We’re admitting to a poorly timed project that left our house looking worse right before it went on the market. Whoops. In this post we also explain the variety of ways we’re selling our homes: all three are being sold differently, with some handled by real estate agents and others managed by us. We break down how and why we chose each route, including why we paid for a pre-inspection on our Richmond house and how that shaped our listing prep. Sherry also shares an accidental but effective way she decluttered her digital life.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- Our garage has never been this clean, empty, or cobweb-free since we moved in — all because we’ve been staging and prepping the house for showings that took place this past weekend.
- Sherry’s post on staging your house to sell has detailed tips on decluttering, neutralizing, and deep-cleaning before listing, including small, low-cost DIY projects you can do yourself. For example, the room below was staged by simply editing the furniture (some pieces were moved to a nearby family room) and updating the wall and fireplace color. Here’s the before:
- And here’s the after. Nothing was purchased — everything was swapped from other rooms and pared down. Yes, the room may feel a bit sparse, but it also appears much larger. Remember: you’re selling the house, not the furniture. That home went under contract one day after listing, thanks in large part to the staging.
- If you’re deciding whether to hire a real estate agent or sell on your own, we’ve discussed that at length in past episodes and posts. We explain the pros and cons of each approach, including mistakes we made when selling our first house ourselves and step-by-step experiences from our second sale. This time around, we’re using agents for two of the three sales and handling the third ourselves, and the podcast discusses the rationale behind each choice.
- We also shared a detailed list of everything we did to prep our last house for sale, and we plan to assemble a similar checklist for this property. For more information, see our dedicated category covering moving, selling, and buying for practical tips across the whole process.
Well That’s Embarrassing
- Here’s our backyard in less-than-ideal shape after we had to rerun the electrical line to the shed a few weeks ago. With a different season we might have coaxed the lawn back to green before listing, but at least the shed has power — that improvement was worth the temporary mess.
We’re Digging
- We recently started playing Blokus, a fast, easy-to-learn game a friend gave us. Both our five- and nine-year-old picked it up quickly — and both have beaten me more than once. It sets up fast, plays quickly, and has been a great new addition to the game closet.
- If Sherry’s Teamocil musical quip sounded familiar, it’s a reference to a musical moment from Arrested Development. We included the clip in the episode for a bit of silliness.
If you’re trying to remember an item we mentioned in a past episode, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been “digging” across all shows. We also maintain a page for all the books we recommended in our Book Club.
Finally, thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. They offered a discount code that was highlighted during the episode for listeners, and we appreciate their support. Note: some links in our posts may be affiliate links, which can earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Thanks for reading — and for listening!
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