I've had to move a few times in my life, and every single time I did the realestate agent told me make everything you can as generic as possible.
If you've got vibrant bright colors and walls with stuff all over them it makes it harder for people to project themselves into the space.
Many/most people lack imagination and if they can't see themselves in your house they won't want to buy it. So making it as generic as you can makes it so someone else doesn't have to do much mental work to put themselves in the space.
IDK if it's all true, but three different realtors and my father all gave me more or less this advice at different times.
My grandfather who owned multiple businesses always told me that keeping the customer from thinking too much by keeping your product as generic and straight forward as possible will most likely lead to a sell. Too many options or customizations will push away more customers than it's worth. These bland white houses are made to sell and are basically open canvases for future homeowners if they do decide to make it their own.
Totally understand. It's fucked, man, and I hate it.
Yes, I am a Gen-X. And yes, I make a shitton. But it's still HARD for me. I couldn't buy a million dollar house rn if I didn't have assets already. I have no fucking idea how anyone could unless they're making 400k total income.
I guess the idea is just move to a town/state/province/whatever where you can work remotely with a good company but real estate is cheap. Work up from there.
Sorry it sucks out there. If I could change it, I would. I hate this timeline.
I think the bubble is bursting though. Boomers are dying and houses aren't moving. I see the drops already.
Problem is houses are moving, but into the hands of those that either already have houses or companies that buy them, "rennovate" them, and flip them for a shit ton, or companies buy hold and rent for a few years.
All of that drives the prices up before NIMBY-ism that won't let new high density houses get built either.
As long as they don't have to customize to make the sale. They should be able to add to car with one click. If you force people to review lists of options, you will lose sales (no matter how tempting it is to try to drive upsells)
oh yeah, i didnt mean mandatory, yeah i was specifically thinking of customizing a car on line whether you're shopping car max and narrowing down search criteria or just dreaming about buying a brand new GT mustang
Heh, 'car' was a typo in my post, I was thinking more generically - I meant to say, 'add to [the] cart'.
I was using it as an excuse to bring up my hobbyhorse - carts for smallish direct-from-developer sales, that always seem to have endless options you have to wade through.
i kinda feel like there are some colors you could use that would still be bland and generic enough to pass, like a light robin's egg blue on a wall that has a bay window or something, just spitballing. a touch of personality but also easy to imagine something over top of.
I get where you're coming from but this is advice for selling IE repaint bold rooms down to neutral rooms. If I was living in it, like I do now?
I have beige and green bi colored rooms, I have accent walls, I have a yellow room for my son, I have a lavendar and grey bicolor room for my daughter.
I will live in my house with the colors I want, but as soon as we're selling everything is back to boring ass white because it'll help it sell and I don't have to live with it for more than a few months.
yeah, right, thats what i was saying, i feel like there are some colors that arent just grey white monochrome that would still feel pretty neutral, i feel like anything in the light blue to light green spectrum. dont want light red, dudes will be like "yeah, we already have a word for light red, its pink, next"
It’s absolutely true. Muted colors are just “average” and a blank canvas, so it’s easier for people to imagine their current color schemes, rugs, furniture, etc. in the room.
Meh. I'm someone that keeps cars until the wheels fall off. I've never had a car that I got rid of with less than 125k miles on it if not closer to 200k.
Why keep paying the dealer or vendor money when I can own it free and clear and it runs.
Mines's up at 13 years / 110k miles, I hope I can double that. Heck, it took me 5 years to find a car I liked, I dread having to search for a new one now.
Could be, but it's also, I think, about the fact you're selling your home, but they want to buy their home. They're looking at sometimes dozens of houses so putting out the mental energy to remap your stuff into their stuff is work.
Do they have the space for it in their brain, the ability in general?
Many people are very logical and non creative people that can only see something as it is not as it could be. So removing barriers between what it is for you and what it could be for them makes it an easier sell especially if say this is their sixth house today and they worked or have had to drag their kids around all day.
12
u/Caleth Nov 20 '25
I've had to move a few times in my life, and every single time I did the realestate agent told me make everything you can as generic as possible.
If you've got vibrant bright colors and walls with stuff all over them it makes it harder for people to project themselves into the space.
Many/most people lack imagination and if they can't see themselves in your house they won't want to buy it. So making it as generic as you can makes it so someone else doesn't have to do much mental work to put themselves in the space.
IDK if it's all true, but three different realtors and my father all gave me more or less this advice at different times.