Because I have sole custody of my children and I have moved out of state, I am legally responsible for making sure they get back to NY as much as possible to visit their father and, of course, visit with the rest of the family. So, a couple of weeks ago I flew up north with my two children. The agenda: Visit everyone we could in 5 days in NY and then take the drive further north to Sebago Lake, Maine for another 9 days to just get away!
Well, my 2 1/2 hour flight turned into an 18 hour nightmare...we were supposed arrive at 11:30 AM in Newark, NJ but ended up arriving at 2:15AM the next morning in White Plains, NY!!!! (That would be a whole other blog) Long story short, it took me about 2 days to recover from that...my back went out from the stress. Little did I know that a few people had 'plans' for me when I got there!
My mother wanted me to give her advice to pull her bedroom together...she didn't like the flow, she just painted and wanted advice on carpet selection, etc. That was an easy one!
My sister, who is still in limbo for about 2 years now between mom's house and her fiance's house, wanted help there too. I went to his house with her (I've been there many times before) to help her get the arrangement and flow right there...The end result? After moving the furniture around it all went back to the way it was. My advice? They have to reduce the amount and size of the pieces before they can do anything! There is a monstrous entertainment center (crammed with every DVD and CD he owns) right smack in front of the front windows! He has a tremendous L-shaped computer desk in the corner next to the dining room table! YIKES! The space is limited because it's a townhouse and the configuration is weird, but doable...with the right pieces! I felt like a staging failure because I couldn't whip it into shape right there on the spot! Neither of them are ready to unload ANYTHING, hence, the problem.
Now let's drive another 400 miles north to the cabins in Maine. OH, we just love it up there! It's glorified camping at it's best! A short walk down the street to Sebago Lake, which is a massive, clear, sandy bottomed lake! I am so spoiled from spending my whole life vacationing there...I will not, to this day, put my foot in water if I cannot see the bottom. And swimming with the fishes? Nope! Not me! Sebago Lake has tons of great fishing available but nothing by the shoreline...I don't swim past in depths where the sun can't reflect on the sandy bottom.
This is my daughter, Kate, blowing bubbles on the beach of the lake. Here I am with our poodle, Opal.
What does this have to do with staging? Well, my mother inherited the cabins from my grandparents, who had bought them from my great-grandmother (who was a drinker and would have lost these last 3 cabins due to outstanding tax bills if they didn't buy them from her!). Both of my beloved grandparents are now passed and my parents are now left with the financial burden of the cabins. The choice? Sell them or Rent them. It costs almost $4,000 per year for minimal maintenance (tax, oil, snow removal in winter...) never mind if something goes wrong.
So, my job was to help her make the final decision to seek the realtor's advice about renting them next summer. My job was also to help her stage them. OH MY! Where do we begin? My grandfather's thought process was always "it's good enough!", "it's a cabin! What do you expect?" and the like. Translation---they need quite a bit of TLC and upgrading! Gone are the days of the traditional Maine cabin experience! When I was a kid, I loved being up there but I was always equally glad to be home! If we are going to rent, they need to be up to speed with all of the other cabins being rented. These cabins are 'Home away from Home'.
What we did was this:
- Determined how many people each cabin was going to be able to house comfortably. Once this was done, then we a list of the beds available. One cabin could sleep 8 because it had so many beds in it! LOL Then we played musical beds between the 3 cabins to make it work.
- We had to make a functional and comfortable Living Space that was separate from the sleeping areas. One cabin is a coverted one-room log cabin...suffice to say that was a challenge! The second is the 4-season house that my grandparents used to live in so there is a distinction between the two. The third cabin needs so much work...we did what we could.
- We changed the curtains in each cabin by determining a color 'theme' for each place. I told my mom, keep the colors consistent througout...it'll make the flaws less obvious and everything won't be jumping out and screaming "Look at me!"
The plain red curtains are much less offensive than those turquoise floral things! All of the windows in this cabin now have the red panels. The red adds warmth, works well with the wood, adds privacy, block sunlight during hot days and adds to the rustic 'glow' at night with the lamps lit. The exposed electric is part of the 'charm' from 40 years ago, but needs to be addressed for today's renters. My mother hopes to have all of the exposed walls covered in knotty pine planks to maintain the rustic cabin feel. The sheetrock doesn't do it. And the foil on the walls? Not quite sure why it's there and what purpose it serves! Is is part of the charm? Hhmmm.....
- We got to visit a couple of cabins that are being rented to see what the standard is. They are very clean even if they are old and rustic. It seems, fresh paint does wonders to these old places. My mom knows the guy at the Sherman Williams store by name because she's been in there so many times. I spoke with her last night, as my kids are still up there with her, and she's STILL painting! LOL Even the outside porch is getting painted!
- My biggest question to the realtor was, is there still a market for the rustic cabin experience? Many of the little cabins in the area have been renovated and upgraded over the years. They are no longer inexpensive rents, either. They command over $1,000 per week, depending on location to the lake. Waterfront places that are upgraded can command almost $2,000 per week! Her answer was 'yes' mostly because it's a family oriented destination and not every family can spend that kind of money.
Thankfully, I didn't have to turn any work away while I was gone...Unfortunately I had to turn work away before I left. Yes, this was a working vacation. It made me feel guilty to go away but that guilt didn't hang around for long! I wish, however, I could be there when the realtor comes to walk through and give her an idea of price. I did my HW when I got home, checked out their website for Sebago Lake rentals to do the virtual tours and gave my mom an idea of the comparable rentals on Long Beach and what they are getting. Hopefully this works out! I'd hate to see her sell these places! We are now 5 generations deep into them!
Thanks for stopping by!
Abby
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