Open House etiquette?
wowibrug
18 years ago
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suzieque
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
House/Pet sitter-etiquette
Comments (11)I've done a lot of pet sitting, for two days up to a year, for professors on sabbatical when I was in grad school. I would never have asked for a cable channel, especially a pay channel, and certainly not for a single week. Same for the landline--both are a lot of work for you to set up for a week, and cost money. So I think her request for this has colored my thinking about your pet sitter. However, the cost for the cable channel and landline could be considered her fee for pet sitting. Certainly, if she were asking to be paid, I'd deduct the cost of those two things from her final payment. In general, when I've moved into a house to care for the animals, I've brought my own toiletries. I would use the sheets and towels belonging to the home owners, and wash them on my last day. Food--usually the homeowners would tell me to help myself to what's in the house. Otherwise, perishable food would go bad before they got back and just need to be thrown out. If there's something that you would prefer she didn't eat/drink, point that out. If you don't want your liquor cabinet raided, either lock it or hide the booze, or point out exactly what she can and can't have--beer's fine, but the 20 year old single malt scotch is not. It is nice if there's enough in the house for the first meal or two. Nothing fancy, but some bread, peanut butter, cold cuts and cheese, milk and cereal--just enough to tide her over until she can get out to go shopping. I always made sure to replace that sort of thing, as well. I figured people coming home from vacation and possibly getting in late would not want to have to rush right out and food shop, so I made sure that there were sandwich fixings and cereal and milk in the house before I left. Same for anything else in the house. I've been asked not to use a given room (usually because of some fragile, easily damaged furnishings in the room, or because it is a private study and outsiders are simply not allowed), not to use the good china and crystal, not to use the swimming pool because of insurance/liability issues, that sort of thing. You are allowed to set boundaries. The house was always clean when I left. There might have been a light coating of dust, if I'd had to dust and vacuum a few days before the owners got home, but it was clean--bathrooms and kitchen scrubbed, floors vacuumed and swept, trash taken out, any obvious signs of my stay removed completely. As much as possible, the house was the way the owners left it. Although once, a hurricane came through three days before the owners got back and it took the power out, and with no power, there was no water, either. The power came back on three hours before they arrived home and I've never cleaned an house so fast in my entire life. The owners came home to a dishwasher that was still running and a damp kitchen floor and no fresh food in the house, but I had done the best I could do....See MoreChristmas Open House etiquette
Comments (8)I think the homemade chocolates sound wonderful. I would put them in a pretty food-safe box, tie a lovely christmas ribbon around them. Then find one of the 'new home' ornaments from Hallmark, or a Christmas store in the local mall (even better if it can be personalized on the spot) and tie that in the center of the ribbon on the package....See MoreOpen House Etiquette
Comments (11)Imagine my shock fifteen years ago. I was going through a house, not an open house but an appointment my realtor had arranged. It was definitely not 'company ready' i.e. dishes in the sink, bathroom cluttered, etc. I was horrified when I walked into the bedroom and saw someone (thankfully) under the covers! I don't know if they were recovering from a hang-over or were just a normally deep sleeper but I would have awakened if it was me. Actually, it wouldn't be me because I would have been tidying the house until I left for the showing. Yikes! I actually did buy a house around that time that was FSBO and met the the owner at the open house. THAT house was clean & tidy and she actually offered a contract for deed at 10% when mortgages were going for close to 13% (back in the early eighties). She knew better than to follow us around and she let us look while she stayed in the kitchen. It was a very successful transaction. But it is not like the original posters situation with the blaring tv and dirty carpets!...See MoreDW Etiquette: Scraping vs. Rinsing in 2-Person Home
Comments (8)OK, I've been preaching enough on this site about scraping vs. rinsing that I won't bother to repeat everything I've previously said on this subject. But I will reiterate that allowing your dishwasher to wash your dishes instead of washing them before loading (wow, what a concept!) can only work if you learn to load the D/W properly. Face the dirtiest surface toward the center. Don't nest dishes or flatware. Don't place deep items (e.g. drinking glasses) in the corners of your racks. Place items with concave bottoms at an angle to prevent collection of water in their bottoms. Don't obscure the D/W arms' movement. Read your owner's manual for more tips. As an engineer who (stupidly) criticized his wife's loading technique, I've become the primary loader in our house. There's just two of us (and four D/Ws!) and while DW is a busy cook (as in "uses lots of utensils"), we still find that we don't have a full load for two or three days every now and then. I don't pre-wash and rarely detect any smell, despite only scraping the dishes (although I confess that I will pre-rinse a fish dinner plate). It's a truly rare that anything needs re-washing. Modern D/Ws, even the low-end ones, do a great job if properly used. And if you still feel a need to rinse the dishes, save some money and only buy the cheapest D/W on the market, since it'll invariably get the dishes clean...maybe even without detergent! Bob...See Morelowspark
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agomaggie5il
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agowowibrug
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agosudiepav
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agowantoretire_did
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agojenn
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLaurel7286
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agolowspark
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agolindac
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agolowspark
18 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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