UDATED AS OF JUNE 14, 2008
Q: Inside pictures were not posted until June 14; Why did it take so long?
A: Quite frankly, I was hoping to sell the place without having to post the mess in my office; I am that college professor with the huge mess in his office type of person. I decided to post pictures that a very kind person who took a tour emailed to me, especially since they are available in slideshow format.
From the 1st of April through the first two weeks of June, there were only outside pictures available. But I am sure I did not lose a sale because of this, because for one thing, the extremely detailed descriptions of the inside of the house that were up from the very early days of this site are at least as good as pictures, much better in my opinion, due to the limitations of photography. Most of the pictures of rooms I have seen on the internet real estate sites have been of little value in determining the details about that room. The pictures in the slideshow I have posted, though, are at least a little better than your typical interior real estate site pictures.
The detailed descriptions of the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the windows, and of all other features of each room are at least as informative, in my opinion, as a set of pictures of the inside are, because of the limitations of photography to give someone the details they are really looking for. If you read a blog post on a room on the main page of this site, you will come away knowing more about how that room looks, and about it's condition in detail, than you could ever know from a picture or two or three. In fact, I like to think that after you read a blog post, you will know at least as much about how that room looks as if you had actually toured that room in person!
Why exactly did we not have both the detailed descriptions and the pictures of the inside up from the early days, though? This is because I am a terrible housekeeper and because I had little furniture left here, but a substantial amount of books, papers, boxes, electronics, and so forth lying around at the time the pictures were taken. So I refused to take inside pictures and then I sent the camera back to my brother. As you will see in the slideshow that is now posted, pictures of the inside show a mess of my things along with some scenes of the inside of the house.
Specifically, I was worried that I would lose more prospective buyers than I would gain if I posted interior pics. But after reading several pleas for interior pics from buyers who claim that those pics are all they need to make a buying or a touring decision, and after seeing how nice the slideshow is, I have changed my mind and have posted the slideshow link. Having said that, I seriously doubt any of those folks who said they would most likely buy if they get pictures of the inside are actually going to buy, but I guess it's worth it to verify that cynical observation.
With regard to my stuff you see strewn about in various rooms, don't worry; all of my stuff will be removed before the new owner takes possession. My stuff is being boxed up these very days.
In general terms, the house on the inside looks about how it would have looked about 25 years ago, because it has not undergone any extensive and expensive updating in that time period. The style of the living room carpet, for example, was popular in the late 70's and 1980's. I don’t know whether that style is still popular now, but I do know that the style of rooms is much less important way out in the country than elsewhere.
Had one or more rooms inside the house been updated during the last 25 or so years, the price would reflect that. More specifically, had key rooms been updated to very recent standards so to speak, including the kitchen, the price of this property would undoubtedly be close to $30,000 instead of what it is.
Most importantly, the inside of the house is in good, livable condition. The room that needs the most attention to improve its appearance is the kitchen. Most buyers will want to choose a new floor for the kitchen, and probably paint the walls in the kitchen as well. All other interior rooms are in no work necessary condition, so to speak.
If you were to sum up the inside of the house in a couple of phrases, you might say: "it is fully livable, and there is no major or minor damage from any cause anywhere, but few updates have been done in the last 25-30 years or so. The inside of the house probably looks about like it did about 25-30 years ago. This is one of the reasons the price of the property is a bargain.
