The Shufflin Duprees

On Saturday, July 21, Steve and I went to LaCrosse to see the Shufflin Duprees.
If you remember, this is the band that played at my 50th birthday party last year.
My friend, Joe Hauser,sings and plays keyboards and harp. I love ya, Joey!
As always they were amazing! Check out their webpage when you have time and order their new CD. You will love it.

Chris and Wendy

A wonderful photo for you all to see of my brother Chris and his new love, Wendy.
They are both so very happy together and we are so happy for them.
Chris and Wendy are planning a visit to Wisconsin in August.

Job Well Done

Mom called last night to tell me Janet Ammons (their agent) called her and was amazed at the job done on the house. She asked if I would like to do some of her other houses she’s selling!!
Jan has showed the house multiple times since the updating and has called people to come back for a second look.
I am sure she will be asking Mom to resign the contract with her very soon. It’s up to Mom and Dad who they want to list with so we’ll see what they do…

We were getting ready to do the house staging for so long that Steve and I are still in the habit of checking the curb for free stuff and watching ads for sales-we have to laugh!
Guess I do need to stage another house.
Only my niche' will be houses under $100,0000 and I will call my company "Cheapskate Staging"!

Photos from Operation Sell That Spencer House

by mquerin


Photos are now posted on Webshots.

The Agent has now contacted me.

ok, I take back some of what I said. The agent emailed me today.
There is an open house tonite and she plans on taking new photos and updating the posting.

Freakin Fries

Steve's Favorite Video

Real Estate Agent Update

I sent a long email to the agent telling her what we did to the house and asking her to update the listing.
She in turn called my Mom last evening! Said she didn't know we were coming, that I didn't contact her. Hmmm, that was in the email I sent her telling her when we would come, where we'd be staying and Steve's cell phone#.
She in turn called Mom after that email and said it wasn't necessary to do that work we should just lower the price.

Anyway-----

The house is being showed tonite, so the agent should be amazed at all we got done.

Update On Operation Sell This House

We worked our butts off this past weekend. By Saturday afternoon, my fingers were literally bleeding from washing all the walls and woodwork. But it was a lot of fun, really. We worked on Saturday from 7:30am until 10pm. And on Sunday worked from 9-4:40 (a short day!)

All the furniture and decorations that we added can stay with the house if someone wants them.

We added to the house in addition to furniture, pictures on the wall and décor;

Washer and Dryer

Microwave

TV in kitchen

Patio bench

New lite fixtures

I painted the front door and front handrail. Steve added a brand new light fixture by the front door. So the curb appeal is much better now. A lot of weeds got pulled and we have contracted a neighbor to weed wack in addition to mowing the lawn. We added a bench and decorations to the patio area.

Steve cleaned the basement and garage.They were pretty bad. We hauled bags of trash home. In the garage Dad had so many different hooks hanging all over the ceiling-so Steve removed all the little hooks and wire and ropes and pulleys, and it looks so nice and neat now.

We removed a huge standard and brackets shelves from the living room and patched and sanded the holes, then entire living room then got a fresh coat of paint. We also removed a broken window in the living room and are having the glass replaced, it will be put back in soon. (Mom said the window has been broken for 10 years!)

I spent hours scrubbing the kitchen and degreasing the cabinets, so now it shines! I also updated the cupboard hardware so they look like new now... Steve shimmed the frig and now with a dining room table, microwave stand and butler cart, you don't notice the slant to the floor.

Walls and ceilings were cleaned, carpets deodorized and vacuumed. I used Febreeze on all the curtains after cleaning them and now the house has a nice fresh scent.

I put higher watt bulbs in many fixtures so it will be nice and bright when you turn on all the lights. The is also a lamp in each of the bedrooms that can be turned on when showing the house in addition to the ceiling fans to really brighten up the rooms. When you turn on the overhead lights, the fans are set to low so they will move around some air while people are looking around.

The bathrooms got scrubbed and deodorized. The bath off the living room was a horror show. Someone had used the toilet and it smelled so bad you could hardly stand it there-it REEKED!! And the bowl and lid were mildew/mold city.(See, the water has been shut off since February) I can't even imagine how the agent, Jan, showed the house with the bathroom being like this. People must have fled screaming during the open houses!!

So we put a new toilet seat in there and a new shower curtain. And then lots of potpourri and candles and spa like towels and do dads were added.

We sure had fun and have a real sense of accomplishment.

We did get to relax Saturday nite at the hotel in Marshfield. We hung out in the hot tub with Dad and had a good time.

I took LOTS of before and after pictures of the house (and pictures at the pool at the hotel) I should get those posted tonite or tomorrow. So you can see how beautiful the house is now.

You know the real estate agent, Jan, never came over while we were there?! And I had written her and invited her. I wrote her this morning and asked her to update the info on the web site listing-

Well we did meet with an new agent from Century 21, Gary, and he seemed real nice and he will try to sell the house for Mom and Dad when Jan's listing has expired August 1.

Photos soon.

Operation "Sell This Spencer House"

My first blog entry...how exciting!
I have decided to join the 21st century and give this a whirl. So here goes.

Operation "Sell This Spencer House"

My parents are still trying to sell their old house in Spencer,WI. It has been on the market since Feb 2007.
They have lowered the priceto $59,900, it was $64,900, but not one offer.
If you are a fan of HGTV, like I am, and if you watch those decorating shows, like I do, you know that an empty house is hard to sell. And that when people see an empty house it is hard for them to picture themselves living there. It is also too easy to focus on the problems in the house if there is nothing to distract their eye.

SO, Steve, my parents and I are going up to Spencer the weekend of July 13th to paint, do some cosmetic repairs and stage the house with furniture. It's Operation "Sell This House"!!

After YEARS of watchinghome makeovers shows, flipping shows and staging shows on HGTV, A&E, and TLC I feel I am ready to take on this project. And Steve gets to come along for the ride!

On Saturday, the 15th of July, we will also be meeting with a Century 21 agent to discuss swtching to his company to see he can do a better job of selling the house.

So here is the house at it was in January of 2007



I will take lots of before and after pictures and you will be able to see the magic we perform this weekend.