House for Sale

I've never had to prepare a house for sale before. Although I have owned, the purchaser bought direct from me without the involvement of real estate agents, Open Houses or lock boxes, so I was able to live my life and pack at a leisurely pace. I had no idea how lucky I was.

Even though the house belongs to my roommate, I promised I'd help to sell it. So, today, I spent all day working on making the house look "not lived in but comfortable enough for someone to want to live in".

Since I wasn't sure precisely how to get that effect, I followed the real estate agents handy directions exactly:
--the kitchen table is set (do people really do this in their homes?)
--there are fresh flowers on the table
--there are beautifully smelling candles sitting in strategic places
--the tv is set on a nice jazz station (what is it about jazz that makes people want to buy a house??)
--and there is ZERO clutter--as long as you don't look in the garage or my office drawers. :)

By clutter, I mean anything that might not allow the potential buyers to connect with the house as being their own. This means removing all photographs, trinkets from trips, magazines and for me, everything on the top of my desk that's business related minus a stapler and my Day Planner. I'm sure many of you have gone through this many times. I really feel for those of you with children...where do you put all that stuff?

Until now, I had no idea how much I had personalized my space and was a reflection of me and my style. It was fun to go through the house and collect things that make me smile or bring back a fond memory. I packed them all away and am looking forward to finding them a new place to jingle my memory in my new townhouse.

I don't want this to sound like I have a bunch of stuff sitting around, because I don't. The items I do have though--artwork, framed photographs, unique gifts from clients, books I'm reading, herbs I'm taking all are a little window into who I am.

I find it interesting that when selling a house agents say people don't want people to know who has lived there. I think it would be great to know how the space was lived in and who made it their home. Maybe I'm weird...

What about you? When buying a house do you want to know who lived there and what their life was like while they did?