Interesting layout display dilemma. What would you do?

If you are worried about being target by thieves I would ask the real estate agent to by pass pictures of that room. what really sells the home is the Kitchen, master bed room, baths and living space anyway. I would focus on parts or the house that look relaxing, sun room, etc...

Your Real estate agent should know this and will focus on photos and areas of the house that will sell it.

I agree w J Daddy.

If you do not plan on taking the layout with you or stripping it, I would also add a disclaimer stating the layout exists & if the buyers want you to leave it standing, that could be done for the cost of track or whatever you plan on taking.

I would not display it in internet of other photo galleries of the house.

I do plan on moving it.

I thought the problem may have been the Real Estate people wanting the layout down before the house was shown, since it may be seen as a negative by most buyers.

However, there is no "plus" to showing it in a sales brochure that I can see. Just describe a room that "is currently used for a model train layout".

NO on the picture's.

If someone does come to look at the house, just tell the real estate agent to inform that the train layout will be going with you.

You have to remember that the vast majority of the population have zero interest or understanding of the toy trains that we love. They regard us and our trains as strange and unusual beasts. 

My guess having said this is that you should leave out train pictures as was suggested above. It serves no purpose in selling your house.

 

Rod 

I agree..no pictures of the train room. List it with dimensions only....perhaps saying "currently used as hobby room" or somesuch.

Michael.....I am in real estate.  What "JDaddy" said above is just about perfect.  In my part of the country, the layout would have to be taken down before we would show the house in person to buyers or possibly even list it unless we had a written disclosure / agreement.  Anytime the entire house can not be toured, it leaves a somewhat negative with buyers...even if you tell them that behind that door is a train layout.  It is likely you will get more interest and more money if the house is staged properly.  Your agent should be able to talk with you about this to see what best fits your needs and the market in your area.

 

Alan

If you are really serious about selling and moving, I would take the layout down prior to showing the house. When I moved from Brooklyn to Jersey, people were turned off when they came to see the house due to the layout taking up a whole bedroom, [not many model railroaders came]. So it had to come down, and I was months without a layout. But in the long run it gave me time to pack everything carefully for the move, you don't want to rush if you do go into contract and must get out quick. Today the only way to sell fast is to stage the house by removing most big furniture and other stuff, [putting it in storage] so the house looks uncluttered.

As far as the mentions of theft is concerned I think thats the least of your concerns. Most thieves would be more interested in your big screen TV etc.

 

The biggest drawback is that a train layout filling a room would make the room appear smaller.

 

Serious buyers will want a walkthrough regardless, the internet photos are just to give prospective buyers a "taste".

 

You say "thinking" about moving, If your serious, I'd start taking the layout down now so you can take the time to pack thing away carefully. When you get a buyer then its just a matter of moving the boxes.

Ditto above, skip the photos of that room and have the room cleared before the first walk through.  8 years ago when we were looking for houses, the realtor knew I was into toy trains.  He purposely showed us houses that had nice basements.  On one tour he said "your going to love this", so we took a walk down stairs.  The whole basement was taken up by a serious modeler, cars, trains, little dioramas everywhere.  The guy was actually in the basement working during our walk through, and I have to say, even with all of the cool kits and displays, we were totally turned off, not to mention creeped out!  So don't count on even an enthusiast to be attracted to your hobby. Clean and uncluttered is very important. 

Sad to hear, but I guess the consensus seems to be to take the layout down. This will, of course, take a while.

 

I appreciate all of the answers.

 

On the plus side if we cannot get our price after a period of time (yet to be determined) I will be able to move to a larger room.

 

Unfortunately, that means I'll be without an operating layout for at least 6 months. Bummer. I guess it is about priorities.

 

Thanks all for your input.

I definitely would not post any pics of that room.  I would not even say "train room' or even "hobby room".  Just list it as a second or third bedroom and give the dimensions.  That's all you need.  People that are interested will see it when they do a walk thru.

 

Rick

Unfortunately, the layout will deter people and will make the room look much smaller.  And most real-estate agents will want it gone before they list the house. 

 

I would bite the bullet and take it down (carefully).

 

Best of luck,

 

George

In a world of negotiated price, offer to restore any (train)room(s), to it's(their) previous condition.  It usually appears to be a fair amount of work, but  can be removed in 1/4 the time it took to put together.  IMO.

Layouts tend to be junk magnets , so if you didn't want to take it down, I would at a minimum remove and box up and move out all of the trains plus remove all of the stuff underneath and just leave the layout there. That would make it seem a bit less cluttered. Its best to invest in a storage unit for a couple months (many have reduced or free 1st month specials) and store this stuff there for the duration - makes it easy to take a truck to the new place.

 

Peter

As others have mentioned, you should take the layout down.  Potential buyers want to see the space of the rooms so they can decide for themselves what to use it for.

 

Besides, since you plan to move the layout when you move anyway, you have more time now to pack it up carefully than if a buyer wanted settlement in 30 days!

Yes, empty space and generic looks for the buyers to visualize or imagine their use of the space.

You could run a carpet central to avoid operating withdrawal.

I would not take the layout down.  I would make sure it is clutter free and the room is viewable. 

I have a friend that decided to move closet to his family about three years ago.  His real estate lady told him all the things they should do to sell the house including removing the layout in one of the rooms.  Well, it took 18 months for the house to sell and during this very stressful time, he had no hobby to help him through it.  He was miserable!

My last home was built in 1983 and all the experts said I should take the layout in the attic down and paint all the woodwork that was stained.  I said no and decided to give selling the home myself.  Well the first people that looked at the house loved the woodwork and you should have heard the conversation when they saw the "Papa's Train Room" sign on the third floor door.  They purchased the home two days later and also purchase the layout (Bench work, track and switches ready to run their own trains.  The wiferwas more excited about the train room than the husband because a "temporary" layout had been set up on their living floor 8 years earlier and had never come down.

 

Most real estate people I have known over the years really know little about who may or may not buy a home.

 

Remember, you have to live there until it sells and you find another home!

 

Good luck and happy railroading,

Don

DgJones....your situation is not the norm.  I don't know what you do or used to do for a living but I am sure there are a number of folks on this forum that are in the real estate business or have had dealings with realtors and would take exception to your statement.  To those that really want to know the statistics and they are readily available online, most buyers state themselves that they respond more positively to staged homes in which they can easily imagine arranging their furniture. 

 

While I am sure there are exceptions such as in your case, most folks are not going to luck into a buyer that also happens to be a model railroader......

 

A fresh coat of paint where needed, uncluttered rooms, and keeping the home clean and picked up will put a positive memory in the buyer's mind....even if they don't buy, they may just tell a friend!!

 

Alan

During my long career in residential contracting there were several time when I was paid to tear down existing layouts layouts while we were  preping a home for resale.

 

Trust me, the layouts I tore down were nothing like the magazine and forum photos we  all drool over.  

 

In a real estate prospective the average layout is an obstacle at best but viewed as priceless by their owner/creator, like the mother's love of an ugly baby.

 

What I found to be most chilling was the fact I could not even give the layouts away! 

 

People took switches, buildings, power packs and rolling stock but the layout themselves had to be tossed out.  One was an perfect scale professional rendering of a new twenty track engine overhaul facility built for a zoning approval.  Masterfully done, had to cost many thousands of dollars, but only wanted by the disposal company.

 

The prospective buyer's palette needs empty rooms.

As most here have recommended:  Tear it down!

 

There may be exceptions where a prospective buyer doesn't mind the layout being there, but they are...well... rare exceptions.

 

If you want the place to sell, and if's it's an otherwise attractive property in a decent market, you would be well advised to get rid of the layout.  Virtually any realtor will advise the same course of action.

 

You say you have no time to take it apart and tear it down.  If that's the case, you probably don't have the time to properly prepare your home in other respects to make it a most attractive offering to prospective buyers.  Probably best to wait until you do have the time.

Yes, Rick, if left up, they will see it when they tour the home and that's why a layout most definitely should be removed before any open house or prior to prospective buyers viewing a home. A room should be minimally and neutrally staged so as to give the impression of spaciousness and neutrality so buyers can envision it being used in the way they plan to use it rather how you used it for a layout which the majority of buyers will have no interest in. Kenn

I have a friend outside of Cleveland who was at the opposite end of this particular dilemma.  It's a true story although it would make the basis for a good short story.  About fifteen years ago he bought a home that had a walk-out basement on one side of the house.  After he moved in he realized that the basement interior, large as it was, did not match the foot-print of the house but stopped about 15 feet short of the other, non-walk-out side.  After exploring he found a piece of paneling that covered a doorway into a partly finished room about 12 by 30, with an old, dusty toy train layout in it - a really bizarre one, too.  I happened to be in town before he had it removed and knowing my interest he showed it to me.  The layout was a shelf arrangement all around the room with O-27 tinplate three rail - really tarnished stuff, too.  It had big, peaky, imaginary looking painted smooth plaster mountains and rather crude bridges and such all over it - not a very pretty or well done layout in my opinion although nt telling what it had looked like before.  It looked really old style - not sure it did not pre-date the previous owner.  Regardless, someone had gone to a lot of work at sometime in the past.    Ultimately, it cost him about $1500 to have someone come and tear it up and haul it away.  He said it all was very heavy and a pain to cut up.

 

I asked his wife and him if he would have bought the house had they known about the extra room and the train layout.  He thought about it and said he wasn't certain.  His wife said probably not: there were lots of other houses and it was ugly and a pain and they didn't need another unfinished basement room.

 

As I said earlier, I would definitely not advertise or feature it in photos of the house and upon thinking about this story, I would also put a sign on the layout assuring folks it will be completely removed, etc., when selling the house, so there is no doubt.

On the plus side, if we get it, the new house has an 11'x11' layout room.

Is that an empty room that you are visualizing as the layout room or a room with an existing layout?

 

The answer to that that question should help you with the answer.

 

Good luck with your move!

Thank you. I visualize the empty room with the train layout built in.