Patricia Kennedy

Early fall Open Houses here in Washington, DC can be tricky.

Today was a perfect September day, with clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid- 70's. No humidity, either! So, is this a perfect day for an Open house, or what?

No! It's a perfect day for a long bicycle ride through Rock Creek Park. Or maybe lunch at an outside restaurant overlooking the Potomac River, either at Washington Harbor in Georgetown or maybe Old Town Alexandria. Conventional wisdom is when the weather is this fabulous, people get distracted from house hunting and reduces traffic at Opens.

It was also a day when the Washington Redskins were playing the St. Louis Rams at Fed Ex Field, and people who didn't make it to the game could enjoy it on TV. Conventional wisdom? A Redskins game cuts way down on Open House traffic.

Well, today conventional wisdom went down the tubes. My Open House at 1352 Kearney St NE was a total mob scene! I was lucky because there were several other homes open in the immediate neighborhood, and we were all in the approximate price range of mine. There were over 50 people who came through, and there are several second showings being arranged for tomorrow!

I'm crossing my fingers that one of them will turn into a ratified contract. Then I'll feel great about missing a nice long bike ride in the park!

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certianly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment. The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.

The sellers have two children. My buyers have two children.

The sellers enjoyed living near the shops and restaurants in Cleveland Park. My buyers want to enjoy the shops and restaurants in Cleveland Park.

The sellers want to move. My buyers want to move.

OK, what's wrong here?

Yesterday I showed a house in Cleveland Park that should have been pretty near perfect for some buyers who definitely pass the fun test. You know they type - smart, funny, not overly picky, able to articulate exactly what works and does not for each place we see. The house was a preferred location, and it had all of the necessary bedrooms and baths. The price was smack dab in the middle of their price range. Oh, and it's a pretty house, too.

And their feedback on this one?

"I'm not feeling it!" That would be the husband.

"I feel like I'm caught up in a Pottery Barn catalog!" The wife.

The house was, in fact, furnished in early 21st Century Pottery Barn - the same furniture that a lot of local stagers prefer to use. The entire house was spotless, impeccable - oh, and it was hard to believe that real people actually lived there, especially with two little ones.

My buyers couldn't imagine themselves in this house - a house deliberately neutralized to the extent that it seems like anyone could imagine themselves living there!

For other reasons, mostly the small yard, this house won't work. If it did have the necessary outdoor space, I'm sure they would be able to look beyond the spotless property condition, just as they could look beyond a house that was cluttered with toys and smelled like a combination of Labradoodle and diaper pail.

But this has me re-thinking my approach to staging. If this had been my listing, I would consider myself blessed to have such neatniks as clients. But maybe what this house needs is a little bit of funk. Not a lot. Just ashes in the fireplace, or a chewed up dog toy under the coffee table. Perhaps pet hair on the upholstery.

In the meantime, I am way too chicken to be the first agent on the block to advise clients to live normally in one of my listings!

There comes a time in every relationship where one or the other person – maybe even both of them - wants to use the “L” word. But it gets tricky. Neither one wants to go first.

Then you feel like the writers for Sex and the City are taking over your life.

It’s dangerous to say it first. What if you say it and he’s not there yet?

What if you thought you heard him say it but he really didn’t? Then you say it and he gets that look on his face. Ewww!

Well, Brad Blanton, author of Radical Honesty and my favorite therapist, once suggested that instead of saying, “I love you,” you look your sweetie in the eye and say, “You love me!”

So, I’ve had this particular issue on my mind lately.

You see, I have a new listing coming on this weekend. And I am anticipating a big Open House on Sunday. Now, I know it’s like a first date. I don’t care.

I want this house to be a shameless flirt that looks every buyer in the eye and says, “You love me!”

So I priced it right (I think).

And the floors have just been refinished.

And it’s beautifully staged and looks pretty amazing if I do say so.

So on Sunday afternoon between 1 and 4 pm, don’t show up at 1352 Kearney Street NW unless you are open to hearing the “L” word. Oh, and you’ll need to be open to a long, committed relationship.

More about the Open later.

© 2009 Patricia Kennedy. Unless otherwise noted, the content, both written and in pictures, is the property of Patricia Kennedy . If you would like to use this image, please email me (housepat@mac.com) with your request. I'll almost certianly say yes, and ask only that you provide a link back to my original content as well as an acknowledgment. The same thing applies to any other material you see posted here on Active Rain or on any of my other blogs.