as possible including paint.

sam0705 Sorry for the typos I meant your "same" furnishings

Home Staging By Lisa Hi Meredith--from the photo you posted it's difficult to know what the purpose of this room truly is? When it comes to selling a home, a neutral yet warm & inviting atmosphere is what buyers are looking for; your home's presentation needs to define the space througout so buyers are not left guessing what to do with the space; have you considered contacting a professional home stager in your area; they know what appeals to target markets including paint colors, furnishings, etc.; wishing you much success!

Meredith Harp What helpful comments! Thanks to all of you.

If you click on the picture, it does enlarge, but maybe not enough.

We interviewed three brokers. All they said was they'd stage it for us, and one person said we had to install granite in the kitchen (even though our laminate and tile were in perfect condition). So we installed granite and refurbished the back splash.
Now I have non-stop requests for new light fixtures in kitchen (we did that), new blinds throughout main floor (we did that), get rid of teak tables and every piece of furniture in the family room (we did that), and repaint the great room (photo shown) and family area (which is a medium blue-gray), and we have not done that. In a former house we repainted everything in beautiful creams and light browns, only to have the buyer repaint every square inch on moving day.

Your suggestions about making the room tell a story are great. But I'm a whole day's distance from my house, so I can't do much from here. Any pictures we did have a eye height the broker took away (we had a lot of 19th century prints, some hand-thrown pottery pieces, and a few hand- made things from Africa and China.) Anything that didn't look like a department store window didn't pass the stager's test, and I was afraid to leave anything on surfaces because it would be considered clutter.

The broker keeps bringing in chocolate pillows and black/white rugs, which I guess are trendy.

I will see about the couch throw idea. What else could I add? And what can I do to make that rose Queen Anne chair look less like Queen Anne and more like Candice Olson?

Thanks so much for these comments!

Abode It sounds like the broker may be trying to be the Stager as well? (bringing in throws, etc.) You would probably have less headache if you consulted a professional stager, who should make recommendations based on your budget, and either stage the whole home or bring in just enough furniture and accessories to round out and complete the important rooms. A good staging firm will stay within your budget and offer a great deal of knowledgeable help. Basically, you should be able to step back and let the Broker and Stager worry about furnishing and accessorizing the house without forcing you to run out buying things you won't be keeping.