Continued from the previous page.

THE EXTERIOR: 

We weren't busy just on the interior of the house; we also had to keep the outside looking good, too.

That included the siding; windows; front and back porches, deck, walkways, railings, and steps; stone and wooden retaining walls; driveway; and the lawn, landscaping, and woods.

Front porch and walkway  (5-29-14)

Steps (left) to deck and screened-in porch on back of house  (3-7-14)

Screened-in porch in the afternoon sun; it feels like a tree house. 
(professional photo by Graphic Dimensions, Inc.)

Fortunately, we did a lot of the work outside last year, including sealing the driveway and staining the exterior of the house and all that decking, etc. 

This year we replaced a few cracked boards in the walkway, refreshed the stain colors on the siding and decking in places where they had weathered, installed a new ceiling fan in the screened porch, and sealed the driveway again so buyers could see they wouldn't have to do any of these chores for a while.

LANDSCAPING

It's critical that the front yard and entry look their best when you're selling a house. First impressions count. So one of our bigger projects this spring was finishing a landscaping project we began last fall.

Before we left on our winter trip last November we ripped out two large, overgrown evergreen shrubs next to the front steps and planted several new azaleas in their place. The next photos show the shrubs in May of 2013 before we took them out and midway through the job:

 

I didn't want to leave the space empty for several months while we were gone. Jim warned me that planting them right before leaving was a mistake, and he was right. It was a colder winter than usual and we weren't there to water the new plants. Consequently, several of them died while we were gone.

So one of my jobs -- one of the more fun ones -- when the azaleas were available in local garden stores this spring was to pick out some new ones to replace the ones that died. They added nice color and interest to the entry, as did new mulch and some coordinating bedding flowers.

Newly-planted azaleas, barberries, and annual/perennial flowers near entry on 4-21-14

More growth but a little less flower color six weeks later (5-29-14)

We also made the porch more welcoming (AKA "staging") with comfortable chairs, a table, and some potted plants near the front door.

We flew the flag every day (we do that at our campsites, too): 

View of porch by Graphic Dimensions, Inc.

Relaxing view from the porch to more trees across our little country road  (4-21-14)

Jim fertilized the grass, sowed new seeds, watered the lawn, and mowed often so the yard looked as green and lush as possible. Fortunately it was springtime and he didn't have to deal with falling leaves.

I edged the walkway, an annual chore, and kept up with the incessant job of weeding the extensive perennial beds. I cleaned up fallen branches in the woods close to the house and Jim cut up some trees that blocked the trails.

We didn't have the time, equipment, or physical strength to clear the large oaks and other hardwoods that blew over from high winds the last couple of years. The new owners have enough firewood out there for several generations (11 of the 12 acres are wooded).

Several colors of daylilies bloomed in our garden in June and July
but we were rarely there to see them.  (6-24-14)

Even though I love to garden I'm happy I won't have to deal with the more demanding outdoor yard chores any more.

I did enjoy seeing what perennials still bloom in our beds in June, despite our absence every summer the last ten years except 2008. We usually left on our summer trips in early May; I had forgotten all the different kinds of flowers that bloom from May to September!

DE-CLUTTERING & DE-PERSONALIZING

These two concepts may be even more important when selling a house than updating it.

Buyers want to see spacious rooms and lots of storage space because most of them have as much (maybe more) *stuff* as we do. They don't want to see all of our stuff cluttering the rooms, closets, kitchen cabinets, basement, or garage.

Nor do they want to see our family photos, collectables, and other personal memorabilia. They want to be able to envision their own personal belongings in the house, so it's important to depersonalize a house before putting it up for sale.

"Before" staging:  We packed these running awards and photos away before re-staging the study in 
another room. We hung two sophisticated framed-and-matted stamp sheets on the wall above the desk.

It's amazing how easy it is to accumulate *stuff* and how difficult it is to reduce it.

We are not hoarders but we knew we had to get rid of a bunch of things before starting to travel in our RV full time. Selling the house gave us the incentive to do it. Not only would de-cluttering help us sell the house, it would also mean paying for a smaller storage unit for however-many-years until we purchase or rent another property.

We began sorting through our belongings last year but it took quite a while to go through the remainder this spring.

Our biggest challenges were the numerous decisions we had to make about what to keep and what to do with the rest of our belongings. We knew we couldn't take much more with us in the camper than what was already there. And we have no clue when we might decide to rent or buy another dwelling.

How much is practical to keep under such indefinite circumstances?? 

Of the furniture in this photo, we decided to keep only the dining table and chairs, china cabinet,
small cabinet in the corner, two comfy leather recliners, and two end tables; they probably won't 
deteriorate in storage like the area rugs and fabric sofas we sold.  (Cropped professional photo by GDI)

But first things first. Regardless of what we decided to keep in the long run, we had to de-clutter the house before listing it. That included rearranging furniture and having less of it in each room.

Soon after we got back to Roanoke in February we rented a 10x10-foot climate-controlled storage unit a few miles away so we could begin moving furniture and other things there to make the house look larger and less cluttered. Once we had a contract and the odds were very good that we'd close near the end of June, we swapped the small unit for a larger one (10x20 feet) in the same storage building.

Clearing out all of the stored items in the closets, basement, and garden area continued until closing. For every possession we owned we had to made a decision about what to keep, where to keep it, what to sell, what to donate, and what to trash or recycle.

Some items began on one list and ended up on another.

For example, I was hoping someone in my family would want my grandparents' antique bedroom set (two of the four pieces are shown below) but the older family members are also trying to downsize and the younger ones want more modern furniture. Ditto with a lot of other family keepsakes. I ended up selling the furniture and keeping or donating some of the smaller items.

Professional photo of the guest bedroom by GDI

Since we weren't in a good location to have a yard sale and didn't like the inconvenience and low rate of returns on estate sales, we decided to try selling some items on the local Craig's List for the first time.

That was more fun than we expected. The more success we had, the more things we decided to sell that way!

We were very pleased Craig's List worked so well for us. That's how we sold most of our indoor and outdoor furniture, three area rugs, some sporting goods and computer equipment, an old 5th-wheel hitch, a solar panel, and some other items.

We sold some smaller things at a local flea market where we could set up a table for free. Most of the other things we didn't want to keep were donated to friends, relatives, neighbors, or organizations in Roanoke (Habitat Restore, Goodwill, Salvation Army, and The Discover Shop, which donates proceeds to the American Cancer Society). Other items were recycled or trashed.

LIVING WITH LESS -- A LOT LESS

This whole process went easier psychologically than I thought it would. It was very time-consuming but not emotionally draining for us. It was mostly liberating to have less *stuff* to store or clean. The more we got rid of, the easier it was to find more things to sell or give away!

I must admit, however, that it was weird on subsequent trips to Goodwill and the Discover Shop to see a few of our things displayed for sale.

Since we don't know if or when we'll have another house, condo, or apartment we sold or donated most of our furniture and yard/garden equipment. In fact, so much of the furniture was gone by the last week, including the beds, that we stayed out in the camper quite a bit the last few days. We had brought the Cameo back to the house by then.

We can purchase new or used furniture and other household goods at a lower price in the future than it would cost to keep our old stuff for many years in a larger storage unit. Besides, upholstered furniture and mattresses wouldn't fare well even in a controlled-climate storage unit for five or ten years (the temperature is controlled, but not the humidity). The clothing and linens like bedding and towels that we have stored in there may not fare well, either.

We sold the sofa, loveseat, wing chair, and tall bookcase in the living room. We kept the end table,
sofa table, a large framed mirror, and the antique barrister bookcase. (Professional photo by GDI)

We did keep all our photos, scrapbooks, and craft supplies; most life memorabilia; much of my sewing supplies/equipment; some books and decorative objects; about half of the kitchen equipment, fine dinnerware, linens, and small family antiques; our favorite clothes; and a few treasured pieces of furniture.

All of our earthly possessions now fit into our RV and a 10x20-foot climate-controlled storage unit. Imagine that!

STAGING FOR SUCCESS

I've always known how important first impressions are when selling a house but watching all those HGTV shows last winter really brought that concept home, so to speak.

Even though we didn't feel like this house was our "home" -- because we lived so much in the camper IT has been our true "home" the last six or seven years -- we wanted potential buyers to picture it as their next home.

Staging the house after doing the upgrades was the most fun I had in the whole process of preparing our house for sale.

Above and below:  I had so much trouble deciding which comforter I preferred in the master bedroom
that I asked the photographer from GDI to take pictures with both!  (And both were in the online slideshow.)

Staging wasn't without its own stress, however, as you can see from the two photos above!

First, we had to decide whether to hire a professional stager or do the job ourselves. I ended up doing it myself because I wasn't impressed with the before-and-after photos on the websites of the local stagers who some of the real estate agents recommended. I liked most of their "before" room settings better than the "after" photos!

In the last ten years I have been more preoccupied with traveling and running than decorating a house. Although I loved many of the rooms the various decorators furnished on HGTV, I had little idea of what was current in the Roanoke Valley, especially out in the country. I got relevant ideas from the real estate agents we interviewed and looked at lots of home decor products and displays in local stores like Kirkland's, Black Dog Salvage, TJ Maxx, Kohl's, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, and Grand Furnishings.

In the end I went with my own sense of style and tried to save as much money as possible in the process. After all, we'd been trying to de-clutter the house for the last two months before listing, not add more *stuff* to it -- especially decorative items we'd have to give away or store for another dwelling we might never have . . .

Get the picture?

We liked this new, large lake picture (almost as wide as our queen-sized bed)
so much that we're keeping it in storage; I got it at Kirkland's at a great sale price.

Figuring out how to stage each room and buying some new things to dress them up took me an inordinate amount of time the last couple of weeks before we put the house on the market.

I wanted everything to be ready when the professional photographer came out to take the photos that would go on the internet and I didn't want to make any major changes after that.

We moved furniture and area rugs around several times in the living room and family room. I bought several items like draperies, rugs, wall art, towels, and bedding . . . and exchanged half of them because they didn't look right to me in our house. I didn't like the first color I painted the kitchen so I painted it again.

And so on, ad infinitum. I wondered if the process would ever end.

It finally did. I just kept at it until I achieved the look I wanted in each room. The easiest part was choosing a bunch of nice house plants I found at 75-80% off at Lowe's! I love having lots of house plants. Too bad I couldn't take then in the camper after closing on the house. I gave all but two of them away to friends and neighbors.

We kept enough of our own furniture in each room to make them look furnished but not crowded.  We didn't sell much of the furniture until a couple weeks from closing. If the deal had fallen through at the last minute, we would have had to borrow or rent more furniture! A house shows better with well-staged furnishings than empty.

Two weeks before closing the combination dining-family room was looking pretty bare because 
we'd sold so much furniture and two large area rugs already. We moved this area rug from
the living room after selling all the furniture in there. Soon we sold this rug, too.  (6-13-14)

I mentioned that many buyers have trouble picturing their belongings into someone else's house. It's even harder if the seller isn't using rooms like most people would use them.

One of the things we did before listing the house was to rearrange the two smaller bedrooms so at least one would resemble, um, a bedroom!

Most of the time we've had the house we used the larger of the two extra bedrooms as a study and the smallest for my craft room. The antique bed, dresser, chest, and some seating for overnight guests were in the finished basement. It had its own bathroom and lots of privacy but wasn't in the usual location where folks would have a guest bedroom.

We moved the craft supplies downstairs, made the smallest bedroom the new study/office (below),

Professional photo of the study by GDI

and put the guest bed and a few furnishings into the other bedroom.

Continued on the next page:  choosing an agent, listing the property, living without privacy, accepting an offer, and waiting just about forever (it seemed) for the closing

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

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© 2014 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil