House Hunt - part 1

I've written before about the joys of trying to sell a house (1, 2 and 3), but tonight is about trying to buy.

Given the market conditions, and the increasing glut of houses coming online:




Thursday I met with a professional "stager". This ladies job is to tell the seller how to display the house for maximum value. Bottomline? She tells you to spend money, lots.

Recommendations for the house were to redo the floor in the kitchen, put in a new oven, possibly a new fridge, and paint the cabinets. Then to paint the dining/living room, and find a way to bring in a dining room table. Paint the entire downstairs, and to bring in my couch at my place.

Upstairs things got easier, we're only painting 3 of the 4 bedrooms. But I do need to bring my bed over, and the master bath is just a mess (think circa 1975 styling).

All of this adds time to the process, with more houses coming on to the market, prices potentially dropping, etc. Plus, you know, spending money and the headaches of all the work.


Let's hope it doesn't get to this: