We showed our house a total of 16 times. So eventually we got to be old pros at it.
At first we had no idea what we were doing. I mean of course we:
- cleaned the house like mad (vacuumed, dusted, etc)
- picked up all dog and baby toys
- turned on all the lights so everything looked bright and welcoming
- baked something yummy beforehand (so it would smell as good as it looked)
- removed the cutting board and the dishtowel from the counter in the kitchen so there was more granite on display
- removed the bath mat in the full bathroom (to show off more of the stone floor tile)
- polished all the faucets and fixtures to make them shine (water marks are easy enough to wipe down)
- tidied our bedroom’s built-in closets (since we were offering the wardrobes and the bed frame with the sale of the house, we wanted them to be neat when people poked around)
- emptied the garbage and recycling
- made sure all the toilet lids were down
- blew the driveway, front porch, and patio (so acorns and errant leaves didn’t sabotage our curb appeal)
- unlocked the separate entry basement door (so people could slip in and out more easily)
All those things were fine and dandy, but we didn’t actually get a handle on showing our house in the most professional way the first few times we tried it. Which was a shame because it was especially important since we were attempting to sell our house by owner. Seriously, we were nuts. Allow me to paint you a picture: the doorbell would ring and Burger would bark for five minutes while I held the baby and sang to her while letting people in and trying to quiet Burger. Then John would offer to give people the tour as dog and baby chaos ensued in the background. No wonder the first two showings were a bust.
But by attempt number three we got a bit more savvy. We learned that one single solitary person doing each showing (with zero dogs/babies in the background) was the way to go – heck, maybe we could even convince someone we were realtors in a past life. So I outsourced the showings to John since he’s the more detail and date oriented person (he actually remembers the month that we got new windows and when we last serviced our HVAC) while Burger, Clara, and I ducked out of the house for a nice long walk around the neighborhood before the doorbell rang. Can I just say that I’ve lost nearly five pounds thanks to all that walking? Well, that and maybe some house-for-sale stress. Sixteen showings might not sound like a lot, but it sure felt like it to us! Especially when we hit our all-time high of four showings in one day two Sundays ago. Yeah, that’s a lot of walking.
But where do pooch, bean, and I go if it’s raining out? Here’s where we got creative. John masterminded the idea of parking our car a few houses down. That way Clara, Burger, and I could hang out in the warm dry Altima while John worked his house-showing magic (and even rock out to the radio and approve comments via iPhone while we were at it). It sounds kind of depressing but it was actually pretty hilarious. In fact I snapped these pictures to document the good time that was had by all. First, my kiddos enjoyed sharing my lap:
And Clara had some fun with a granola bar that I found in the middle console (the wrapper kind of made a crunching sound like a rattle)…
I also learned that keys can fill in for toys in a pinch (you know I love working with what I have).
Plus Clara earned her varsity letter in napping. Just look at her go in the driver’s seat.
So in summary, we were so very fortunate to have so much interest in our home and we’ll share all the for-sale-by-owner tricks and tips that we picked up along the way soon (when it comes to marketing, getting traffic, and all that jazz). Until then Clara, Burger and I can be found hanging out in the car. You know, for old time’s sake.
Beth@Just {Heart}It says
Congrats on the sale and losing five pounds! :-)
Jackie says
Too funny about hanging out in the car! It’s also interesting to hear how you coped with the house selling process which was no easy task with a baby and dog involved.
When my husband and I viewed houses a couple years ago we saw it all. I remember one seller who was highly inflexible about times when the house could be shown because they had two kids at home. I understand that having kids presents a challenge, but we immediately got a “high maintenance” feeling from this seller when they told the realtor that he had to arrive at a certain time and we only had a max of 20 minutes in the house. I am thankful that we didn’t like that house because the seller sounded hard to deal with.
Enough with my rambling, just saying that you sound like you did all the right things in terms of staging your house and making sure Clara and Burger weren’t in the middle of the chaos!
Brent says
So many details, but it’s all those extra little things that get the job done. Congratulations on the houses (the purchase and sale) and thanks for posting about the process. I’m definitely looking forward to finding out all the details on how you proceeded with the for-sale-by-owner route. I’ll be doing the same in a year or two once I’m done updating (and the market here in gloomy California comes back a little… fingers crossed) and could use everyone’s experiences.
Blair R says
Hey! Love your blog. I have a question (may have already been asked/answered) but did people coming through your house know about this blog? :) Did it generate traffic for yall? And, I have to know, are you leaving behind your amazing Ikea in-room bedroom closets!? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Blair,
We did get a few showings thanks to people who knew about our blog, but at least 80% of them knew nothing of the blog and came through a realtor after driving by our house and seeing the for sale sign or seeing it online on craigslist or something. We were shocked that not only were our buyers completely unaware of our blog (although we did disclose it to them so they’re in the know that images of the house with our furniture in it will remain on the site) but the vast majority of house hunters had no idea about our blog. I guess we thought YHL would bring potential house hunters in, but that really wasn’t the case. Maybe because our readers love a good fixer-upper instead! Haha.
Oh and yes, we’re leaving our bedroom built-ins and even the bed frame behind since they fit so perfectly!
xo,
s
Shelley says
When John gets a new hat none of us will recognize him in the photos anymore! LOL
Congrats on the sale and the buy! Can’t wait to see your new ideas and projects. Happy New Adventures!
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons says
LOL you’re going to have a LOT of stories to tell Clara about her early years… including this one! =) I wouldn’t have even known where to start when it comes to buying or selling a house if it wasn’t for you guys — Thank you so much for all of the tips and advice!
xoXOxo
Jenn
Johnna says
As I read I am SOOOO happy for you guys and SOOOOO jealous!
We listed our house the same weekend as you guys, and haven’t had a SINGLE SHOWING!!!!
We’ve reduced the price SIGNIFICANTLY…any thoughts/tips for gettin em in the door? We are using a listing agent, and I keep seeing my profit shrink with each and every reduction…SO FRUSTRATING! We’re already taking a loss…I just don’t want to make it a 100% loss.
Johnna
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Johnna,
We’re actually writing up a detailed post all about how we did our best to get our house sold quickly. Stay tuned….
xo,
s
Amanda says
Hey, you guys got iPhones!
Maybe I missed the post about getting them but I remember the post about John wanting one.
My husband and I just love our iPhones –
It truly is a mini computer!
Anyway, congrats on everything!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we got one (we figured two of them for two people who share a car and work at home might be a bit much). The funny thing is that we consider the iPhone to be mine (while John has a junky basic cheap-o phone to keep our data costs down). He’s counting down the seconds until he can upgrade to something a little less terrible. Poor guy.
xo,
s
Ana says
When I sold my house last summer, fortunately it was a good time to sell because of the tax credit and because the Austin market hasn’t taken the hit many others have. But I still had 2 dogs to wrangle while working full-time — I vacuumed twice a day and wiped the dogs’ paws when they’d come in from the yard. During the day, I outsourced one dog to a friend who lived really close by and I’d take my other dog on long drives during showings after a mad dash home from work. Luckily, the house sold after multiple offers within about 3 days on the market total. Whew.
I’m really interested in hearing about the whole FSBO process for future reference. Others have mentioned that in their cities they seem to be boycotted by realtors. I’m not sure if that’s the case here so it may not be feasible, but if I can save some money the next time around, I’ll give it a shot. (But don’t tell my realtor I said that!)
heyruthie says
yes, we call this “divide and conquer,” and it’s sad when you realize that you end up doing more and more of it as time goes on *sniff* but it does make you more appreciative of the outings that you *do* get to have with your spouse, and you get nostalgic about the times before kids when every trip to Home Depot was a “date.”
- Sarah :-) says
Can’t wait to learn more about how you tackled this FSBO process successfully. Heck – maybe Studly and I will give it a shot, too! Woohoo! Congratulations. :-)
Carole says
congrats on a quick sale/purchase!
our neighbours were renting a house that was on the market, and they had two small kids…the mom always took the wee ones out for a stroll during showings, which worked well, until the one day a huge storm started brewing about 5 minutes after they left…as we saw the dark clouds gathering, we were about to hop in the car and circle the area to see if we could rescue them, but they made it home just as it started to pour…
during our 11-day house selling experience, we had at least a showing per day (including a Saturday with 5 showings!)…our kids are older, so we would hit the road and head out for a meal (or to the library)…a few times we arrived home to find people still there (once saw them snapping pictures of the outside!)
Kate (Olives and Daisies) says
I have never been on the selling side, but when we bought our first house I did notice that some people really staged there houses and some just did not give an ounce of thought to it! One thing we did notice was that the people who did not stage, care or even vacuum before we came over were more willing to deal on price, I assumed it was because most every one who saw it before us just saw a dark dirty old house and we saw the potential below the un-vacuumed carpet!! (we bought a major fixer upper too) SO congrats to you for having such a cute house & family (and getting your house sold on your own bravo!) and cheers to moving onto a new chapter and project!
http://olivesanddaisies.blogspot.com/
Roshni says
it sounds like a lot of effort…which bore fruit! Love that Clara likes Fibre One bars!! ;)
Evergirl says
:-)
I sooo recognize that. When we sold our last apartment, the agent would call an hour ahead when he found someone who where interested and hubby would have to hurry home from work, put our two cats and their litterbox in the elevator and go down and wait in the basement (or car) until the showing was over. He did this at least three times, because we didnt want potential buyers to know that there had been cats in the house.
And trying to live in that staged and styled little apartment for the week of showing was just terrible. We had barely one suitcase each with all our stuff, and every morning we had to clean every little cup and spoon that we used for breakfast and dry it and put it back into the drawer, fluff the towels, make the bed properly and remember to hide all evidence of people living there.
We were very relieved when we finally signed.
kitliz @ DIYdiva says
One thing that worked for me was instead of walking through and being like “and this is the kitchen” I just let them run through and look at everything first. (I mean, they know what a kitchen is) but then I walked them through a second time to point out features.
Also, I totally put my cats in the car (with the AC on and my significant other) the first time the future buyers walked through, it’s a great showing trick!
Congrats on the sale!
Heidi H. says
Until y’all, I thought it was impossible to sell by owner! You guys rock!
hi-d says
Great idea!
Rachael Ensom says
Im sure people in your area are itching to buy this famous house! I know I would be if I lived there! It will be sold before you know it!
Elizabeth says
There seems to be a Fiber One trend in your photos lately! Just a word of warning…do not be fooled by how tasty those things are and eat too many in one 24 hour period.
Just sayin’.
kathy says
Sounds like you certainly didn’t try to put anyone off for very long… did you determine a strategy early on that you’d let PB’s come when they wanted to, or try to stick to some schedule?
YoungHouseLove says
Kathy – We didn’t stick to any schedule for showings. Since we’re home throughout the day we were happy to let people come whenever they wanted (rather than risk them deciding that working around our schedule was too much trouble).
Elizabeth – I guess that has been a theme. Thanks for the warning about not indulging in too many too quickly. Ha!
-John
Blair says
Random question: With moving comes a moving sale. Are you having one? If so, what are the chances that (despite your desire for privacy, which I totally respect!) you’ll let some of your local readers in on the date/time/location? I’m sure there are plenty of us who would buy stuff!!
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to work out a sale at a neutral location that we’d feel comfortable sharing but we’ll have to see how busy we are and if we can get our acts together! We’d definitely have fun meeting some locals and unloading some extra stuff!
xo,
s
Tatyana says
Great tips! I’m curious what you did when the appraiser came when you refinanced the house a while back. Was it the same fixing/cleaning/organizing as when you were showing it to sell it? We need to appraise our place to refinance it and were wondering if you had any tips.
YoungHouseLove says
We always like to have our house pretty clean when people are coming over, but we didn’t go to the insane lengths that we did for selling (like using a ladder to clean the glass doors in the sunroom). It also helps to tell the appraiser any improvements you’ve made since buying since they might not have a clue otherwise (we mentioned all the updates we did and our appraiser really liked being in the know).
xo,
s
Julianna says
Over the summer my boyfriend and I helped his parents show their house. IT WAS HARD WORK!! They have three dogs, one of which is a puppy and their house (complete with separate guest house) was sitting on 4 acres. So you can imagine how many lights that was! One day we had 5 showings (just the two of us) and we would always have to leave and entertain the dogs for a showing block of an hour and a half. It was one crowded Camry! Much to our dismay it sold in a month but his parents couldn’t be happier in their new (smaller) home. Congratulations you made it through one of hardest parts! Can’t wait to see the new house!
Ange says
Hilarious! The picture in the car makes you look like a stalker..and, your babies are adorable.
Kathryn says
Yay!! Way to get creative. :) Did you get anyone who recognized the house from the blog and knew their stuff when they were walking through? “Ah, yes, the bathroom remodel! I saw it unfold online!” Just curious, you guys do have a lot of subscribers so I bet the odds would be high!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kathryn,
The few blog readers that came to see the house already knew who we were before coming (the pictures online with our listing made it pretty obvious). So nobody had any realizations during the showings or anything like that. But it was pretty interesting that around 80-90% of the house hunters who toured our house had no idea about the blog. Probably because the homes our blog readers would be attracted to would be fixer uppers instead of already done – haha.
xo,
s
Nat says
Loving these posts where you are disclosing how “normal” you are…crying babies, barking dogs, hiding out in cars and then how excited you were over your Nate show appearance. Thanks! You guys are very likable but I’m sure you realise that already.
Deborah says
Congrats on the sale and the purchase. I was wondering if you made a brochure with “house facts” such as how old the roof was, when was the hot water heater last replaced and other house updates. Also did you have a brochure on the neighborhood, including schools, parks & stores?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Deborah,
We had a one page flier with stats like all the things we improved or replaced (and the year they were added/upgraded) and other tidbits about the location/property like the square footage, the schools, etc. It seemed like just enough info not to be overwhelming but still helpful.
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I think this is the funniest post yet…Sherry you look like your on the run from something and Burger and Clara are along for the ride…this made me howl!! Thanks for sharing:)
Dana @ House*Tweaking says
This is hilarious and EXACTLY what we did when we sold our first house by owner! Handy Hubby would show the house while our boxer, 2 yr old son and I would camp out in our SUV somewhere…usually the park so we could get out…but it was November and cold. I’d also throw all the dog stuff in the car {crate, bed, food bowls} so no one was the wiser that a dog lived in the house. I’m totally jealous that you got Clara to nap though…my lil’ guy wouldn’t nap in the car for anything. Great job on selling your house by owner! I’m so proud of you!
annabelvita says
If Clara wasn’t on the scene, would you have taken Burger out or just crated him?
YoungHouseLove says
We definitely would have taken him! He barks like crazy when the doorbell rings or he hears voices he doesn’t recognize- even from his crate. So it definitely would have been disruptive either way! Plus we figure probably the less “pet evidence” people see (from hair to dog toys and even the actual pet) allows them to visualize the house as one they could move right into. Instead of being “the house with the dog” in their head. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Denise says
Just wondering if the sellers at your new DIY dream ranch did all the above items for their showings? Wow ~ how great it would be to move into a house where almost every sq. inch had been scrubbed with a toothbrush. Your buyers are SO lucky! Congrats on getting “under contract” so quickly.
Emily P. says
Congrats on selling you’re home! We’ve actually been on this same path as you guys. We used an agent last spring, hated the idea of losing valuable dollars to someone we weren’t getting a good vibe from, and took it off the market after 3 months of torture. Then, about 3 weeks ago, we put it back on By Owner, used fsbo.com for a $300 mls listing, and sold it within 14 days! Now we are working to find our next home, and have our hearts set on one that just needs a ‘lil bit of love to make it just right. If all goes well, your posts on your new house we be my inspiration to helping us get there!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Emily,
So glad to hear about your success story! Congrats on a quick sale by owner!
xo,
s
abriana says
I know you’re not busy enough, so you should add “Nate Berkus Show” to your “As Seen On” column and “About us” page! ;) I’m just still proud of you guys for getting on the show!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Abriana! We’ll have to update that soon!
xo,
s
crystal cole says
do you wake up in the morning and:
-brush teeth (check)
– shove camera in pocket (check)
because you always have the neatest/most random/candid shots. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, well I usually have my iPhone on me and I keep our little point & shoot in my purse so we usually have something on hand!
xo,
s
harmony says
Do you guys have a post about the regular maintenance-y stuff you do on your house? Like servicing your HVAC and that kind of thing? It’s our first year of home ownership, and we keep feel like we’re forgetting something ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Harmony,
We actually don’t have a post like that yet. My best tip is that I keep one sheet of 8 x 10 white paper with everything on it. The oil delivery guy’s number, the HVAC maintenance guy, the plumber we used a few times, our termite inspector’s number, etc. Then I just take the sheet out every month or so and look around to see if I’m forgetting to service something or get something delivered. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sally says
A random comment about showings: if your looking at a house that has renters, cut the owner some slack on flexibility.
We rented from an owner who was trying to FSBO. It was in our lease that he would give us 24 hours notice of a showing. Basically, since we were renting at market rate, it didn’t seem fair for us to have to prepare for a showing every day for two months. So, the notice gave us time to come home from work and spiffy things up before the showing. We were flexible on the 24 hours as long as we could run home first.
Leslie says
I recently came across your blog via Brooklyn Limestone, and started reading some of the older posts first. Just wanted to say that I love your site and all the DIY tips and tricks you share. This post was very cute, I love the pics from the car! Can’t wait to read some more and catch up to the present. :)