Wednesday, May 26, 2010

My husband thinks I'm on crack

We are going to move. It may be soon, it may be later, but it is going to happen. We had a realtor come out yesterday to list our condo. Our fair market value is now about $20K less than what we paid for it four years ago. Awesome.

If it doesn't sell, we will probably rent it out after we find a place. If you are potentially interested in a 2 bed, 1 bath condo that is walking distance to the Plaza, Westport, Art Institute, UMKC and the art galleries, lemme know if you want to buy or rent.

Anyway, getting the condo ready to list was no easy task. Brian has long stated that he hates HGTV and all of it's programming because it usually means more work for him and me taking on projects that are a little bit beyond our skill level. I've watched several episodes of "Designed to Sell," which is all about staging.

The Cardinal Rule of Staging: Declutter, declutter, declutter. Our basement is now filled with all the random stuff like trinkets, keep-sakes, pictures and more. I would fill up boxes, and Brian took them down until he said there was no more room. Then I took them down because I can always make room for more crap.

Step two of staging: Clean, Clean, Clean. After removing 90 percent of the hanging wall photos, I patched the walls and had to repaint. I also repainted the bathroom. Brian wanted to help so I asked him to scrub baseboards and the walls. He thought I was on crack. He did it without complaining and claims he sees no noticeable difference. I do. They are all white now instead of white with a thick layer of dust and spots of whatever drink got splattered on them.

Truman has also been victimized by the staging. I bought a slip cover for the couch so he is no longer allowed on it. It's amazing how nice it looks in the living room once you get all the non-essential stuff out of there. The hallway seems wider now that it isn't lined with dark frames and the bathroom just looks fantastic (if I do say so myself). Whether or not it sells, it is a nice sense of accomplishment just getting the massive clean out and clean up project done.

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