When one of my children was just a little toddler, the end of his finger was cut off in a door-slamming incident which would forever give me a hang-up about doors being slammed shut. When my younger sister was just a little toddler, she ended up with a bandaged eye and restrained arms due to an eye injury caused by a rubber band that was shot across the room.* This forever gave me a hang-up about children shooting rubber bands, and I take rubber-band shooting nearly as seriously as I do BB-gun shooting.
Other mothers don't bat an eye at doors being slammed. They see it simply as rude and unnecessary noise. Other mothers don't bat an eye at rubber bands sproinging across the atmosphere. They see it as amusement for little boys. Some mothers think that climbing high trees or high slides is dangerous for little kids. That I don't have a hang-up about, and my kids climbed things that would raise the hair on many a mommy.
Oftentimes, when an item is being sold, it is shown at its best. It is spiffed. It is cleaned. It is put in nice order. To some extent, that is a good and reasonable thing. Who wants to buy a broken bike? The prospective buyer will be more likely to ante up the money if the seller fixed the flat tire or the headlight first.
Sometimes, though, the cleaning and spiffing can cover up something. For example, when a person buys a used car, she wants to know if there are certain fluids leaking in the engine. But some sellers will power-wash the engine. This drives me bonkers at a nice reputable dealership where I often look for new-to-us cars. I can't see evidence that would warn me of trouble to come.
For another example, people who are selling homes often paint and put in new carpet. I have a hang-up about mildew. I want to go into a house and see whether there's evidence of mildew and mold. I want to see what the cracks in the wall are like. I want to know whether the carpet has water stains from flooding, and how bad those stains are. I don't want those things to be hidden by FRESH and NEW cover-ups, only to have the problem show up again in 3 years.
Whereas most people are more inclined to buy something that's clean and fresh and pretty, I would rather see the warts that are on the item I'm considering purchasing. I want to know what I'm really getting, and NOT what the seller wants me to think I'm getting. But because I'm the oddball and the salesmen cater to the normal people, I am often stuck with too little information about purchases I'm considering.
*Footnote: the shooter was not aiming at the wee toddler. But I could see that she was out of his peripheral vision and moving toward the trajectory. It wasn't his fault; it was a sorry accident.
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Not all fresh paint is covering up something. Every single article you read about selling houses says to paint - to make things look fresh and clean - ready to move into. When I got ready to take the paper off the bath room I saw how really drab it looked after only 30 plus years. I am not covering up anything. (No, I am not getting ready to sell.)
ReplyDeleteI know you're not covering up anything. You're making it nice because you want it nice. Caseys are doing the same thing; they just want to make improvements. The friend that Gary's staying with in Mwkee is doing the same thing -- fixing up his house so that it will be nice and will be easier to sell later.
ReplyDeleteBut that's what makes it hard. Is a fresh coat of paint there simply because it's the right time, or is it a cover-up? You can't tell just by looking.
By the way, did you figure out where those initials on the wall (under the wallpaper) came from? Gary suggested Gramp might've put them there, if none of us know about it.
Every house we've looked at has come with a disclosure statement. That statement is usually a legal thing (maybe not in Wisconsin, but most states have something similar) that means the seller has to disclose mold/mildue, leaks, etc. You can ask to look at the disclosure before making an offer. Also once an offer is made the best thing to do is have a home inspection done to find any potential problems. A good inspector can tell you a tremendous amount about the property that you may not see in a walk-thru.
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