Several times during the last week, I've gone through homes that are ugly and/or inhabited by total slobs or compulsive hoarders (albeit of very pretty things). 

All three houses had "good bones", built before 1920 and with no improvements made in 40 or more years.  One looked like Granny's house and had been hastily empied out after Granny went either to heaven or a nursing home - then nothing else was done.  The other looks like a young family bought an old fixxer upper, had a bunch of children, and forgot to fix up  - or to clean up.  The third was very dated, but had a whole lot of glitzy furniture and oriental rugs, art work on every square inch of wall space, and several rooms crammed with so much stuff that I thought an E-Bay addict must live there. 

One house smelled like an all night poker game (tobacco) and the other reeked of wet basement.  E-Bay Addict house actually did pass the "Sniff Test".

And all of these homes were on the market well over $1million dollars.  They were not all that bad.  All of them had lots of potential.  But the idea of preparing these homes for the market seems to have escaped the agents and the owners.

Two of the agents are total professionals who are known for whipping their sellers and their homes into shape, and I imagine they were following orders from their sellers.  The third agent is someone I don't know. 

So now it will be interesting to track what happens.  Will someone snap them up?  Will they languish on the market. 

Hmmmmm.  Think I'll sign off and call my friend Henry.  He might be looking for a project to take on.