It occurs to me that maybe I never said all there is to say about fixing up houses for sale. On a number of occasions I've urged would-be sellers to clean and fix and polish their houses, make them spare and clean and appealing.

This is because many buyers want to buy something with maximum appeal. They are willing to pay more for a house that charms them, one that they can move into without further ado and so, in many cases, the seller comes out ahead after fixing.

The buyers we are talking about here are abundant. Cute and charming houses are bustling with lookers at Sunday open houses. Very often these days, three or six or even fifteen of those lookers write offers in an attempt to buy these houses. Prices are driven up; sellers and agents are amazed and impressed.

"It's that cute factor," as agents say. Houses that show well, particularly those that are professionally staged, capture people, cause them to imagine living real life in what is actually a stage set.

Plump couches, spanking clean and white; multi-layered duvet, comforter, shams and sheets; a blowzy bouquet (but nothing else) on a long, sleek granite counter. All of these are inviting, particularly because so much is missing. There is no TV in sight, no toaster or crumbs, no stacks of anything. There isn't much furniture either.

I get sucked in all the time. I look at these houses and embrace them. I want where I live to look like them, which it doesn't. If I had nothing but money, I'd buy one of the fantasy houses and move in. When it got tatty, I'd do it again.

But not all buyers are the same and that's the part I think I haven't said before. Clients of ours have told us that staged houses put them off. "Too yuppie," said one, and another told us, "I guess that's the kind of house everyone wants but it isn't for me."

I think these buyers don't trust these houses to be true; they see the fantasy and it makes them uncomfortable. Now isn't that interesting?

One young woman client has said about several houses we took her to, "I'd like to have had this one before they did anything." This happened enough that we finally caught on: We rejected houses we might have shown her because they looked too good and began to concentrate instead on needy houses which she finds more to her liking.

I think what she finds satisfying is akin to pawing through piles of clothes at a secondhand store or searching a back corner of an antique shop: she is hoping, perhaps expecting, to find a treasure missed by others and feel rich for it.
There are also people who go out of their way to find and buy major fixers. We've certainly pointed out to these people on occasion that it doesn't always make economic sense to buy them. By the time the roof and foundation are fixed, plus the electrical and the kitchen and so forth, the buyer might better have paid more for something in better shape to begin with. But logic doesn't necessarily mitigate passion.

I had a fascinating conversation not long ago with an agent friend whose client had just won a bidding war on a house that I thought was dreadful. The foundation was gone, as was the (completely empty) kitchen, and everything was dirty and worn out. Worse, as far as I could see, this particular house had little going for it even when it was new and whole. And so, I asked why the client had bought it.

My friend said he had no idea. The buyer had never owned a house before. He'd met her some months prior when she was thinking of buying a condo - something with no maintenance that she could move right into. He showed her a few condos, then she drifted away. There was no contact for quite awhile until suddenly she'd called to say she had found her dream house. She'd seen this wreck of a house and wanted it.

The agent was astonished to learn of what her dreams were made. Because there was competition for the house from a number of other dreamers, they offered to pay more than asking price, and she got it. I know nothing more about what happened after that.

Are you thinking you might save yourself a lot of trouble and sell your house just as it is? Does this idea hold great appeal? I have to tell you that while it might work, it might not. It really is surprising how much more money you can probably get if, for example, your house is painted and clean.

Unless you happen to have a severely distressed property, one that cosmetics will not help much, you are probably going to sell for a higher price by appealing to the largest group of buyers out there: the seekers of clean and pretty. But there are circumstances, and maybe these are yours, where selling as is - broken, ailing, full and all - will be to your advantage.

Ask a good agent to look at your house. You will know who the good agent is, at least initially, because he or she will take the time to give thoughtful consideration to your individual situation.

The agent will ask about your abilities, resources and needs, will look carefully at the house and its problems and make recommendations, as well as guesstimates of sale prices.

The guesstimates may be wrong, however. Because the number of people who want to buy fixers and other "non-cute" houses is smaller, it can be tricky to predict the ultimate sale price and how long it will take to get it.

"Cute" houses are easier. It's usually possible to arrive at a price that they will surely sell for. Then, if there are multiple offers, the price can be higher still.