Staging Homey Smells When Selling a House

This is not the first time we have had a house on the market.  In fact this is our fifth house we are selling so we know pretty much what to expect.  We have also been through a lot of houses as perspective buyers.  One thing the real estate companies encourage is staging a home with homey smells.  This is usually done with scented candles, fresh brewed coffee or fresh baked goods mainly bread.  Is this a good idea?

Staging a home with homey smells can be a positive or negative thing depending on the buyer.  On the positive side it may help a buyer relax a bit to enjoy the viewing.  It may help them picture themselves doing the same thing in the house so that may influence their decision whether to buy or not.  On the other hand it may make a hungry buyer not focus on the viewing and not everyone likes the smell of fresh baked bread or similar.  Certain odours especially cinnamon can trigger asthma attacks in some.  In my opinion a house should smell clean but not have any staged odours, synthetic or otherwise. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Back to Getting the House Ready for Showing

The house has been on the market for most of 2010.  We took it off temporarily at the end of the real estate contract the end of August and now have it back up for sale privately.  Since a lot of the clutter was previously dealt with there is a lot less work this time around but there's still work.  Most of it is straightening and putting things away.  I'm still working on reducing clutter further to lessen what we have to move if we sell.  We are doing a few things differently with the new private listing.

• We are doing a bit more staging.  
• We are correcting some of those faults mentioned during the first round of trying to sell the house.
• The emphasis is on neat, tidy, clean and clutter free.
• Viewings will be by appointment only.
• Listing on more than one online 'house for sale' site.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Big Bang Theory

Have you ever watched the show The Big Bang Theory?  The title is based on the scientific theory that the universal started with a big bang that was the catalyst for life forms.  Well, 2010 feels like a big bang.  We bought a vacation home in the sunny south back in March two days after deciding to tear apart one bedroom to create a craft room.  By that weekend our house was on the market privately for sale.  We decided that selling our permanent residence made a lot of sense at it would save considerably just in daily travel costs.  When the house didn't sell privately we gave it to a real estate agency to sell.  In May we finally got to see our new vacation home and came home renewed with the desire to sell.  Unfortunately the real estate agency brought us no offers and we heard of problems in the house we had an offer in on.  So when our listing with the real estate agency ran out the end of  August we decided to not renew.  We spent the last two weeks of September and first week of August at the vacation home where we had a wonderful chance to relax and come down to the speed of life.  We were also able to sign the agreement to rent our vacation home out when we aren't there so

During our many discussions we kept coming back to the idea that both of us really want to sell our permanent residence.  It is a gorgeous home with a great view but it is rural meaning higher daily travel costs, more time spent on the road instead of at home and it is very isolating during the winter months.  In addition to that we can't get real high speed internet.  The only choice is dial-up or high cost satellite internet and since dial-up won't meet our needs we have to pay the extra cost of satellite.  Between gasoline and internet service we would save $2,400 per year by moving into town.  However the saving are much more with lower mortgage payments, lower house insurance and lower maintenance.  Another plus is the house we have our eye on has a bigger kitchen and great solar potential.  So we shall see but we decided to first sell our house before getting our hopes up.  We put the private sale sign on the house yesterday.  Let the chaos begin ;)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Our Magavox Television Repair Job

There are some days that I really get my knickers in a knot over shoddy workmanship.  So it was with our three year old Phillips/Magnavox television (model number 37MF331D/37).  I blogged about the power problem on this television back in September along with a fix I found online.  First let me say we will never buy a Phillips/Magnavox product again.  There is a class action lawsuit in the US regarding this very problem with their televisions failing often as soon as 90 days.  All I can say is they should be down right ashamed of themselves and their customer service is one of the worst I've ever dealt with!  We were in the position to trash the television or pay upwards of $700 to repair it so I figured doing a bit of research wouldn't hurt.  I found a website explaining how replacing the burned out capacitor with an inexpensive replacement capacitor from Radio Shack solved the problem.

Radio Shack is not in Canada but we have The Source so we stopped in and bought a package of capacitors (1).  The website had recommended a 30V capacitor but their customer service said we could go as high as 50V without a problem.  The package cost us $5.99 for 6 capacitors meaning the actual cost of the repair would be $1 plus time.  My husband took the stand and back off the television (1) revealing the port where the power supply circuit board was (2).  Opening the port (3) he disconnected the circuit board to work on.  The oval highlights the burned out capacitor (4).

Surprisingly taking the television apart to get to the circuit board was not difficult at all.  What ended up taking the time was getting the old capacitor freed from the solder but a bit of gentle persuasion did the trick.  Once the burned out capacitor was removed it took very little time to solder in the replacement capacitor then reassemble the television.

The green arrow is pointing at the tell tale signs of the burned our capacitor.  It was oozing black gunk at the website said it would.  Eventually the capacitor would have failed entirely.  At the point he replaced it the tv was taking a good 20 minutes to finally turn on.  Beside the burned out capacitor is the new one showing what the end should look like.

Now here is where I really get ticked off at Magnavox.  They know the capacitors are faulty yet they fail to resolve the problem.  They would rather lose customer loyalty rather than fix the problem.  The sad thing is the replacement capacitor cost us a whopping $1 so I'm pretty sure buying in bulk Magnavox would get the part a lot cheaper than that!

With the television put back together my husband reconnected all the extraneous equipment that goes along with televisions these days.  We waited with baited breath as he hit the power button on the remote.  The look on his face was absolutely priceless when the television powered on with no hesitation.  It was amazing!

Here I had done a bit of research to solve the problem while he had all the know-how to take the television apart and do the actual repair.  So we really worked as a team on this one.  The best part is our lemon of a Magnavox television is working perfectly at the cost of $1 and about an hour's worth of time.  It's too bad that Magnavox couldn't have put in the proper capacitor in the first place and their customer service really is horrid but in the meantime our television is working.

With that in mind I will say avoid Phillips/Magnavox products at all costs!  They use shoddy workmanship, shoddy and inferior parts destined to fail prematurely and their customer service is beyond horrid.  Perhaps customer service will change their attitude is enough people stop buying Phillips/Magnavox products to the point their jobs are on the line.  As I said we will never buy another one of their products and you can bet your bottom dollar I will give them a negative review on Epinions!  If you have a problem with your Phillips/Magnavox television with powering on this is likely the solution you need.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being easiest and 10 being the most difficult I would rate this DIY project a 5. 

Heavy Duty Commercial Utility Cart

Storage and organization is always a concern for any household.  Just after we moved into our previous house we discovered heavy duty commercial stainless steel racks.  I had a 6 shelf unit in my kitchen that was a real work horse.  It was amazing just how much I got on that rack!  I even hung my fry pans from hooks on the rack and had a hanging basket for my cooking utensils.  When we moved here we quickly learned the rack would not fit in the kitchen or the pantry so we searched for alternative solutions.

Canadian Tire had a smaller, lighter duty metal rack unit on for $8.  We bought six of them, five  for the pantry and one for the entrance that was later moved to the kitchen.  The utilitarian racks are extremely practical and they look good too.  The racks can be joined together to make a taller unit as well.  As nice as what these units are they are still lighter weight.  They are narrower than the commercial units and they can't hold as much weight so their storage potential is less.  Like the commercial version it is possible to use hooks on the rack to hang items from.  They are also a bit easier to tip by curious toddlers. 

Heavy duty commercial grade utility shelving and carts are available at Sam's Club, Home Depot, and Lowes.  Be warned even the small cart carton is quite heavy and racks are definitely a two person carton.  Pictured is the unopened utility cart carton. 

The wheeled utility cart is NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certified.  It will hold up to 500 pounds total weight.  The top shelf is recessed so I will be able to use it as extra counter space during heavier cooking sessions.  The cart is sturdy enough to hold small appliances if necessary as well.

We have put several of these types of units together both commercial heavy duty and light weight.  They are quite easy to put together with the only tool needed being a hammer or rubber mallet.  There are lines on the uprisers.  A two piece tapered heavy plastic clip snaps on to the line desired.  This way you can adjust the height of the self.  The shelf goes onto the uprisers over the plastic clips then is tapped into place.

The cart has three shelves so assembly was quite quick.  The wheels have a cap that sits over the wheel then the threaded end is screwed into the uprisers.  The handle went on before the top shelf secured by the same plastic clips.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being easiest and 10 being very difficult this assembly would be a 2.  It's pretty much straight forward and problem free.

Pictured is my new utility cart assembled next to the original light duty rack.  The cart is about 6 - inches wider and 4 - inches deeper giving more storage capacity.  It is considerably sturdier than the light duty rack.  Plastic mats were included with the cart for the shelves to help contain spills.  These really are optional.  I put them on for the time being.  There is a break on one of the wheels as well to prevent the cart from moving unless desired. 

What I really like about this cart is it really can be used for any purpose.  I'm using it in the kitchen for the time being but it could easily be used in the laundry room, family room, on the deck or in the garage.  The price was quite reasonable at $54.  Unless severely abused the cart should last a number of years while keeping its nice, clean look.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Bed Sheets

I can remember when we were newly weds having only two sets of sheets.  While they were expensive they matched and they washed up well.  Over the years though the fitted sheets tended to wear faster.  Like many young couples raising children our money was better spent on the needs of our kids so I'd buy sheets at resale stores and yard sales.  Once washed up they served their purpose but they didn't match.  That was fine with us as long as they were clean.  After the kids left home we finally splurged on two sets of matching set of bed sheets, one for summer and one for winter.   Then my allergist recommended using special allergy sheets that if I recall correctly were 460 count.  The tighter weave would help with my dust mite problems.  I ended up paying $60 for that set of sheets!

We went to a couple of flea markets near our vacation home where we discovered 1200 count Egyptian cotton bed sheet sets for only $16.  What a bargain if you ask me!  The higher the thread count the softer the sheets making them considerably more comfortable for sleeping.  These sheets are really quite lovely.  They wash well and dry without wrinkles.  We won't go back to using lower thread count bed sheets.  I bought a set for the vacation home and two sets for home.  Mind you this is after we paid $80 for two 450 thread count bed sheet sets for the vacation home so I am kicking myself for not checking the flea markets first.  At that price I could have bought 5 better quality bed sheet sets at the flea market!

I have budgeted $50 for bed sheets the next time we are at the vacation home.  That will give me three more sets for home.  Since I took a lot of the mis-matched sheets to the vacation home there is no real need to buy additional sheets.  Still the price is not prohibitive so a couple.  I am extremely impressed with the quality.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Bed Bugs

No we do not have bed bugs!  I thought this would be an interesting posts because across Canada there have been more reports of bed bugs with Simon Fraser University dormitories being recent in the news. Bed bugs have been growing in frequency in the developed world since 1995.   In fact one report I read said bed bug incidence had increased by 5,000 per cent world wide.  So what are bed bugs, how do you get them, implications and how do you get rid of them?

• what are bed bugs -  Bed bugs are small mainly nocturnal, parasitic insects of the family Cimicidae that feed off of warm blooded animals.  Their preferred habitat is indoors mainly in beds hence their name or other places that people sleep (eg. couches).
• how do you get beg bugs - We live in a very mobil society that unfortunately helps some bugs and other critters get from point A to point B by hitching a ride in suit cases, travel bags, fruit and vegetable containers, in camping equipment, wheel wells, car trunks and so much more.   That means if you stay at a motel that is infested with bed bugs while traveling you could accidently bring them home with you in your luggage.  Bed bugs can enter your house via use furniture that came from an infested dwelling.  Pets can also be host to bed bugs that hitch a ride into your home.  In general multi-unit dwellings like motels, apartment buildings, condos and dormitories are more prone to any insect infestations simply because once introduced to one unit the insects can easily move and become established in other units. 
• prevention of bed bugs - If you have been traveling shake out all the clothes in your suitcase outdoors and set the suitcase out in the sun to air dry.   If you buy used upholstered furniture leave it outdoors, clean and vacuum well before bringing indoors.  Both are good practices to prevent other insect hitch hikers from entering your home in addition to bed bugs. 
• implications of bed bugs - Bed bugs feed off of human blood so that means bites that can be itchy, swollen and become infected especially in children.   
• how do you get rid of bed bugs - Some bed bugs can be eliminated by dropping the indoor temperature below freezing but in general this is not an effective solution.  Bed bugs can survive about a year without feeding as well.  So that eliminates one of the main ways of controlling indoor insects.  Mattresses should be covered with a zippered plastic or hypoallergenic mattress cover that does not allow bed bugs in the mattress to get out so they will eventually die off.  Wash linens in hot water and dry on hot setting to kill any bed bug nymphs or eggs.  Vacuum, vacuum and vacuum on the bed, in, under and around the bed including the frame and anywhere else bed bugs can hide.  Each time you vacuum you will get bed bug eggs as well as bed bugs at various stages of life lowering their population simply by vacuuming.  The more you vacuum the less bed bugs.  There are specialized pesticides for bed bugs but bed bugs are developing resistance to pesticides compounding the problem.  There are natural predators like centipedes but they are not an effective solution for bed bug infestations. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010