Wow! The clue game is a great idea! Good luck in selling.

Looks like a really cool house!  It's fun having a listing that has character like this.  Thanks for sharing.

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 

Juliet,

What a great idea.  And I was especially interested in reading once I saw the name Caruso... that's my name...

Thanks,
Michael A. Caruso

A Clue game - you have gone beyond the realm of staging.  What a fun and great idea - I can't wait to hear of all the comments you get from potential sellers. 

So far, Sandra, the real estate communtiy is enchanted and giving the team high marks for creativity.  My fingers are crossed that this translates into offers.  There is movement in the $2.8 - $3.0 million price range at the moment, so we're all optimistic.

Michael, are you a fine tenor, too?  Or are you like me - the "exception that proves the rule" - a black-thumbed, non-gardening Englishwoman?

It's true, Bob, we stagers deal in generic so often... the problem is that the buying pool is smaller for a quirky home... so the house doesn't get the same exposure as all the "safe bets"!

Thanks Vickie, for the kind words. It is the most enchanting house; I hope someone steps up for it soon.  It's dispiriting to the house to sit unwanted for months on end.

Fascinating house and a very creative way to stage and market it, Juliet! This is the kind of effort that deserves a lot of attention. I wouldn't be surprised if regional or national media picked up on this story soon. Good luck!

From your lips to God's ears, John.  Thank you for the comment!

Juliet - Your Clue Game Approach is genius! You absolutely need to create buzz locall in the local paper, and or historical societies. The home looks beautiful! Best wishes!

Maybe the house could "host" a Murder Mystery evening for charity???  You're too much - Julie

Well how fun is that?!? What a clever tool to get buyers engaged in the home while providing them with history and stories - hopefully making them fall in love with the home itself!  Clever girl!

Cheers, Melissa.  Inspired, as always, by your good self! 

We're competing against New Construction here at every turn, and yet, when you buy a house with history, you have instant provenance, an instant "place" in the story of a town.  You have arrived, in the old fashioned sense, just by the house you've bought.  Now, for the add water and stir kids, is that not a priceless advantage??

Julia - while I recognize that most people want a house that's uniquely theirs, there is a time when a grown up is ready to step up to the plate and serve, as others have done before.  This house has been used for fundraisers for generations.  The next occupant is going to have to do the same - it's part of the legacy.  I'm not sure what else I could have done to make it such a responsibility FUN.  Stepping up to the plate is fun, even if it's a little scary at the same time.

Julianna - have you had much success with PR?  Would you blog about it a little?

 J

Julia - Yes, when you take the time to make some noise it is usually worth it. People save articles for months. For you the opportunity with PR here is pretty cool. Write a catchy headline and send out your article. Have you had the caravan yet? You may want to gear the scavenger hunt or puzzle toward the Realtors and have a prize drawing for those who complete the "puzzle tour"- keep it simple, quick, but fun, I am almost thinking "Mystery Dinner -- light" Make a flyer send it out to Agencies, historical foundations, local news agencies.Business professionals can use a little fun! hors d'oeuvres and beverage are in order! Hire Actors (contact the local college or your nutty staging friends... Fly in James Frazier... I bet he could pull of a great Woodrow Wilson ... gove him a Top Hat --of course he would have to shave...lol) People will talk.

( I mention James because we have seen his acting skills in the Home Rager video -- for those of you who missed it -- it is worth a look!)

Juliet- YOU ARE BRILLIANT!!! I bow to your creativity!!!! Very pretty home, and very clever way to showcase the uniqueness it has to offer!  I think it was Caruso in the tea room with the Roseville Pottery vase!!!

Juliet how fantastic to have discovered a way to set yourself apart! :) Custom games for each of your stagings. I'm not kidding, this is a fantastic idea. You will have to let us know how the scavenger hunt idea goes. Awesome work! 

This does look like one of those houses that has a hidden room behind the library bookcase wall!

Really cool idea!

Best

BB 

Nice job and creative too.  I like the added thought you give to your work.  You are invaluable to your Realtors I am sure.

Yvonne, if only each house lent itself to a game!  what a wonderful differentiatior - I agree.  I think each house has its own unique charm and appeal, but for a game?  My creativity zone would have to be on hyper-steroids!!!!

Brian, this is high praise from you - your stuff has lots of clever nuances.  Cheers!

Terrylynn - whenever we can enter into a marketing relationship with a realtor as a peer, wonderful things can happen.  I am fortunate to have some great relationships out there... but it has taken time to build, and I have had to prove my worth over and over and over again!

Cindy - funny you say that - I have just seen a house with a bookcase that's also a secret door.  Great fun!  The rest of the home is a little silly though, a 10' round 2-storey turret that the builder made the powder room, for example!!

Juliet ~ Your creativity changed this home from possibly boring and stodgy to fun, fresh, and exciting!  Great job.

Thanks, Maureen, when you're competing with new construction, it's really hard to add allure to a house with "character".  It has been a fun project to work on.

Juliet- you are pure genius!  I cannot wait to hear how all this turns out, please do blog on it!

Jackie

You've taken creativity to a new level and what an excellent marketing tool.  It looks beautiful and you've made the home stand out by highlighting one of its best features... all of its history.