Ok, first I want to say I usually hate bright colors but your house is pretty nice! I'm not sure a buyer will agree but, I liked it. :-)

Exactly how orange is the orange in your bathroom? Is that a dog bowl on the floor? If so, you may want to get rid of it and retake the picture. Sometimes people are turned off by homes that have pets.

Your fireplace is in an interesting spot.

Are those real stairs leading from your office? I couldn't enlarge the picture, so it was difficult to tell. That photo seems a bit "off" to me. Maybe the printer stand being so far over?

Your eating area is very light and bright. If possible, move the hutch out, the ladder(!) and definitely the bird cage and retake the photo. The area will show much bigger then it appears now.

The stuff on top of your kitchen cupboards should come off. It makes it look like there isn't enough room in your kitchen for storage, as well as cluttered - in a kitchen that seems to be clutter free! So, it basically defeats the purpose of your cleaned off counters. Also, the flash of the camera is reflecting off a picture on the wall above the coffee pot.

A mural on a wall that is attractive! That's a first. Have you had any comments from showings?

Your living room is quite eclectic. The blue is very bright, the lamppost is most unusual... I like it but I'm not sure how it will go over with buyers. Also, the shot is a bit hard on the eyes due to the sunlight reflecting off the house across the way. You may want to retake that photo at a different time of the day.

Could you add a few pots of flowers to the front of the house for some color and curb appeal?

New laminate wood & tile floors
Laminated wood is not usually a selling feature. Hardwood is. How common are laminated floors in your area?

You made a comment about your market - what are the averages DOM?

hello, the orange in the bathroom is a little bright. The ladder in the kitchen is a bamboo display thing, the stairs, in the 1 wall next to the printer stand is just another tapestery on the wall. I belive DOM are about 75 days, im not sure if laminate wood floors is a selling feature, but most of the new homes in our area advertise laminate floor's, so i went with the same thing. Also the stuff on top of the cabinets my wife just like's to decorate. we have had some showing's. 1 today at a open house, the man said it was to small. but most of the houses in our area for the same price or more are actually smaller. im not sure if he was from a 3000 sq ft house and was just looking though.

I like your kitchen. The colour is nice and it appears spacious. I think the mural in the room with the barstools and table is distracting, especially with the wainscotting and curtains in the doorway.

I think there's too much mishmash of colours in your home. In today's market, alot of people don't want to have to change paint colours in the entire house. Your home is very nice, but decorated to a very personal style, one that most buyers won't share.

Heyharris1, people decorate for their families, their lifestyle and according to their budget. When you are selling you need a different mind-set. If you are serious about selling you need to change your way of thinking. It is no longer your home, you are selling a house. With that in mind, you need to appeal to a large variety of people. Many people resist the idea of de-cluttering and staging, that's why it is suggested items be removed for the photographs at minimum. The idea is to get people in the door - and then wow them with your house. That is why 5-6 pictures (to wet interest) of a decluttered, de-decorated (also known as staged), best looking photos of your house possible, are important. Your wife may have items out for decoration. That is lovely. However to sell your house, you very well may need to put away the decorations to appeal to a broader audience. As Sparksals said, your house is very personally styled.

heyharris - according to the "comps" listed in the neighborhood section of the Coldwell Banker site, the houses in your neighborhood that have sold in the last couple of months are all less than yours (the most expensive looked to be about $243k or so and all were within .5 miles of your house). They may not have been renovated but that may tell you that price is an issue.

Before we listed, we rented a temperature controlled storage space and put all the decorating stuff, dolls, knick-knacks away before listing. We completely neutralized the colors in the house (including painting over a "mural" that was in the front entry-way of our house - we liked it, but knew it wouldn't be for everyone) in both carpet, tile and paint. Doesn't mean you have to be boring, but you are selling a product now and you have to take your personality out of the house so people can visualize their personality in the house.

From my own experiences on selling a house, I've found that while you may have a few "savvy" buyers who can look past paint colors and personal effects, a majority of buyers can't (watch Sell this House on A&E to watch some of those potential buyers to get a sense of today's buyer).

I grew up in Seattle so I'm familiar with Vancouver - it's a wonderful city and it looks like you've really done a great job with renovating your house. Highlight the best vintage features of your house (if people are specifically looking in your neighborhood, then they know it's vintage). Check out your competition - go to one of their open houses. Or, if you know them, ask to see their house.

Its defently intresting, getting everybody's perspective. I quesss it is kinda heard to look past the pictures, since i see them everyday. Quess its time for some more decluttering pictures, when i had my open house on saturday, i did do some open house serching, about a mile away i went in a house, smaller than mine, no shop, same 3 bed 2 bath. it did have rv parking though. and also Air condition, mine dosent have AC. They were asking 279,900.
There is also a house 2 blocks away, 4 bed 2 bath about 1900 sq ft. there asking 300,000. could the whole area be over priced.
thanks again

Wow! The inside is NOT what I imagined after looking at the exterior picture. I don't think it looks over-cluttered at all. It looks clean, bright, and.....well.....happy! I also think it looks quite spacious for a 1600sqft home. Whoever took the pictures did a good job with that. The staircase mural is a nice touch of whimsy.

thank you, actually the home is extremely spaciuos for 1600 sq ft, it dosent look that big cause the second floor is actually a fully finished basement, which i like cause on those hot summer days the basement is cool ( hince the no ac ) Personally i think this is my problem why the house wont sell. from the outside the house does look rather small. we have had multiple realtor's say the house shows extremely nice, and it will sell. Really im not even in a hurry, i love the house, just selling cause i want something with like 5 acre's to go ride quads on right outside my front door and not have to trailer them anywhere.

The listing notes that your master bedroom is on the "lower" level. Is your master in the basement? If so, that might be a tough sell to many potential purchasers.

/t

yes, the master bedroom and bathroom is on the lower level, I know its going to take someone like me to sell my house , cause i like the master in the basement, extremly quiet. There is defently alot about my house that going to take someone who is looking for something like what i got, but what i hear basements are becoming more popular again.

Is there a way to get out of the basement in case of fire?

How do I view this house?

Here's a link

yes, there is a egress window to code in the master bedroom, actually bigger than code so the room dosent even feel like a basement. the top posting show's the rmls#

I agree with xamsx about neutralizing and decluttering, IF you are having trouble getting people in the door. I think your photos and description don't highlight the positives, starting with, "Vintage home lovingly updated and improved." Why remind people in the first two words of your ad that it is an old home?

Your kitchen photo is outstanding; furniture layout in what I think is the dining room looks odd (what's that piece on the left?), and the photo of the dark blue bedroom just tells me I have a painting project ahead of me if I buy this place. In the bathroom, I see another paint job, and what's that stuff on the floor next to the toilet paper holder? There are two pictures of what I assume to be an office? Is that the shop?

dining room has a hutch thing in the corner, for putting nick nacks on and stuff, the stuff on the floor is a painted bowl to match for holding excess bathroom items, the 2 pictures are of the family room with the built in tv holder, entertainment area. i actually have no pictures of the shop except the front of it on the rmls, maybe i should open it up and take a couple side view's.

dining room has a hutch thing in the corner, for putting nick nacks on and stuff It looks like a TV armoire without the TV, and it is angled oddly and appears to use up a lot of space in an otherwise nice room.

the stuff on the floor is a painted bowl to match for holding excess bathroom items, which tells me there isn't enough storage in the bathroom.

In general, I think your ad fails to highlight the shop, which is a big plus. And I want to see the rooms! Your photos too often fail to show the rooms but rather focus on a particular feature, like the blue curtains in the bedroom. Can you get a better angle of whatever room has the fireplace and the window?

The link didn't stay. Hopefully, the link I'm leaving will. It's the link to the agents site, with 11 photos.

I have to agree with things that have been said about the paint colors. The orange bathroom might be a deal breaker for me. You'd be looking at a few coats of primer plus a few coats of paint.

In the kitchen, I would take the towel off of the oven door, and move the plant on the left that appears to be floating from the cabinets. While I like stuff on top of the cabinets, I would declutter it a little. In the eating area, I would remove the ladder and move what looks like a popcorn maker to the right. The piece of furniture behind the table should also get moved, it appears too cramped. Unless you can get a different angle.

The dark blue room I would try to arrange better so that you can see what purpose the room serves. I'm unsure if it is an office or bedroom. I'd like the paint better if you had a different curtain on the window. Penney's had a really nice beige / blue stripe one that would work well with the paint color.

I like what you've done to the inside with paint, but would like to see more of the rooms and less of the stuff as was mentioned above. If you can't get a good shot from inside, try opening the window, then stand outside & look in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Caldwell banker - direct link

After reading all these post, ive come to some conclussions, time to retake some pictures. maybe change the verbage in the add,But im not going to repaint, aint happening no way. If the house dosent wanna sell because of the paint, i am fine with that, i have no problem staying here., people can go buy there house's with all white walls, then repaint them when they get tired of looking at white. I will declutter it some more, take some additional pictures.Add some pictures of the shop, since that is 1 feature no other house has around here. I actually havent even looked at another house yet, cause i know how the market is. luckily i wont buy another until mine is sold. this way i dont get stuck in the "i have to sell because........."Eventually the market will turn around. I really do appreciate everybody's advice though.
really enlightend me.

people can go buy there house's with all white walls, then repaint them when they get tired of looking at white.

FWIW, I don't have 1 white wall in my house, they are light sage, vanilla, light gray & a light taupe and other neutral colors.

I had a blue living room that I swore I would not paint. I have a bad back and most days I can barely walk. The last thing I want to do is paint. If you look at my post called sellers what are you doing to prep, you will see I not only ended up repainting the blue living room, but we also repainted a freshly painted / updated master because the color looked too peach in photos and did not match anything in the room. Why did I paint the blue living room? Because someone else had a similar blue that posted their listing. After the feedback they got, I decided it had to go

The house has a lot of your personal taste / style in it. You're not only looking for someone that wants the shop (which I agree you need pictures of it) you are looking for someone that doesn't mind painting the rooms, or has stuff that will already match it.

If you are really interested in selling, then slapping up some neutral (not white) paint to cover that blue, and lighten up that dark room will really help with a positive response.

That's just the way life is.

But if you are willing to wait out the market - then you should live in the house decorated the way you love it and just declutter if you haven't already.

After recently selling, and after watching my husband have these visceral reactions to houses that are nicely painted and staged - staging does make a difference and nice decorator neutral paints do affect the way people feel about a house and it's value.

Your mileage may vary.

MP

people can go buy there house's with all white walls, then repaint them when they get tired of looking at white

And that is exactly what people do - it's a lot easier to live with and paint white walls. I'm not trying to talk you into painting because you have made an informed decision. But if it doesn't sell and you reach a point where you really want to unload the house, then reconsider the advice.

actually, i have taken alot of advice. got all new pictures. just waiting to send to realtor to update the rmls. Decluttered a bunch more.The reality of it is for me i wasent actually planning on selling for about another 6 years, so if it takes 6 years to sell then im right on time.Like ive said earlier in the post, im in no hurry, and as you all know about realtor's, they dont make a dime unless i sell. So when i had realtor's come over and give me there speech's about selling my house not 1 said"man you beter paint it will never sell like this"everyone said" you house looks extremely nice somebody will buy it".
maybe i just need the rare buyer who looks past the paint for what feature's the house actually does have. I dont wanna start an argument, or sound aragant, I did ask for advice, and i have gotten some really good feedback. It did open my eyes to how people look at stuff. will it sell with the walls painted. who knows. will someone who wants the house offer less if they feel they gotta paint the walls, again who know's, im preparred to ride and see what happens.

oki i got new pics added to the rmls, anybody wanna give advice if i did beter with these one's, i know people are gonna disagree with the color's, but beside's color do they look beter.
rmls#7076954

The first thing I noticed was the weeds in the walkway and the hose. I would get rid of those weeds, move the hose storage, and do something to fill in the patchy grass. The outside of the house does not represent the care you have taken with the inside.

If I really didn't need to sell my house for another 6 years I would pull it from the market now. This is not a good time to be trying to sell your house if you don't need to move. I would wait at least a couple of years. Having your house on the market is no way to live, and the longer you are on the market the more of a "joke" your house will become. People will start talking about that house that has been for sale for over a year, and everyone will speculate about what is "wrong" with it and why it hasn't sold yet. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with your house, but that is just the way that buyers think.

Gosh yes, Jim. Terriks is correct. When you have your home listed for sale it's important to do everything possible to attract a reasonably quick sale. Once a listed property gets stale not only do the realtors stop showing it but it also gets a "reputation" among potential buyers who see it continually on the MLS. At that point, it's difficult to sell at all & even more difficult to get a premium price.

So, unless you're really serious about selling now...take it off the market until you are ready. When you are serious about selling it would be wise to repaint in neutral colors (NOT white) so your home will appeal to as many people as possible & spruce up the front landscaping. Your "Curb Appeal" could be substantially improved. Remember that you only have one chance to make a first impression! Either re-seed or tear out the front grass & lay sod, plant a couple nice shrubs, & flowers. Place a pot of blooming annuals near the front porch & keep up with the mowing/weeding. IMO, $500-$1,000 invested in paint & landscaping will be more than returned by a quicker sale at a higher price.

IMO, the price you want in addition to having the master bedroom in the basement are going to be enough negatives to overcome. You'll need great curb appeal!

Whatever you decide to do...

Wishing you fair winds & safe harbor.
Tricia

thats probably what i am going to do, i will just let it ride with the realtor, till the contract is up, then pull it off till the kids are out of school and go from there.
thanks alot for the great advice.