Sometimes I think the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is checking the MLS. It certainly isn’t doing my morning staging routine - attempting to primp the 8 bed pillows into a thing of beauty and then running around the house with my Swivel Sweeper.

So even though we’re not going to make an offer on a new place until we sell ours, I look everyday. Selling my home is a journey in loss, but searching for that elusive dream house is a potent salve for a hurtin’ girlfriend like me.

I check the MSL on Webdigs (because I like the map that shows exactly where the house is before I click on it) then Craig’s List and a FSBO site or two before the children wake up. And it’s interesting to see what gets me excited.

The Duluth market where we’re looking has many stately homes from the turn of the century. They’re chuck full of woodwork, built-ins, charming nooks & crannies - and I don’t want anything to do with them. I’m not a hater of history or anything, but the one thing I’ve learned as a contributing editor to the DIY magazine, The Family Handyman, is that I’m not particularly good at DIY.

And for me, it’s really all about the layout. When we were in the housing market a few years back, there was no rambler coffee table book, no “preserve the open ranch house movement,” and little appreciation for the one-level design. Honestly, there was nothing cool about it.

But the open floor plan captured us. The entryway that presented the spacious living room flowed into a doorless dining room and melted into the eat-in kitchen. Simply, for what the house lacked in Craftsman style, it made up in movement. And when we saw our then 2-year-old gleefully running around the built-in oak buffet, we were sold.

It seems we’re not the only converts to the open floor plan. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) confirms that jumbo homes of the last decades are in decline. Homeowners are looking for fewer rooms that share the space, share the light and are all wrapped up in a smaller housing footprint.

I talked to local architect George Cundy about it. “Part of the trend is cost driven,” he said. “Let’s say you’re trying to save a dollar or two, are you going to build a house with smaller rooms? No. You’re going use a design that flows, that makes the rooms look bigger so the rooms don’t have to be so big.”

A home that flows gives the illusion of space. Ever been in a house that is smaller than yours, but actually feels bigger? It’s the “Big Sky” phenomena of dwellings. It’s not that the house (or Montana’s vista for that matter) is really any larger, but because you can see farther everything feels more spacious. Open floor plans, because of their limited use of walls and doors, obstruct less of your sightline and makes smaller homes feel roomy.

Cundy says it’s also cultural. Modern Americans live more practically. Used to be homes were built with formal rooms such as front parlors used only for special occasions - otherwise the furniture was encased in plastic and no one entered until the next event. We’re no longer willing to pay for rooms we’re not using.

So now cooks are no longer isolated in the back kitchen, but can visit with those in the living room while making dinner - and know which child is causing the havoc on the couch. We’ve all heard (or said) “Hey! Whoever is causing trouble in there, cut it out!” but now that the gathering rooms are so part of everything, there’s no getting away with anything anymore.

That’s reason enough to go open.

Excerpts of the post were taken from Lucie’s article, “Open for Living,” which appeared in Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine back in the fall of 2006.

Photo Source: http://www.lpslakehouse.com/

After 20 something flawless showings in two weeks, something had to give - and it finally did. On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from the excellent showing service that Wedbigs uses, Showing Solutions. They informed me that a Realtor had scheduled a showing for 6:45 p.m. I said something along the lines of, “Dude, that’s in 3 hours,” and then, of course, moved Heaven & Earth to make it happen.

The house was in good shape and the children had tickets to the Children’s Theater to see their hilarious production of The Magic Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I was supposed to throw my hat in the ring to perform at a story slam for the Minnesota Public Radio show, “In the Loop” — an event my husband had driven 150 miles to accommodate, but there was the problem of the dog.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you may know that our mostly lovable Rottie-mix has been frustrated by being stashed in the vehicle during showings - and chewing his dissatisfaction. So, do I go to the event and risk the mini-van interior (we’re down 2 seat belts) or do I wait for the showing to happen and be late to the show?

The Toyota Sienna won out in the end. After tidying, I drove to our nearby library and parked where I could get a decent wi-fi signal. The minutes clicked by and after an hour steeped in dog breath, I was happy to drop him off.

But when I got home, I could tell the house hadn’t been shown. Nothing was out of place and it lacked that “people have been in the house vibe.” I was crest fallen, but what could I do? I sighed and raced off to my MPR gig.

The next day, my little girl came off the bus flopsy & feverish. After setting her up on the couch and getting my little guy a game to play, I stole 15 minutes to squeeze in a bath. (As a pseudo-single parent, personal grooming often falls by the wayside, but I remind myself it bathing isn’t luxurious, it’s a social contract.)

Then came the knock and it wasn’t a neighborly knock. It was a “bang, bang, bang, bang, bang” knock. The kind that puts your heart in your throat. The dog was doing his job, barking like Kayser Soze was behind the door. I flung myself out of the tub, threw on my bathrobe and came dripping to my entryway. There was the Realtor - 24 hours later than I expected.

She seemed like a nice gal and she showed me her confirmation form, but all I could do was dance in a pool of my bathwater, restrain the dog, keep my robe closed and attempt to explain. I declined the showing. She was rightfully annoyed, but we were dug in with zero inclination to clear the premises. It was a bad situation all around and I honestly feel terrible about it. In the unlikely event she reads this: I’m sorry.

No one likes to be caught pants down - or in my case, completely pant-free. All I can say is mistakes were made and I’m trying to the best I can. I’m often away from my house 4 hours at a time to accommodate Realtors. I clean, I stage, I leave out flowers & candy, make baked goods - but show up at the door without clothes - even once - and all that good will is wiped away.

I’ve learning a lot from this experience, mostly that selling isn’t for sissies.

Lucie B. Amundsen, a housing writer in St. Anthony Village, who tries to be a good seller and not scare potential buyers away at the door.

Newspaper headlines rarely tell the full story and today’s papers provide a terrific example.

From the Baltimore Sun (and others):

New-home sales lowest since 1991
8.5% March decline exceeds forecasts; prices also tumble

As always, there’s more to the story than the headline. 

The Census Bureau reported a 8.5 percent decline in New Home Sales last month, but in the “fine print” of the report, the Census Bureau cites a margin of error of 16.1 percent. 

By including a margin of error, the Census Bureau is acknowledging that the “headline number” is not precise and that the actual change in New Home Sales data lies somewhere between the values -24.6% and +7.6%.

Notice that the range of possible reading includes positive numbers. 

This means that New Home Sales could have just as easily shown growth in March — if only the Census Bureau had interviewed a different set of home builders.

The Census Bureau acknowledges this possibility, adding that it “does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.”  The data, therefore, is worthless.

The housing market may be strong or the housing market may be weak.  Most likely, it is both of these things.  It all depends on your street in your neighborhood because all of real estate is local. 

Either way, look deeper than the headlines.  They’re a good source of information, but the real analysis requires a deeper look.

Source
New Residential Sales In March 2008
Census.gov
April 24, 2008
http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf

I tried to resist. When my stager foisted the Swivel Sweeper on me, I demurely declined. Broom & dust pan technology workin’ fine by me - thanks! But she insisted I try it.

Okay, turns out this little cordless electric sweeper really IS great, despite being an “As seen on TV” gadget (but available at Target and Home Depot). It’s a good product for people “living in a product” as we try to sell our homes. In fact, my stager considers it an essential staging tool.

What makes the sweeper so neato is the way it handles, turns on a dime, hugs the turns and allows you to get all the way under the bed - it’s got the mobility of a sports car. And more importantly it picks up all the dog hair & cheddar bunnies hiding under the kitchen bench. (It’s a State Fair demo waiting to happen.)

Since my house has been on the market, I make the bed in the morning - carefully arranging all 8 pillows like something out of the Linen’s & Things circular - and then I run through all the rooms with the little sweeper in under 5 minutes. This happens to be my attention span for this task.

I then pop off the sweeper’s bottom panel and empty the sweepings into my kitchen garbage, plug the charger back into the station and I’m done. If this were the Cleaning Olympics, I’d really be nailing those time trials.

Whereas I would never attempt timed competition with my Dyson. Now I LOVE my pink Dyson vac, I really do - but it’s a production to take it out. It’s relatively heavy and because I’m spatially-impaired, I often have to look at the manual to remember how to get the attachments on (yes, that was hard to admit, but I know my honesty in this matter is paramount). So to be able to whip out this feather light vac and sweep up without moving any furniture is fantastic.

It performs best on the hardwood and tile and I’d say “pretty good” on the carpets. We still need to drag out the “the big vac” every now and again, but for everyday clean-up it’s made me swoon.

Lucie B. Amundsen is a DIY writer in the Twin Cities who is currently resisting moving to the Twin Ports.

Highland Park is a little St. Paul jewel - I know because I lived in a brick “St. Paul Classic” apartment house there for about 8 years. It is nearly equidistance between the downtowns, hugs up against the Mississippi along the bluffs and is walkable like a village. In many ways, it’s just about perfect.

And the people who live there seem to treasure it. It was one of the first St. Paul neighborhoods to welcome Catholics and Jews and the spirit of these first residents lives on places like the College of St. Catherine, the Jewish Community Center, St. Leo’s Church and Cecil’s Deli (read Rueben paradise).

The housing boom came to Highland in the 1940’s leaving charming story-and-a-half stucco houses. Here is what I consider a typical example selling right around the $350K mark. These homes are filled with carved woodwork and build-ins.

More recent development is located in the southern region of Highland where post-World War II construction meets modern townhouses and condos. A nice balance of rental property is scattered throughout the area.

The housing stock is very well maintained and the yards are exceptionally tidy. And beyond just being well cared for, the neighborhood has a sense of place. For example the historical lighting is just that – historical.

What takes Highland to the next level is being able to walk to real shopping. There is a mix of specialty shops like the Fixery and the Tea Source, as well as some tastefully built newer chains like Chipolte and Barnes & Noble.

But what anchors Highland is Lunds and the Mississippi Market Co-op. Real grocery options makes it an area where one can truly be car-free. And it’s a manageable bike ride (or quick bus trip) across the river to the Hiawatha Light Rail that can whisk you to points Downtown, the airport and the Mall of America.

Another plus is the unusually high amount of green space in the city which you can see on this map. There are also walking trails all along the river, too.

The only ding - if you call it a ding - is that it’s a pretty stately place. It’s not the neighborhood you move to to unfurl your freak flag, paint your house purple and plant giant whirly gigs. Save that for arty Powderhorn or NorthEast, Minneapolis.

Lucie Amundsen just completed a Neighborhood Profile section for the relocation guide, Twin Cities Living. It made her fall in love with the region all over again.

When your showing your must rid your home of as many extraneous items as possible. For us, this has included our dog’s beds, feeding station and of course - our irrepressibly average dog, Scottie.

And we’ve been lucky, our house has been on the market a scant week and our showings number in the double digits. But this means that our Rottweiler-mix has seen A LOT of car time lately. Add to this that because my spouse now works out of town, Scottie’s typical 2-mile walk has been cut down significantly - to like, no walk at all. (We do have a fenced in yard, but he’d tell you that it ain’t the same).

So a couple days ago when I again tossed the dog in our minivan along with a laundry basket full of staged-out contraband, I didn’t think much of it. He’s always been a big gentle mutt with a fierce bark. But upon my return, it was clear that my sweet Scottie was sending me a message and it’s probably one not suitable for print.

When I opened the van’s rear hatch, the parking lot was showered with wicker basket pieces. I looked around sheepishly waiting for the candid camera crew to pop out and tell me I’ve been punk’d.

And there was Scottie with a length of wicker protruding from his muzzle. That he’d been busted didn’t faze him in the least. Later I saw that he had also gnawed a door handle and a selt belt was chewed up and wet with dog spit. He didn’t care & honestly, I can’t really blame him. Selling a home is hard on both man & beast.

He had to come with us to Duluth on Friday - which with 2 adults, 2 kids and a 70lb canine in the Toyota Sienna, things got a little tense. At one point, the children were sitting the back watching a video on Jason’s laptop. Scottie lounged on one of the captain’s chairs - licking the armrest. This irked Jason who first scolded him, then yelled and finally gave him a little flick with his finger.

This sent the dog bolting from the chair and in between the children - landing with all 4 paws on Jason’s laptop. If the state of the computer wasn’t at stake, it would have been amusing to see this huge dog nervously balancing on a tiny keyboard. But, of course, the moment wasn’t right.

Today’s showing found us (Scottie and me) in the minivan looking for an Internet hot-spot where I could do some work and turn in an article. The dog was sitting shotgun, breathing his “you really should have sprung for the teeth cleaning” breath on me.

And while I once interviewed a pet psychic for Minnesota Monthly, I don’t possess canine mind reading skills myself. But just this once, I do believe our thoughts were synced and above our heads in a shared thought bubble it read: There’s no place like home.

Lucie B. Amundsen is a Twin Cities writer, humorist and Webdigs homeseller.

When a dishwasher works well, you love it as much as your significant other (and some days, maybe just a little more). When it doesn’t and you’re stuck doing dishes by hand - it can feel like you’ve been dropped into the third world. Of course, lots of folks hand wash their dishes everyday, but if you’re out of practice it’s a rocky transition.

Sometimes a dishwasher is somewhere between “working” and “not working.” You open up the door after a wash cycle only to find kinda-dirty dishes - it’s a crest falling experience. One of the common causes is a food-clogged filter at the bottom of the unit. If that filter is gunk’d up, water can’t make it to the spray arms to clean the dishes.
So here’s what you do: Pop off the filter cover and use a wet-vac to suck up errant Cheerios off the screen inside the dishwasher.

Another problem could be the float switch. It’s that plastic cover on the bottom of the dishwasher that slides up and down. It’s what tells the dishwasher how much water to use in a cycle and if it’s jammed up with mac & cheese you won’t get enough water for decent cleaning.

Costos, a repair person (and heck of a nice guy) from Nicollet Appliance Center in Minneapolis, said that if you can’t find the float switch to check the toy chest. “Kids love to toddler off with it.”

When I was speaking with Costos, I asked which dishwashers he likes best. He recommended KitchenAid, which includes less expensive lines such as Whirlpool.

When I replaced my dishwasher a while back (my husband texted “dishwasher on fire” to which I texted back “You don’t have time to text,”) I went with a KitchenAid . I paid $600 at Appliance Smart (formerly known as Scratch & Dent) and my dishes are truly clean with very little pre-washing. This model has a disposer at the bottom of the unit so the filter self-cleans. It works so well that it often gives my husband a run for his money when vying for my affection.

Lucie B. Amundsen is a contributing editor to the Reader’s Digest Publication, The Family Handyman.

Photo Credit: www.applianceaid.com - a source of excellent how-to advice

Source: The Family Handyman magazine, Nicollet Appliance Center (612) 823-2544

Even when it’s snowing in April, we still want buyers to think spring – that magical season that makes you wake up and smell the moving boxes. But how do you feel the season of renewal when Jack Frost is still blowing down your For Sale sign?

Well I’m pleased to announce that pansies are back in nurseries and many big box home centers. What’s great about these sweet flowers is that they’re colorful and very cold-tolerant plants. They handle temps down to 25 degrees and keep their blooms – if it drops much below that the plant will survive, but you’ll lose petals.

When you buy pansies, you need to ask the garden store if these plants have been acclimated to the outside. If all their lives they’ve only known the temperate greenhouse, they won’t like being cast out into the cold - would you? But if they’ve been kept outside on all but the coldest days, you’re more likely to have success with them in your curb appealing planters. If you see a cold night in the forecast, cover them up with a sheet to help keep heat in.

A way to bring spring inside is to plant a simple terrarium like my stager did. She took a glass container, filled it with this wonder substance, Darice Cracked Ice from Michael’s Craft (about $5) and added a fast growing grass seed she bought in bulk from Bachman’s.

Mist it with a water sprayer once a day and within three you’ll get some sprouts – and because the water retaining gel is clear you can see the roots, too. Of course you can do this with potting soil, but there is something neat about seeing the plant sprout and drops roots through the clear glass and gelatinous goo. The sprouts grow into blades of grass for a contemporary display that assures buyers (and you) that it won’t be winter forever.

Lucie is a freelance writer specializing in DIY and real estate topics.

Maybe it was too many apples in the fruit bowl? A view of Lucie’s cluttered kitchen.

Now that my house has been de-cluttered and staged, it’s finally on the MLS. But now I’m stuck living in a house that’s de-cluttered and staged. Tom Meckey, my Webdigs Realtor, said it well, “You live in a home, but when you’re house in for sale – it’s a product.”

And I think if you haven’t gotten a house ready for market in a while, it’s easy to forget how hard it is. Living day-to-day in a product isn’t easy, especially for a young family. For kids, it’s their passport to the land of “NO.”

“No, you can’t play with your things; the toys in the playroom have been arranged in a pleasing manner to suggest child’s play – not accommodate it. No painting, no messy crafts, no more laughing, no more fun, Quaker’s Meeting has begun.” And while we’ve previously allowed our little ones to watch one measly half hour of TV a day, I find myself saying, “How about a watching a video; that would be tidy.”

A girlfriend of mine is also showing her home this weekend and we’ve commiserated on the difficulty of bringing one’s house up to magazine standards. She sent an email sharing that she’s hasn’t been sleeping well, experienced a flush of acne and compulsively moved decorations around the house deciding where it looks best. “Really – the vase looked better over there – no here!”

This friend even confessed that during times of “marital intimacy,” she’s been distracted thinking,”We really should do something about the dust on that ceiling fan.” Staging truly seeps into all aspects of our lives – and it’s not pretty.

She’s suggested I come over and “crack open a bottle of tequila and drink straight out of the bottle,” because she can’t remember where she stashed the blender in fear that her “appliance clutter” would scare away a potential buyer.

Surely we’d drink it while leaning over the kitchen sink to avoid messy spills.

Fortunately, we haven’t been home much this weekend. We’ve had six showings and have cleaned with OCD-like enthusiasm for each - literally wiping the tiles as we back out the door after carefully setting out the stunt bath towels, soap & duck - pristine objects otherwise never touched by humans.

So I was shocked when a Realtor who showed the property provided an electronic feedback form from their clients saying that the house needed to be “de-cluttered and staged,” among other not so flattering comments. Honestly, when you walk into our home, you’re greeted by a sea of clean surfaces in every direction. We have to shoo away Zen monks who want to mediate there, it’s so peaceful.
Okay, I’ll admit that the insides of drawers & cupboards haven’t been staged – but I’ve never expected that when I’ve been on home tours. And we’ve put many a “staged out” item into the garage, but I would think they could see past some of that. This isn’t a model home on the Parade of Homes. I mean they get that we’re living here, right? They see that there are bedrooms here that clearly belong to small children and thus should cut us the reasonable amount of slack given to parents –right?

Apparently not.

I’ll admit, I was ticked (despite the wise counsel of Tom our Realtor saying not to take it personally and try to take from it what we could.) But it’s hard to think that people are walking through your beloved home and passing their catty judgment. Perhaps it’s a function of the recent shift in power. After nearly a decade of sellers being in the driver’s seat, buyers might be simply heady with it. And the anonymous feedback form is a tempting place to wield one’s new market dominance.

So, all I’m saying is let’s be careful out there. These houses aren’t just investments – they’re the anchor of our lives and shelter our dreams. Not every square inch is going to be picture perfect, but show me the life that is.

And in the meantime, I’ll clean out a few more cupboards today and try to hit the garage.

Lucie Amundsen is a Twin City humorist and real estate writer who finding lots of comedic material in the home selling processing.

Addendum: We organized our garage today (which really was a wreck) and sold our outgrown Burly to Once Upon a Child for $100 to boot. The space is so tidy now I want to keep our garage door up to show off to the neighbors. So perhaps I should thank that testy Realtor for providing the motivation for us tackling the project now - but, I won’t.

Oh, and we’ve received glowing forms from other Realtors since the original post, so I’m officially rant-free.

View Larger Map

While not gated, North Oaks neighborhood is private property.

The sign at the gate announces “No Trespassing – Private Road and Land” and people are expected to have a reason for entering this Ramsey County suburb of 4,200 residents. But if you do have a reason, it’s a treat to drive on these meandering roads along sprawling forests. The dense trees actually keep the area a degree or two cooler than the surrounding suburbs.

And these concealing woods make it easier to lose yourself on North Oak roads that seem to roll up and down in no particular pattern with little in the way of street signs. (Can you tell I got lost?) One feels very far from the urbanized sections of the Twin Cities with not a strip mall or office park in sight. North Oaks can make you forget those things even exist. Instead this northern suburb has amenities like the beach at sizeable Pleasant Lake, a country club golf course and amble cross-country ski trails.

The origins of North Oaks’ private roads go back to its founder, Louis Hill, son of railroad tycoon James J. Hill. He has some maverick notions such that communities and residences should be self-sufficient – right done to streets people live on. In North Oaks a homeowner’s property line extends to the middle of the road. And they tend to keep it simple; there are no streetlights or curbs in North Oaks.

Most of the housing is built on lots of more than 1½ acres with private well and septic systems. And sticking to the nonconformist style of North Oaks, there is a lack of architectural accord. Each home reflects the original homeowner’s taste, from modern to colonial to rambler – and many fall into the luxury category.

As of today the least expensive listing for the community is $369K and the most costly is $3.1 million. Most North Oaks homes on the market presently seem to hover around the million-dollar mark. Back in October, the Star Tribune wrote that homes priced in this range have a stronger market. Here’s an example of one such home with an open house on Sunday (April 13th) 1-3. (By the way, if the buyer of that $3.1 million dollar home used Webdigs and got back 2/3rds back of a 2.7 commission that would be $55,800 – just saying.)

So if you’re looking for a quiet place in the woods near solid communities like White Bear Lake and Shoreview, you just may have a reason to drive along North Oaks’ lovely private roads. But take someone else from Webdigs with you - I’d probably get ya lost.

Source: Portions of this post were gleaned with permission from a 2006 Star Tribune article by Jason Amundsen.

Lucie B. Amundsen is a local writer who listed her St. Anthony home with Webdigs yesterday. If the buyer uses a Webdigs agent they’ll get nearly $6K back - 2/3rds the buyer broker commission. Pretty cool, huh?