I am going to have to provide enough prose here to wrap around the photos of the place. They are going on MLS (or perhaps are already there…nope; just checked and they're not online). I think back 20 years and at how rudimentary the Internet was back then. The idea of selling a home online was laughable. Today, though, it may be the medium that gets this place sold fast.
I like the exterior shots of the place she took. There are no telephone poles or wires. There are no street lamps or traffic signs mucking up the photos. And I especially like the partly cloudy sky she captured in the overall shot. (She took the exterior shots last, which was good, since the clouds didn't burn off until late.) She framed everything so that the plants are a major part of the composition. It shows off the parklike feel, which is one of the things I like about this house.
So many of the condo complexes around here are really large, with subterranean parking and elevators to your unit. They have a very apartment-like feel to them. And although they have amenities (some with pools, some with exercise rooms), you get charged for those things in your HOA fees.
One other thing that's been going on is the installation of the closed circuit video surveillance. We now can check out the exteriors of the building online, which must be some kind of additional impetus to buy this place. One of the owners, who is in the security business, gave us a really good price and did all the installation. You can't see anything in these photos of the cameras or the wires.
The interior of the house photographed amazingly well. It helped that it was overcast for the interior shots, since there was no glare coming in the windows (which have no curtains, you will note). Also, she was taking numerous shots at different exposures and f-stops in order to get the best shots possible. Obviously, it worked. She made the interiors look light and bright (which they are, for the most part), while keeping the exteriors through the windows cool and in focus.
The one thing I'm amazed with is how good the place looks. With all the tchotchkes packed away and the artwork off the walls, the nice, clean lines of the interior really stand out. Also, I think I've spent the last six months going over every flaw and outdate of the place and trying to remedy them that I haven't seen what's in these pictures: this is a pretty nice place with really good bones.
Of course, I've completely forgotten what it looked like with all the popcorn on the ceilings, all-white walls, ugly carpet on the stairs, and chipped Formica countertops. All those things have been rectified, and I have to remind myself that I did sink almost $15,000 into sprucing up and remodeling the place last year. And I keep thinking about what the screens guy said when he was here: "People always spend this money when they're selling; you should do these things while you're living in the place and can enjoy it."
So where did the $15,000 go? Removing the popcorn ceilings; patching, prepping and painting the interior; all-new switches and door handles, install bamboo stairs, granite countertop, stainless-steel sink and new faucet for the kitchen; all-new lighting fixtures. I've gotten used to the new environment, and still nitpick about little stuff I really shouldn't be worrying about.
The kitchen shows very well in these photos. Up close, there are worn areas in the finish on the cabinets, but that's how the finish was created, to wear in. Since I couldn't afford to get them painted during the remodel, I found some drawer pulls with a worn bronze finish, so that the pulls match the cabinets, wearwise. It should all meld together nicely. As for the faucet, I should have taken the screen guy's advice: love it, and I should have gotten it replaced years ago.
It's also been long enough since the remodel that I'm going to have to check the walls, as I'm starting to see scuff marks and such that need cleaning. Just one or two, here or there, but enough to mar the pristine condition they were in. I think the biggest challenge is going to be keeping the place clean and sparse, as shown here. Not too difficult to do if you don't move much or eat much, etc., I just have to maintain it long enough to get someone on the hook. I pray every day that selling will be a fairly short and painless experience.
Another thing the photos show off is the architectural interest of the house. Even though the pilasters and beams are all masking the utilities, they look integrated into the space, which I like. And if you need proof that this woman knew what she was doing, she even made this photo of the downstairs half bath look good. In reality, it's very tiny; here she makes it merely intimate. Chatting with her, I thought perhaps getting back into photography as a means of income might be a possibility in La Crosse.
One thing I noticed is she didn't photograph the stair wells, which I was positive she would do, so I spent time cleaning them up. Then I realized I should stop bitching, because I should have been cleaning them regularly all along. Now, however, I'll have to be Mr. Clean and keep things shiny and tidy until the sale. And I'm thinking, "Why just until the house sells? That's a habit you should have as a matter of course." Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought one of the great things about being a grown up was you didn't have to pick up your stuff.
The photos of the upstairs are nice and add a little extra flair, seeing as how the walls actually have color, and the office is the only room with drapes still on the walls. The office, in fact, is the one room that has the least done to it, not only for budget constraints, but also because I needed to have one space in the house that was mine (and fairly off limits) where I could get my work done.
The bedroom is a kind of no-man's land. Since Steve died, it is a place to go and sleep and little else. When we were painting the house, I tried to get a calm, muted blue, but something bright enough not to depress. If I were painting for myself, it would have been several shades darker, as the camel color on the downstair walls would have been more dramatic a color.
All the colors were chosen off of the colors in the kitchen cabinets, as they were the only thing left untouched, besides the office. In fact, the colors downstairs are so skillfully selected (not to blow my own horn) that it's near impossible to tell which color is on which wall. When I chose them, the painters kind of looked at me like I was nuts, but once they got it up on the walls, they really liked the color scheme.
So these are the pictures that will hopefully be luring in the potential buyers and exciting them about this wonderful space. I'm so glad Jan brought this woman in to shoot the place, and it's kind of opened my eyes to the attractiveness of this property.
So it's been a very interesting experience, getting ready to put the house up for sale. It seems like it's taken forever, and I know I've been dragging my feet on it at times, but the fact remains that I will most likely be leaving Pasadena for La Crosse just as spring shows up there.
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