I have a little quiz for you. If you were going to buy a house based solely on the condition of the bathroom, which of the following bathrooms would you choose? Remember you can click on the picture to see an enlarged view.
A or B
Should we take a poll and get the results tomorrow or would you like to know immediately? I'm guessing everybody would choose bathroom B. Why? because it looks fresh and clean. The yellowed vinyl flooring in A makes it feel creepy and the walls by the toilet paper holder look grimy as well. It might help if the clutter was gone, but it feels kind of icky the way it is. Was I right? Did you all choose B?
What I didn't tell you is that this is a trick question. The two pictures are one and the same bathroom. They are the before and after of a bathroom I personally prepared for rent. The picture on the left was after an 18 year lease to one tenant who chain smoked (I'm not making a political statement about smokers, just the reality of what smoke does to the walls of a house.). The vinyl had never been changed or the walls painted in that time. The debris was the way he left it when he vacated his unit.
The picture on the right is the same bathroom with a fresh coat of paint and a $20 remnant of new vinyl flooring installed by a handyman. Total cost to upgrade the bathroom was $135 which included a new wax ring and a new shut off valve on the toilet because it dripped when it was turned off to install the vinyl.
Even though the bathroom is the same bathroom, the difference is why staging a house for sale is so important. People live in their homes on a day to day basis and don't realize how yellowed walls, flooring or drapes have become. We all have a list of repairs that we're planning to do someday. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, but it is time to do the list when you want to sell your house. Things wear out gradually and we aren't always aware of the change. A stager will take a hard look at your home with all its comfortableness and help you to see how to make it sparkle for its time on the market like it sparkled when you first bought it. Remember you want your house to be like bathroom B in all its shiny splendor!
Think that is why I have lived in the same house for 17 years, i am not sure I could get it clean enought to sell. It would take me a half hour just to declutter the fridge. :)
Posted by: teresa boardman | November 22, 2006 at 05:44 AM