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-> Household Management
HeartyAppetite
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 9:44 am
If I would know I’m having an open house showing I would make sure it’s spotless.
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amother
Emerald
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 9:59 am
Good timing for this thread. I’m not a perfectionist or naturally super clean but I grew up in a clean house and I find myself tiding up a lot of the day. And this is just to maintain... on weekends I’ll do some scrubbing and DH who grew up in a messy home always makes fun and tells me to just let it go.. I think the people around me are such perfectionist that whenever I visit my neighbors I come home and think my house is messy... what is it about my neighbors? I live in a delepment in Lakewood with newer housing. There are 4 neighbors in a row near me who are self proclaimed perfectionist. I’m talking- scrubbing the grout and the baseboards type... maybe it’s bad for me to live among these people but they are otherwise nice and I have nowhere to go so I guess I’ll be here a while ...
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amother
Ecru
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 10:18 am
no. it doesn't. I've sold a house though and we just cleaned up before we showed it. That included hiring a cleaning crew to scrub it real estate agent tried to arrange it so that we would show it to a lot of people at once so we didn't have to constantly be maintaining it like that. when we brought the cleaning crew back to clean it again, I think they were disappointed that it was dirty again after they had worked so hard to scrub it. they asked if I wanted them to come on a regular basis to maintain it. but it wasn't worth it for me. I liked them though. very sweet people.
someone else I know (not jewish) moved out before selling because she said she wouldn't be able to maintain the house for showing with little kids. If you don't care where you live you can move anywhere for a little bit to be able to show your house .
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zaq
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 11:31 am
amother [ OP ] wrote: | Clean and organized enough to give an open house/showing? I mean everything in its place, nothing on the dresser/night table tops except decor, nothing on the floor, every toy gets put away before bedtime...
I can't decide if I am exceptionally messy (I did NOT grow up in a house like that,) or if the houses I have been seeing have owners that are a little over the top about organizing/cleanliness.
Right now I have some clean clothing on my floor that is waiting to be hung up, and I have 3 water bottles on the night table (2 old from previous nights) Vaseline, antibiotic cream and a new bandaid that I decided not to put on till the morning, hand cream, a nail polish that I didn't get around to putting on....a baby monitor and a used tissue.
I'm a hopeless case.... |
By "the houses you've been seeing" do you mean people you visit, or do you mean houses you've been looking at with intent to buy? Because nobody lives long-term in a house that's open-house ready 24/7. Houses are for living in. Museums are for show.
People trying to sell their house usually have it staged, either by a professional stager or DIY with the help of their agent. They're EXPECTING people to come in, and you're not seeing the house the way they actually live in it. if you're expecting company, don't you clean up your act so the house looks significantly better than it normally does? Well, a house showing is a whole lot more important than even the most important company you're likely to have.
They may put most of their belongings, including furniture, in storage to make the place look more spacious. The point of staging is to make the house look as if nobody really lives there but the potential buyers could imagine themselves living there. So, minimal furniture; minimal ornaments; sparkling mirrors, company-ready towels and new bottle of hand soap in the bathrooms but no toothbrushes and retainers in the medicine chest. Maybe a crystal bottle of perfume and a plant on the dresser, but no glasses, tissues or vaseline.
IOW, what you see at a house showing is NOT REAL LIFE. That's why they call it 'staging'. It's a show, the purpose of which is to make you want to buy the house.
If you want to know what kinds of things people do to stage their houses and understand how unsuitable many of those things are to actually living in the house, go to apartmenttherapy.com. and search on "staging" or "stagers." hardly a week goes by that they don't have a piece on "eight professional stagers' tricks you can use to make your home look larger/lighter/brighter/newer/warmer/cooler/cozier/more modern/more sophisticated etc." Then read some of the readers' comments at the bottom. For instance, they recommend that you remove your umbrella stand from the entryway. Yes, an umbrella stand is one more thing to clutter up your entryway, and it doesn't need to be there if you're showing on a dry and sunny day--but if you're showing on a rainy day? Or if, radical thought, you aren't selling but are just plain living in your house?
Now if you're looking to buy a house, and your question isn't just out of idle curiosity but you're also going to be selling your current living quarters, that's a different story. Speak to your agent about staging. I imagine that extreme staging is extremely inconvenient, especially if your house doesn't sell quickly, but there are surely things you can do in the short term to keep your house a little neater than usual. For example, why can't the Vaseline and hand cream be in a drawer instead of on the surface, the old water bottles in the wastebasket or recycling bin , and the used tissues in your pocket, or better yet, the trash? You could have done all that in the time it took you to log in to imamother and type your original post.
Furthermore, why should you have to show your house at the drop of a hat with no forewarning? Why can't you have designated viewing hours and/or require people to make an appointment?
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amother
Burlywood
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 12:16 pm
My house can get really messy and I am.not a neat person in general. Bh dh is. It is presentable lots of the time but not for an open house!
Bh everything has a place and gets put away at some point.
I need to get a new cleaning lady.....
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amother
Gold
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 12:54 pm
amother [ Pumpkin ] wrote: | We're in lockdown so definitely messy. I'm pregnant bh + no school + small apartment = my apartment is basically messy all the time. Some nights I have energy to clean a bit and tidy but it's a lost cause.
Since we started quarantine and went straight in to a lockdown we have been makpid to give the kids erev shabbos jobs and make sure everything is clean and neat before shabbos, so I know at least it's not endless mess.
But definitely would need quite some warning before being able to show... |
Same!
Lockdown, kids home all day, I'm pregnant and tired, and I'm also working. Il leave it to your imagination!
In regular times I am more or less on top of things, and can usually have the whole house looking neat and tidy in a half hour.
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amother
Amethyst
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 1:18 pm
No it looks terrible. I have little kids who are home sick. But in general I have trouble keeping surfaces clear, nothing disgusting but things like piles of clean folded laundry. And my kitchen counters get crowded because I have a tiny pantry and I need a place to put food. Any tips please?
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amother
Denim
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 1:27 pm
My house is atrocious.
I haven't had the kids out of my house for YEARS (that was when we lived in a place with day camp). My kids have been doing distance learning for a decade.
Glad to hear that's a valid excuse!
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Zeleze
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 1:28 pm
Never go to bed if a cup is not rinsed and put away.
The floor, well here in Jerusalem thats really a difficult task to keep clean all the time nad I'm not OK with doing that to prefection
Wish I could or afford a cleaning lady
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Zehava
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 2:39 pm
Depends on the time of day. Usually in the morning after I clean up or if the cleaning lady just left.
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amother
Sapphire
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 2:40 pm
Yes my house looks nice but it is at the expense of many other things.
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nchr
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 3:02 pm
I intentionally have very little things in my home so that it should look clean. I personally become pretty overwhelmed with messes and if too many things are out at once I find it dizzying so I've trained my children to play with one or two things at a time and then put it back, simply because otherwise I think I'd become overwhelmed by the cleanup. Obviously some days that isn't possible, but generally I take care of any mess right away because I know if I don't it will be harder to take care of later. Like this, everything stays clean.
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MiriFr
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 3:05 pm
amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote: | My house generally looks like a tractor trailer ripped through it so I would say you're doing a great job! |
This comment made my week Cracking up in my son’s school’s parking lot. I’m deceased 💀
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MiriFr
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 3:07 pm
My sister in law came to visit yesterday and brought gifts for my kids. So now I have bits of colorful wrapping paper confettied all over the living room and thousands of trucks parked wherever they fit.
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amother
Bisque
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 4:42 pm
usually my house is very clean, it wouldnt take long to put the few things away for a showing.
but having been on bedrest and hospitalized the past few months means that my house is DISASTROUS! its so hard for me but there is nothing I could do about it at this point
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amother
OP
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 5:11 pm
zaq wrote: | By "the houses you've been seeing" do you mean people you visit, or do you mean houses you've been looking at with intent to buy? Because nobody lives long-term in a house that's open-house ready 24/7. Houses are for living in. Museums are for show.
People trying to sell their house usually have it staged, either by a professional stager or DIY with the help of their agent. They're EXPECTING people to come in, and you're not seeing the house the way they actually live in it. if you're expecting company, don't you clean up your act so the house looks significantly better than it normally does? Well, a house showing is a whole lot more important than even the most important company you're likely to have.
They may put most of their belongings, including furniture, in storage to make the place look more spacious. The point of staging is to make the house look as if nobody really lives there but the potential buyers could imagine themselves living there. So, minimal furniture; minimal ornaments; sparkling mirrors, company-ready towels and new bottle of hand soap in the bathrooms but no toothbrushes and retainers in the medicine chest. Maybe a crystal bottle of perfume and a plant on the dresser, but no glasses, tissues or vaseline.
IOW, what you see at a house showing is NOT REAL LIFE. That's why they call it 'staging'. It's a show, the purpose of which is to make you want to buy the house.
If you want to know what kinds of things people do to stage their houses and understand how unsuitable many of those things are to actually living in the house, go to apartmenttherapy.com. and search on "staging" or "stagers." hardly a week goes by that they don't have a piece on "eight professional stagers' tricks you can use to make your home look larger/lighter/brighter/newer/warmer/cooler/cozier/more modern/more sophisticated etc." Then read some of the readers' comments at the bottom. For instance, they recommend that you remove your umbrella stand from the entryway. Yes, an umbrella stand is one more thing to clutter up your entryway, and it doesn't need to be there if you're showing on a dry and sunny day--but if you're showing on a rainy day? Or if, radical thought, you aren't selling but are just plain living in your house?
Now if you're looking to buy a house, and your question isn't just out of idle curiosity but you're also going to be selling your current living quarters, that's a different story. Speak to your agent about staging. I imagine that extreme staging is extremely inconvenient, especially if your house doesn't sell quickly, but there are surely things you can do in the short term to keep your house a little neater than usual. For example, why can't the Vaseline and hand cream be in a drawer instead of on the surface, the old water bottles in the wastebasket or recycling bin , and the used tissues in your pocket, or better yet, the trash? You could have done all that in the time it took you to log in to imamother and type your original post.
Furthermore, why should you have to show your house at the drop of a hat with no forewarning? Why can't you have designated viewing hours and/or require people to make an appointment? |
Thanks for the long response zaq. I am not looking for a house. I am looking at peoples houses (I am in their home for one reason or another) and their homes LOOK like they could be staged for a showing. IMMACULATE. Nothing out on the kitchen counters or bedroom furniture for convenience. They must spend all their off time cleaning. Or have a live in cleaning help who cleans up behind them.
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amother
OP
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 5:14 pm
amother [ Sapphire ] wrote: | Yes my house looks nice but it is at the expense of many other things. |
I would love to hear more. At the expense of what? Is it worth it to you? (Obviously it is, I guess my q is why?)
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Chickensoupprof
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 5:15 pm
Only around lecht bentchen
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Good Friend
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 7:34 pm
Boruch Hashem I have cleaning help for about 2 hours a day 5 days a week (I live in a country with cheap labor), so my house is usually pretty neat. On weekends when I don't have a help or on legal holidays (very frequent here) I need probably about an hour plus someone watching my kids to organize, wash dishes, sweep and mop, etc.
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zaq
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Wed, Jan 13 2021, 10:19 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote: | Thanks for the long response zaq. I am not looking for a house. I am looking at peoples houses (I am in their home for one reason or another) and their homes LOOK like they could be staged for a showing. IMMACULATE. Nothing out on the kitchen counters or bedroom furniture for convenience. They must spend all their off time cleaning. Or have a live in cleaning help who cleans up behind them. |
Or they just don't have that much stuff. The number one cause of messy houses--aside from kinderlach, of course--is simply having too much stuff. When your drawers and closets are half empty, you don't need to leave things lying around on counters and so on.
Not all people with clean houses spend all their time cleaning. Some work smarter, not harder. They work fast and efficiently. They clean as they go so the place never gets all that dirty or messy to begin with. They automatically put things back where they belong after they finish using them. They clean up spills right away, which takes moments, and don't leave them to fossilize and require time and power tools to remove.
Consider this scenario: A man likes to read in his recliner in the living room; to do so comfortably, he rests the book on a big cushion in his lap. When he gets up, he can do one of several things:
1. let the cushion and book drop to the floor and leave his reading glasses and coffee mug on the side table--or worse, leave the mug on the floor as well;
2. toss the cushion onto the couch, leave the glasses and mug on the side table and the book on the chair;
3. drop the cushion onto the recliner where it belongs, return the book to the bookshelf where it belongs, put the glasses in the drawer where they belong and carry the mug to the kitchen sink. (If he's really good he'll wash the mug, too, but we're talking living room right now.)
The chair, couch, side table, bookshelf and drawer are all in the same room, just steps away from each other, and putting all three items where they belong takes literally a few seconds. Method 1 leaves the living room messy, and depending on what was in the mug, may invite vermin. Method 2 is an improvement, because books and cushions do not belong on the floor unless you're decorating a sixties-style hippie pad or Bedouin tent, but why throw the cushion onto a piece of furniture where it doesn't belong when its 'home' is right there behind you? Method 3 leaves the living room as company-ready as it was before, and the investment of time and effort is negligible.
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