I was surprised too. Not one picture on the walls anywhere. I found one that I put up in a bedroom. I generally have a stash of artwork and advised the agent, whose listing it is, to head over to Fred Meyers and get a supply that he can use from house to house.

I agree with your perspective as a buyer. Still, when you go to sell, best to take the focus off of small imperfections. Generally speaking you will get a better price by doing so. And as a seller, vs. a buyer, that is the objective.

What I can believe, looking at those photos, Ardell, is how people can own a home without pictures or artwork on the walls. I mean, come on. That’s a lovely fireplace and NOTHING on the mantel? You shouldn’t need to put a placemat up there!

Size… and potential. For the same reason many people can’t “see” a house because of a homeowners stuff (and a different, maybe nonexistance sense of style) interfering from the buyer seeing a house’s potential, many people can’t see how furniture fits into a room. Also, many people don’t care for the empty look or feeling of a vacant house, and having furniture and accessories “warms” up a room.

Thanks for getting the expression “forest for the trees” right, I just could not remember it properly!

Personally I love seeing vacant homes, nothing hidden, nothing there that you aren’t going to get with your purchase – just the house. Yet for some reason an actual “vacant” vacant home is almost unheard of these days.

So tell me again about not being able to see the forest because of the trees.

Sometimes buyers can’t see the forest because of the trees. It can be hard to look at a home because the way the current owner (or tenent) lives with all their “stuff” keeps getting in the way of seeing how the home could work for them.

Most people could benefit from having another person (who has an eye for design) look at how their “stuff” is positioned in rooms to make them more livable for them too. It’s not just a “trick” to sell a home, but a way to make a house feel more like a home for anyone.

I have re-positioned lots of sofas (etc) for friends because it can be hard to “see” what could work best. I enjoy doing it for friends in their homes and do it for my clients as well. Last week I helped some clients with their master bathroom…and it finally looks great!

Most people (me too) are messy! It’s hard to always keep everything clean and picked up all the time, even when you are trying to sell your home.

On the one hand, I didn’t hide anything by shoving some furniture around for a couple of hours. But I do get your point. I did want to totally get rid of all dog related items, and tell the owner to house the dog elsewhere until the property was sold. So yes, there are times when we are “hiding” the fact that pets lived in the house or condo. In this case I didn’t. But clearly you are correct that most times we do.