“Are they living here?” is a frequent question from Michigan home buyers when looking at homes for sale. If in doubt, I head straight to the refrigerator for the answer. The contents usually tell me right away.
Last year one of our sellers took care of the “empty refrigerator syndrome” by leaving things in it that made the home look lived in. In addition to her jars of condiments, she left yogurt containers, eggs, and a half full milk jug. I have no idea what was actually in that milk jug, but it looked like milk. The things she left made it look like her family was still living in the home. They moved to New York a few months before their home sold, but it never looked vacant, which helped us close a sale on the home.
Now I would recommend that any seller who is going to be away for an extended time try refrigerator staging. Clean out the refrigerator well first then put back items that you don’t have to worry about looking spoiled over a longer period of time. Nothing stinky or too perishable, please. You’ll throw those of us doing the refrigerator test right off the track.
Technorati Tags: selling a home, vacant home, home staging
Photo by Jason Rogers
Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
problemwithCaring 07.10.07 at 7:20 pm
You realize you are a laughing stock now, right?
Who cares if the place has been “lived in”? Looks lived in? Who buys a house after looking in the fridge??
I know this stupid blog was your stupid boss’s idea, but please please please - when its slow and your scratching your head for silly ideas, hold your wildest impulses at bay by thinking back to college and journalism school.
[REST OF COMMENT DELETED BECAUSE OF OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE - MAUREEN]
Lani 07.10.07 at 8:20 pm
Okay, so I’m all for not moderating, but WOW. Maureen, regardless of what the cranky commenter says, I think you’ve made a great point.
People are often hesitant to buy when a home is completely vacant and could potentially have sat on the market for a while- their feeling is that something is wrong with the house. Often, that is not true- a seller could have been stubborn about pricing, a seller could have been living in the home during the listing period or refused to leave during open houses or tours (meanwhile pointing out the house is “haunted” and the neighbors are jerks). There are many variables involved in selling a home and Maureen, this is a new one- great article!
Maureen Francis 07.11.07 at 1:25 pm
Lani, Thanks for stopping by and for commenting.
Problemwithcaring, actually, this was always my idea. I have no boss. I am an independent contractor, and my only motivation is to help people buy and sell homes in Metro Detroit. I have sold a lot of homes and I can tell you that little details do make a difference. There is a perception that vacant homes have more desparate sellers. The appearance that a home is occupied can mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars. It may seem trivial to you, but my assumption is that you have never sold a home. Your ideas and comments are welcome here, but please refrain from personal attacks or you will be censored. I greatly appreciate divergent opinions and intelligent debate. If you care to engage in that way, stop back by some time.
Derek Burress 07.11.07 at 10:28 pm
The Learning Channel had a home show on one night where they were remodeling a house. There was a ref. in the basement that hadn’t been opened in like a year. They opened it and found all sorts of bad food that smelled horrible. Personally, as long as there isn’t mold or an awful smell, I doubt most prospective buyers here would care about the ref.
PS: Thanks for the email last night! I appreciate it a lot!
Ines 07.12.07 at 4:50 pm
MF - I really laughed with this one….that’s what I call a creative idea. What’s up with some people…..can’t they have a little sense of humor?
dm 07.14.07 at 10:24 pm
In response to “staging the refrigerator:” I think this is a clever idea in a market that warrants that kind of detail–I live in San Diego and, although, staging furniture has prompted me to make an offer I would not be one to look in the refrigerator for fear of being turned off by the kind of food the seller ate! ( I am vegetarian) However, if I were to look in the ‘frig’ I would make a valuable assumption about the seller and his/or her house based-on finding Grey Poupon rather than French’s mustard!
I say hey, if you are going to get that detailed take it all the way! We are what we eat right!
dm
San Diego
Marco Gonzalez 07.23.07 at 3:48 pm
hahaha… i was just amused at the picture of the guy… looks like one of the red hot chili peppers or the guy from the show rockstar (mig something…), hahaha! nice one…
Kat 08.09.07 at 11:56 am
That’s my best friend, that is *prodly points atthe picture*
problemwithCaring 08.30.07 at 3:14 pm
OMG this was your idea?
This housing crash is taking way too long when “realtors” like you are still in business.
Staging a refridgerator….psychotic.
Maureen Francis 08.30.07 at 4:00 pm
Problem,
Glad to see you still can’t get beyond personal attacks to debate a topic. That Stanford education was obviously wasted, though you seem contemptuous of Stanford anyway.
Refrigerator staging is such a SMALL aspect of getting a home sold. Find something else to dwell on. Some sellers go to great lengths to make there vacant home look occupied. That is the whole point of that post. Nothing more.
nikki 11.30.07 at 3:16 am
One of the goal of Home staging is to give the impression that the home is furnished, warm and cozy. What a nice addition to even think about the inside of the refrigerator. Buyers normally would check details of everything when they are interested in the home. Putting some items in the refrigerator can be considered as the extension of the illusion that people are living in the home.
Max 04.23.09 at 10:57 pm
That is not funny.