posted on June 21, 2001 03:59:39 AM
I bought this house 2 years ago, swore I'd never move again... then hubb got a transfer so all of a sudden we're moving!
My realtor's first reaction when she walked in, "Wow, you DO have a lot of stuff".. she kind of wrinkled her nose as she said it. While I DID try to neaten up, I still have chatchke (spelled wrong, I know that) all over the place. I have boxes in my garage, I have shelves with stuff stacked to the ceiling. No hope of getting more than one car in there... There is barely enough room to walk around! It is an oversized garage which looks tiny with all the stuff piled in it.
I have my ebay pit.. err.. room, full of stuff, listed and waiting for payment, I have my guest bedroom set up as a photography studio, two colored backdrops, a drop light and lamps with no shades, clothes and misc piled upon the bed, (at least, I THINK there's a bed somewhere under there...) etc.
I have cabinets stuffed with things I've picked up that I think I'll need at some point in the future. (Oh yeah, I'm a packrat as well as an eBayer!)
Like the song says:
No place to run to baby,
No place to hide.
We had a few showings, everyone spent virtually NO time in the crammed-full garage and a TON of time in the back of the house where my eBay junk is better spread out, I'm sure they were wondering why I had all this crapola stacked everywhere! Against all odds, we did get a contract after only 5 showings, thank God!
The home inspection was yesterday, we passed with flying colors primarily, I'm sure, because the inspector couldn't get near anything to test it! About the only things they could get near enough to check were a closet door that doesn't latch and the guest bathtub faucet drips when you are taking a shower. They always find something to write up, don't they?
My next challenge, my moving sale. What a sale it's going to be too. Everything is going to be up for grabs. I was thinking of advertising it as an ebay seller's moving sale. What do you think? I could also rightfully advertise as a multi family estate sale, since that's where a ton of this stuff came from. (I won't do that though.) I would rather take losses on some of this stuff rather than pack it!
Has anyone else out there had to sell off in order to move? Should I price it like a yard sale or should I price it between yard and ebay price? Do you think people will care that this is ebayable stuff? Should I leave that out completely?
posted on June 21, 2001 04:44:36 AM
If your hubbie's company is paying for the sale why not pack up the top 10 or 15% of the stuff you really think will sell and take it?
If you are getting negative reactions from the people viewing the house it may cost you far more in the selling price of the house than the value of the goods.
After you seperate what goes I would rent a storage locker and put all the trade goods and as much of your personal things as possible all neatly boxed and labeled in the
storage room so the house is as empty as possible. It will show and sell better.
posted on June 21, 2001 04:52:18 AM
Sadly Gravid, he works for the county and they don't pay squat. You do have an excellent suggestion about the storage locker though. Maybe I should just keep it all in one of those anyway!
We did get a contract with an over asking price offer. We have to throw in the spa (which we didn't want to move anyway), a fridge and a washer. Not too bad all in all.
posted on June 21, 2001 05:49:03 AM
Over price? One of those housing markets huh?
In a market like that you can get away with almost anything. Good for you!
I rented a 10x10 heated and airconditioned storage room and so far the dumpster diving rights have more than paid for the $123/month. I made $610 the first month.
