Sounding Off

One thing that is very hard for prospective homeowners to get a handle on when shopping for a new home is what the sound level is going to be like after they move in. Especially in semis and attached housing. No pun intended, but it can be very disturbing to move in and find out you can hear quite a bit of what is happening next door. What I've found can be even worse though, is what your pets can hear and react to. So the next time you're out there looking at houses, think of more than just your tolerance to noise. I've got a dog that is much less tolerant than I am to bumps and stuff next door, and he's got a big bark. What to do though at an open house? Any ideas besides the "ask the agent" one?

Staging and A House in My Neighbourhood

I went into an open house yesterday in my 'hood and got a big shock. Here is a relatively beautiful home that I think is caught in the uncertainty of the market in Toronto right now. It's a detached home that should have been snapped up on it's first weekend, but I think it was slightly overpriced (but only slightly). While before, this would not have had a serious adverse affect, as the market was so hot, it has caused it (even after a reduction of 50K) to sit on the market. Having walked through, I could not understand why it is still available, but on reflection, I think it may be because it looks staged now. The owners have moved out, and unfortunately, the home feels a bit plastic, even though they lived there for 12 years. I think it's the furniture. Now, I don't know, perhaps it is their furniture, but if it is, the home lacks that "lived in" feel that makes a buyer want to take off their shoes and put their feet up on the coffee table; the feeling that says "this is a home and I feel comfortable here".

Now I'm not saying staging is not a good thing and that some homes really need it to assist with selling, I just think that perhaps sometimes it goes a bit far, and strips the soul out of a home, and turns it into a "property". It's an important distinction, as I feel all of the design shows and "Buy Me" and it's clones on HGTV have made us all think that every house needs to show like a show-home or else it won't show to it's best ability. But, after all that work is done, does it actually show to it's best ability, or do certain houses just end up looking like they are trying (and not really succeeding) to look like a model show home. The fact is, if you have lived in your home for 15 years, it's NOT a new home, so in some aspect of the staging, that really should be reflected. Not in a negative way of course, but to not give a nod makes it seem that something is being hidden, or worse, that the seller is trying to put one over on the potential buyer, causing subconcious negativity towards the property. And that negativity is the very thing a seller does not want to plant in the buyer's brain.

So what do you think of staging in the houses you've seen?

Home Efficiency and Realtors

Just a short post on what the real estate industry is doing to promote home energy efficiency. Check out this site, www.nagab.org and see what part realtors are taking to combat climate change. It looks interesting, question is, will it make a difference in the long run to people buying homes in markets across the country or just in those places where awareness of green home technologies is higher and places where alternate forms of energy conservation will work. What do you think?