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wallpaper-$10,000.00...look on face-PRICELESS

I just finished reading an excellent blog by Kate Hart where she mentioned wallpaper and it reminded me of one of my most favorite wallpaper stories. I had a friend who was a Realtor. She was planning on moving out of state and even knowing how slow the market here had become, she waited longer then I thought she should to list her house on the market. She was so certain that her house would sell quickly and she didn't want to risk selling too early and having to rent something while her new house was being finished. She had asked my opinion of what she should do to her house, but for every piece of advice I offered, she had a reason as to why she wasn't going to do that. One of the home's biggest downfalls was the very dated and very loud patterned wallpaper in the kitchen. She had made some minor repairs, but she was absolutely adamant that she would not remove that wallpaper.

The house sat on the market about a month and she decided to lower the price by $5000.00. She was growing anxious because a number of people had viewed the house, but no offers were being made. It had been a while since we had seen one another and when we finally did run in to each other I asked her how the house sale was going. She was very irritated and said she had to drop the price again by another $5000.00. She then told me that she knew what the problem was...it was the wallpaper. She then ranted and raved about how she was over it and although she knew the wallpaper was probably the biggest deterrent, she was not going to take it down and that "they", (the buyers) were just going to have to get over it. She then looked at me and said if you only knew how much I paid for that wallpaper...I said well I'm guessing at least $10,000.00. The look on her face was priceless...you could have knocked her over with a feather. She finally got it.

It was an eye opening experience for both of us. I was completely amazed because she was an agent. Yet when it came to selling her own property, she couldn't remove herself enough from it to be objective and to make the changes that needed to be made. The cost to remove the wallpaper and paint the kitchen a nice, neutral color would have been quite a bit less then the first price reduction.

When the new home owner's took possession of the house...the very first thing they did was get to work on ripping down that very expensive wallpaper.

Posted by Gina McNew Host of Diva in the House- The Voice of Real Estate Staging Radio on 03/02/2008 03:07 PM

Comments (74)

wallpaper, home staging, diva la difference interiors

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74 Comments on wallpaper-$10,000.00...look on face-PRICELESS

MAR

2008

$10,000 wallpaper.... I wonder if she now understands some of her stubborn clients better?

Gina - I am surprised that she still left the wall paper on the wall after she got it, you would think she would have taken it down.

Penny...funny thing is that when the shoe is on the other foot, you can't see the similarities.

Pam...she was fortunate enough that someone came in right after that and saw that they were getting a good deal on a nice house and all it was going to cost them was a little wallpaper remover gel and a gallon of paint. I was in shock when she told me that the buyer's were just going to have to get over it. Not exactly the type of attitude I would have expected from a Realtor.

A lot of people get stuck in their own head... "It has been good enough for me for the last 20 years..." and have a hard time breaking out.

What is it when we go to sell our own properties. We have one in my area that has been on the market for almost a year -- it started out way overpriced. You think we would know the market -- it's the same thing they tell people about representing themselves in court -- it is not a good idea!

Great story!!! I think it's great that she finally got it because so many others don't at all. I once went on a listing appointment for an expired and the homeowner admitted that the house was almost sold, but the inspection came up with mold in the basement and the buyers wanted it remediated. She said she lived there with the mold all that time, why couldn't the buyers live with it too?

(Uhhh... I didn't get the listing because I told her she would have to put that in her seller's disclosure. It is still on the market over one year later with another Realtor.)

Window treatments are another one that sellers refuse to change because "do you know how much I paid for them?" No, but they are still ugly!

Lane-you hit it right on the head...if it was good enough for me...trying to get them to understand that it's not about "them", can be quite challenging.

Joan-great point, i honestly do find that some times Realtor's can be the hardest sell on staging when it comes to their own homes.

Stacey-why couldn't buyer's live with mold??? That is a classic!

Eliese- you are right...that's another classic situation. When we can use the factor of price reductions because of their reluctance to follow professional recommendations...the cost of those items increases dramatically.

MAR

2008

Gina ~ That must have been classic! The funny thing is she knew it was the wallpaper. Why would you lower your price $10,000.00 all because of wallpaper removal? Even if she didn't want to do it herself, she could have hired someone to do it for a couple of hundred dollars. I have a post coming out about wallpaper myself. This must be wallpaper week on AR!

Kathy-I love the idea of wallpaper week on AR...I'm sure there are lots of tales to be told. I had a male client once who was a widower and his reluctance to take down the bold magnolia print paper in his dining room was due to the fact that his wife had picked out the paper and she just loved it. He himself disliked it and even with the recommendation of his Realtor and his circle of friends all telling him that it had to go, he couldn't bring himself to do it. I finally convinced him to remove it as the point was, once he left the home he would be leaving that wallpaper behind anyway. I suggested that when he was taking it down he save a large piece of it and put it in a picture frame to take with him. That is exactly what he did. It's difficult to get people to let go of some things when there are such strong memories attached to them.

Gina - this one wins an Emmy. Love the story. - Julianna

Funny how so many can't see the forest for the trees. I love your response and I bet the look was priceless.

I know I had one client that I had remove the sheers from the windows in the living room (there were no curtains). I then told him to remove the curtain rods and he said he didn't want to and I asked why. His response was "this way people will know they can hang curtains here". I responded "it is a window, people already know you can hang curtains here". We both laughed and he did remove them.

Julianna- All I can say is I'd like to thank the Academy...Always a pleasure to have you pop in to one of my blogs!

Sandra-the one thing I always pack in my staging toolbox is a good sense of humor...you obviously do the same. (;

Gina ~ What a great idea that was for this particular client! He got to keep something that made him think of his wife and what a creative way to use it. Great story!

Seller said "I like my wall paper." I said that is great... now all we have to do is find someone just like you! LOL! It is hard to see for yourself when you are the seller client and realtor all in one!

Love your "frame the wallpaper" story, Gina. And LOL about Sandra's reply to the h/o!!

Kathy

I once had the misfortune to have a listing appointment for a house, they had owned the home for only about 3 years and the previous listing had said designer wallpaper. I chuckled and the whole time I was talking to Mr. Seller my partner was kicking me to keep me from laughing about the satin striped and flocked designer wallpaper that was poorly hung. I didn't get the listing, thank God, because the seller thought his house was gorgeous and I gave him a list of several items that desperately needed attention including taking the wallpaper down.

Gina, great story! Sometimes it hard to get over "I paid good $$$ for _____" . Your response was exactly what she and others need to hear; Don't let that wallpaper, or drapery or whatever, cost you way more than it's worth. Everything has a life expectancy and when it's over, it's over!

If sellers are so in love with their expensive wallpaper maybe we should suggest having them soak it off and take it with them to their next property. :o)

it's always nice when the paper is applied directly to bare Sheetrock and is perma-fused to it.

You know, we blinked and wall paper went OUT. I don't know how things can change so rapidly but they do. Remember fashion colors of green and gold, then mauve? In a few years these red and yellow and green and black walls will also be considered atrocious. The world turns and trends change.

Well we all go thru some sort of learning curve during our tenure in this profession. A 10,000.00 lesson is one we will never forget.

Wallpapers a mess to take down...it is a hard cold fact that sellers are really attached to their homes an have a hard time letting go.

Those are wonderful and enlightening tips! Thank you so much for sharing! I will use $$$$$$ to get the point across!

Kathy - wonderful story and a light bulb moment! Wallpaper comes and goes; I once bought 8 rolls of wallpaper for $52,000 and it came with a house! It's TRUE.

Ugly wallpaper, or any wallpaper has probably caused more homes to sit and sit and sit than any decorator item. Even worn carpet is easier to get over because folks know that they can just go buy new. Folks don't always know how to handle wallpaper and hangers are hard to find.

My advice to buyers is think twice about putting it up.

I love to see a new home builder who sells a model and includes the wallpaper as an "upgrade". There's nothing funnier than trying to charge a prospective buyer for wallpaper.

This is a great story. I actually chuckled out loud when I read this. Thanks!!

I think for most people there will be a dollar figure that beats the emotion you feel about selling your house. It took your friend $10,000 to finally get that she had to "get over" the wallpaper.

Gina, this is such a sad tale. I mean, my gut reaction was to smile and say, "SEE!!!" Then I realized the pathos in this story. Your friend is not the only one among us who finds we are unable to let go of something in our lives and find it costs us much more than we could have imagined. At the same time, I find this example to be so very compelling. Hopefully she learns from this adventure. Hopefully we can help our potential clients learn from this misadventure too. Great post!

Gina, wow, what a great post! Yep, that was some VERY expensive wallpaper. I bet not initially as much as it was to get rid of! I bet the buyers are well pleased that a little work on their part is going to give them some great equity! I once was the buyers agent for a house that was painted every Easter Egg color you could imagine. The kitchen was soft pink, the bedrooms baby blue, the living room light purple. It sat on the market for 6 months and the price was lowered by $8000. My buyer bought it and was transfered shortly afterwards. Fortunately she had time to paint....Less than one year later we got $10000 more for a house that she bought for $120K.

Wow everyone! I have enjoyed reading all of the responses. I am quite familiar with lots of horror stories of people who have gone to remove wallpaper only to find that the walls weren't properly treated prior to the paper being applied and yes, the sheetrock damage and the expense to repair it is huge. That is why so many people cringe at the thought of removing wallpaper and so it really can cost someone a sale. I have also seen faux painting techniques cause homes to sit on a market a lot longer then they probably should have. Buyers want move in ready...promises not projects. Then again I remember my first house. Talk about the money pit... I could write a book on our first year in that house. It came with this truly horrible off white wallpaper. I could never understand why someone wouldn't have just painted the walls then to have used this very non descript ugly wallpaper. My husband and I went to work taking the paper down one weekend. We were so proud of the job we had done and were quite surprised at how simple it was because my in laws had warned us that it would be quite an undertaking. We prepared the walls, taped off the molding and got to work applying the paint. BOY...were we proud and excited. With half the downstairs done, we took a little break and went out on the deck to enjoy a cold drink. When we returned inside, we noticed the paint appeared to be bubbling...we couldn't understand what was going wrong. We walked in to the hallway to see if the same problem was occuring there and just as we turned the corner we watched what appeared to be the wall falling down...an entire wallpaper width of wet painted wall started rolling downward to the floor. The wallpaper came down with no problem...we didn't know that there was another layer of wallpaper glue still on the walls. Granted that too came down very easily, but I would not recommend you ever use paint to get wallpaper glue off of a wall! WHAT A MESS!

Gina,

Thanks for sharing this...you hear about this time and time again! When we people start learning in the classroom instead of from their own bad experiences?!

Hey Gina! Congrats on the featured post; and well deserving I might add. What an AWESOME come back you made "Well, I'm guessing at least $10,000! What a hoot -- your quick thinking skills are shining with this story!

Hey, I just had an idea -- you should have everyone e-mail to you their funniest story, or oddest thing thing that happened to them while staging, or the most obvious ironies such as this example -- and then read some on the air!

Karen...that's a great idea...I will have to do that maybe at the end of this month. The show is booked and I am now placing guests for late May. I love the idea though and will have to put something together.

Thanks for the congratulations...I had no idea the blog would become a featured post...Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

hugs!

I cringe when I see wallpaper. It may just be the flashbacks to our first home. It took me a week and a rented professional steamer to remove wallpaper in 3 bathrooms. I think it was put on with super glue!

Great post!

Oh Gina, When I read your comment about the "wall rolling off the wall" I was cracking up! Any of us who have had the pleasure of DIY projects in our own homes where we are willing to take the chances we wouldn't even begin to suggest to our clients have had some crazy thing happen to us along the way. The wall in our master bedroom which I painted a different color every day for 7 days, (arrrghhh) the wall that bowed into the room as I began pulling the wallpaper from it, (both my husband and my dad yelling at me as I tried to kill us all) those sorts of things. Then we have the success stories also from our wild and crazy ideas. Like how the entire bathroom finally made sense after my hubby moved the toilet over by 7 inches, the difference the floating shelves made in the entry hall, the painting of the awful fake-wood paneling which made our daughter's small room actually inhabitable for the first time. Congratulations on your feature! Way cool!!!

Yvonne; It actually gets worse...that was our first experience of taking down wallpaper...now for me to admit the story of applying wallpaper. You know the old expression about how if a marriage can withstand a couple applying wallpaper together then it's bound to last forever...I got a great idea that we should wallpaper our first little bathroom...I made it extra easy...I bought contact paper and it had red, blue, green and yellow lines....I reasoned with my husband that it was going to be simple easy...all he had to do was match the lines....Believe it or not...March 17th we will be married 24 years! HA! There's been a lot of wallpaper coming and going in those years along with numerous layers of paint, plumbing projects, flooring installs etc. Thankfully the successes outweigh the failures...but it's always a learning curve. Sounds like the same is true for you! If nothing else, it always makes the hubby's a hit at cocktail parties as they love to spin their tales.

Yup, it is expensive wallpaper when you think that it's easier to lower the price? WOW! And we become buyers and sellers when we buy and sell, there isn't a Realtor or stager gene I guess.

Gina-

....c'mon...tell us what kind of wallpaper it was!

....this was a real eye-opener. Thanks!

Steve

Yes Gina! I know exactly what you mean about the wallpaper. I recently looked at some photos of the first house we bought and thought "what was I thinking?!?!?!" We even papered the ceiling in our bathroom. Yaaahhhh! We have been married 30 years. Most of those years we have not only eaten meals and slept together we have also worked together. Oh yeah, there was also the first rental house we lived in. I put solid yellow contact paper going in a straight line right up the wall above the refrigerator, over the ceiling and down the wall, with an arrow on the end, pointing down at the kitchen table. Our landlord loved it and went around telling everyone what great tenants we were. That little 2 bedroom space must have been the most decorated tar-paper-shack in all of Missouri. What a blast we had. :)

Wow that is incredible. I always have an agent friend or three go through my homes before I sell.

Gina, your story illustrates why sellers should have professional representation. Owners (even agents) are often too close to the situation to see it objectively.

Great story Gina. People always think that good advice does not apply to them.

We recently sold a realtor's home...same story...the Cobbler's children have no shoes....wallpaper, bathroom carpeting...mirror, mirror on the wall...Why don't realtors get it at all ? And....he stayed for the entire inspection and commented while the inspector explained the inspection to the buyer,...grrrrrrrrrrr.

Most Buyers I show around say 'Nope' right when they see it. You can try to tell them that it is an easy fix, but most can't see past whats in front of them.

Nothing says, I like Roaches more than contact paper & wall paper, they eat the glue. It's like crack to them, thats why you alway see restaurants unpacking cardboard boxes right away, and disposing of them. In most states, the Health Inspector can fail a restaurant if it has contact paper in the kitchen.

MAR

2008

Speaking of style changes, when I was shopping for new living room furniture I fell in love with a red leather couch. I bought a brown leather couch though. I just knew my style preferences would change and I didn't want to invest that much money in something that was trendy.

Like the wallpaper, I too had it a long time ago and to think I actually liked it at the time. Yuck!

Who would have thought that wallpaper that was so popular just a few years back, would be the bane of our existence now?

I love this blog. What a great way to explain it to people. People don't get over it. They buy something else.

Gina, I just can't understand wallpaper these days and why it gets left up in so many homes. I showed a home a few years ago that was entirely wallpapered, including the closets. Well, to their credit they didn't wallpaper the ceiling and floor! My clients liked the house but loathed the wallpaper and forever referred to that home as "wallpaper house." Needless to say they didn't buy it.

Gena, this is priceless. We are so blind, that's why I would never list my house and I would do exactly what other agents tell me to do. Thanks for the laugh.

One person likes is anothers dislikes. People forget that.

Rich

Long Realty Co

Wallpaper is a GREAT COVER-UP!! Some people use it to HIDE what's really going on behind it! On another note, have you seen the few reports out there that wallpaper is coming back in??? HAH! Every client I've talked to really cannot stand it!

I loved your come back. I wish there was a statement that you can use with your seller that gets the same attention, before you have to lower the price, and add to the cost of that wallpaper. Until they see it for themselves, they just don't get it sometimes.

Thanks for the giggle this morning! That's a great story! :)

We purchased our home in 2004 when homes were scarce in our market. (unfortunately I was not a Realtor during that market) After putting in 4 full price offers because we were in multiple offer situations and getting turned down, we purchased this one. It has wallpaper in both bathrooms and the kitchen. One bathroom is 12x10. Talk about wallpaper!!! We have just started renovating the small bathroom. We plan to KILZ over the wallpaper and then paint. We did this once in another house but we sponge painted so the seams did not show. Not sure how this will work this time because we are just using one color. I know the other bathroom and the kitchen will have to have the wallpaper removed. Stay tuned for details. Hope it works.

Ah ha......I see we're back to CAPITAL letters again!! Great wallpaper story. Sometimes people just don't think!

This is the reason why Doctors don't treat themselves. We sometimes become extremely naive when it comes to our own stuff!

That was a GREAT comment to make in response to her not wanting to take the wallpaper down! I never can understand why sellers say that the buyers should "get over it." THEY are what is going to determine whether or not she sells and for what price!

A FEATURE worthy post indeed! Gina, This is a great discussion. I have got some good stories myself! (Though not as good of a comeback) still love it!

Wanted to thank everyone for such a lively participation in my blog. In fact...I have a theory...wallpaper is like spinach...I'll explain that one in an upcoming blog. The bottom line is it is an easy fix and something that should just be taken care of before a home goes on the market. What are the odds that a seller could pick out artwork for a future buyer of their home...wallpaper is the equivalent of leaving art on the walls. The odds of someone having the very same taste as you are so slim...why allow something like that to cost a sale.

Sandy...truth be known I've had to cheat to get my caps back...I'm still shift out of luck...I have to keep hitting the caps lock or using an on-screen key board. I didn't even know such a thing existed...ahhh...technology. Truth be known...it's a pain in the asterisk...

Ha, $10,000 wallpaper! That was awesome!!!! Great post and congrats on the feature! =)

Thank you Abby...it's been lots of fun to read everyone else's views and horror stories.

cheers

LOL....that's a lot of money for wallpaper. Yikes! And that's not even counting what she actually paid on top! It is funny when it's your own house. You never really see the bad side to it.

MAR

2008

I am surprised that an Agent would be so short sighted. Her Real Estate sales must be going very well to be able to afford to take a $10,000 hit on the selling price of her own home.

Just when you think there isn't anything that would surprise you, AR's blogs prove you wrong.

Wow! I am shocked that after the lightbulb finally went off that she STILL kept the wallpaper. Gosh, some people really can't see the forest for the trees!

Some of my best clients are actually Realtors that are selling their homes. When it comes to your own property, there are some things that you just cannot see objectively.

When we sell our home I will be having my partner come over for a detailed report after I think I've done it all. There is no way that I as a Stager will see it completely obectively either.

It's simply amazing how much people are willing to drop the price because they don't want to tackle a days worth of work.

Great post!

APR

2008

I loved your post. I have been on the other side of the table, walked into a house with horrible wall paper and knew that many people would not be able to see beyond it. About two months later, after the house had been sitting I submitted a low bid, and they took it. I don't mind tearing down some wall paper myself so I say if you want to leae it up and give me a great deal.....more power to you. Thanks

Scott~I'm with you on that one! I personally enjoy the removal of wallpaper...instant gratification and then new blank slate, but few people share my enthusiasm. I have heard so many people say that they would have purchased this house or that house if it wasn't for the awful wallpaper. You would think it was a permanent application. It all goes back to the old adage....buyers want to see promises...not projects!

Cheers!

APR

2008

AWESOME story! If only more buyers would realize how much wallpaper cost down the road.

I had a client once that had wallpaper everywhere and of course as I was conducting my consultation I was being met with resistance about removing the wallpaper. WHile I was writing some notes, I heard her telling the realtor that they simply LOVED the house the realtor showed them the other day but there was just too much wallpaper that needed to be removed and they were not up for it. SO I TURNED and said " what did you just say"? and she said there is too much wallpaper and stopped in her tracks, then I asked so if you don't want to remove the wallpaper in THAT house, why do you think a buyer would want to come in here to remove the wallpaper in THIS house? I think she got it.

Gina: Great post..and I bet that it would have cost a lot less than $10,000 to remove and paint her kitchen... However, I bet her wallpaper was not half as bad as the wall paper I had to replace..check out my post LIBERACE WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS BATH !! GOLD LAME' FROM THE 60'S NOW THAT IS SOME UGLY WALLPAPER

APR

2008

Tori and Phyllis~Thanks for commenting on the post. I can't believe how many of us have experienced bad wall paper and reluctant sellers.

Mary Lou~Why was I not surprised your story would involve a bathroom! ha! Wow...you really worked some magic!

Cheers!

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