Ok

1) will add picture of garage
2) just took the rugs out
3) may just take all the furniture from that front area

Any other experts got ideas?


It's a big house and down oil, I get that. But it's a hot area of the heights (zoned to desirable school) and we've watched nearby houses listed higher all move during those 5 weeks. Sort of frustrating, so looking for ideas.

I'll agree with the earlier suggestion, and it looks like the paint at the bottom of the staircase near the wine storage area might be a little boogered up? Or it could be a camera artifact. Also the place next door with the Corvair and the car wash across the street probably aren't helping. Can't do much about that though.

Otherwise it's tough to tell since it looks great. Clean, no strange colors anywhere, odd decorating or anything like that. The only thing I can figure is maybe a floorplan would help.

Good thought on the floor plan.

The paint was our kids' handprints, didn't come through in the pics. Repainted over that last night.

Yeah, car wash is a possibility. Wish people could experience it though - the owner and employees are actually great. They make sure to never park cars in front of our home, and they give us a discounted deal and just park the washed cars in our driveway when done.

My guess is mainly patience is in order.

Your house really is done nicely. The one thing that stood out to me, though, was the shower curtain in the master bath. Maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate shower curtains. They are gross. And I really hate them in master baths, especially bathrooms that are designed to look like a spa (which clearly yours is). At your price point, I would not expect to see that. Can you put in a glass door? Or just take the curtain down?

Also, it seems like you could really benefit from a professional stager. The house is beautiful, but some of those details are getting lost in the pictures. Even pics of an empty house might be better, but that would be difficult if you're still living there.

Interested in the groups opinion on empty house vs lived in but "show ready". Which is better?

I have already moved to our new city, and the wife and kids have some options for the summer. Wouldn't be easy, but we could move out earlier.

I've always heard that you don't want the house empty. Is that true?

I think giving people the look of "what your home could be" is always better than a blank slate, but idk if that's true with people who buy million dollar homes. I would think professional staging would be better than what you have in the photos. I think the bedrooms are pretty decent as is, but having a staging company do the living and dining room might help? Idk, I'm not a pro at this by any means, just saw the thread.

Edit to add: Your house is badass and I'd love to live there someday.

+1 on the staging for dining and living rooms. That was my first thought when viewing the pictures; it looks like the furniture in my college house. Anybody know what hiring a staging company runs for?

Man...that is a great house in a great location. I'd be real interested in a year or two. Would be real interested now if we were ready to list/sell our house and all that comes with that...

I agree on the staging...the first couple of pics of the entry/living area don't really grab my attention/interest the way they could...

I'm one of those who would prefer to see an empty home rather than one someone is living in. However, if you hire a professional stager to do the main living areas, it would probably be an improvement over what you have now, especially If you were to retake the photos.

Another thing that might be affecting you is the large living/dining area is not opened up to the kitchen. I assume that this is a result of the original layout...but it's not the standard "open living" layout many people want. Still...great house!

This one's still for sale, but they really cleaned up the photos. Guess what's still there, though? The Tuaca machine!
http://www.har.com/7515-oxfordshire-dr/sale_17402443

This one is a rare find for The Woodlands.

http://www.har.com/34-n-morning-cloud-circle/sale_81790054

i feel like if glenn from the wedding singer were in the market for a home, he would totally buy that one.

Mind. Blown.

That kitchen! You would have to pay me a million dollars to buy a house with that awful red kitchen. There were other hideous things like the stair railing, but I keep coming back to the bright red kitchen.

On second look because I just can't look away it is a very nice house, minus the Ferrari kitchen. If you could replace the kitchen cabinet fronts with another color, replace the banisters and stair railings, replace the carpet, and add rugs/carpet to the master bathroom it is a nice house. I would probably get rid of the white/black color blocks in the yoga room and zebra stripe in the gym.

Overall most of the colors and fixtures are neutral minus the bright red kitchen and the blue(?) carpet. And the deck colors are a bit wonky but those seem manageable compared to the kitchen.

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Another thing that might be affecting you is the large living/dining area is not opened up to the kitchen. I assume that this is a result of the original layout...but it's not the standard "open living" layout many people want. Still...great house!

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I guess... but IMO I've seen floorplans get too open sometimes.

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This one is a rare find for The Woodlands.

http://www.har.com/34-n-morning-cloud-circle/sale_81790054

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That's a disaster right there. A great set of pics I can use to describe why I like modern but absolutely hate contemporary.

I'm sure the blue carpet covered up by the rubber mats in the weight room make it smell great in there.

I'm not sure I'd even call that contemporary. More like retro/futuristic gone horribly wrong. And the fact that it's the main/first pic when viewing the house on the MLS, like its some sort of selling feature? I just can't. Although, considering how many houses I've looked at over the years, I'm certain there is a person/buyer out there for every house.

Probably so. The inlaws were selling their place in SA and I kept telling them they needed to have the best picture as the first picture (and have the person with the camera open a few blinds and stand back when taking pictures). Instead they have a crappy, close-in picture of the room by the front door with a fake plaster angel washed out by the flash occupying an entire corner.

In over a month they've had exactly two showings.

I agree with you. I just meant that most new or redone homes in that market have the kitchen more open to the large living/dining area.

Hey, at least they moved the Mary Kay car out of the drive way first. And you don't have to worry about left over hair from the hairless dog.

God bless the man that marries a gaudy woman.

That kitchen looks like a crime scene. What a mess of a house.

Remind me to not look at bad listings late at night. I had red kitchen nightmares last night.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/H5Bkta][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/H5Bkta][/url]

Untitled by Paul Bubel, on Flickr





The flickr interface is completely **** these days.

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Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! This retro home is ready for immediate move in or ready for a rehab. Cut out the middle man and do the upgrades yourself! Saltillo tile through out 1st floor. Groovy rock waterfall under stairs and shag carpet in bedrooms! Central Vac, Water Softner, and FAR OUT light fixtures throughout home. Plus a large patio with a large back yard. Bring your Brady Bunch to this time capsule!

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The remarks from the above listing.



And the place went slightly above market value... go figure.

Found the original listing and other pictures. I'm certified BSC for vintage houses, but even this is a bit much for me. I'm not into the 1970s medeterranian thing anyway. Needs to be older and more modern.

That said, I'm still BSC enough so that if someone gave me the place I'd leave it alone except for the bad 1980s kitchen and greige carpeting. And seriously, WTF would someone carpet the kitchen for anyway?

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I want to see it so bad

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Here you go.

Sold for $159,999.

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I want to see it so bad

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Here you go.

Sold for $159,999.

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That is all kinds of awesome! The chains on the stairs remind me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at WDW. And those lanterns and red wallpaper look like something out of Best Little Wh*rehouse in TX!

But the thing that kills me about listings like this...I mean, I realize it's like putting lipstick on a pig, but could no one be bothered to put away the 1/2 used bottle of Listerine, tube of toothpaste, and electric razor in the bathroom and open box of Chex cereal in the kitchen before taking pics?!? I see posts like that all the time on HAR, too. Drives me nuts!

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Does that include the one on the wall

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Oh, yes. There were actually several different types on multiple different walls! Includes countertops, too!

edit:

found it

I'm not quite sure what they were trying to pull off there. Someone put some work into the place, but that's a lot of different styles fighting against each other. Those are some of the shortest pieces of hardwood I've ever seen too. Must have been a bear to install.