Icon walls and selling a house.

In preparation for the move, I would pack up all but a couple of icons of Christ and New Testament events. If you overwhelm people with something they can\'t understand, you will alienate them. With a few icons that can easily be made comprehensible to them, you have a chance to tell them a little about Orthodoxy. If they think something diabolical or pagan has been going on in your house, they won;t want to buy it, but perhaps you can build a little bridge from Orthodoxy to your fundamentalist neighbors, and still find a buyer.

I don\'t think that a house for sale has to reflect the lifestyle of the soon-to-be-former inhabitants. (Otherwise, why do we have to get rid of so much other stuff to make our houses look \\"presentable\\"? If my kids were still small, I would probably \\"remove\\" them for a showing.) It also depends if you are selling by owner or with an agent. In the latter case, your own identity has very little to do with the house\'s sale. This is just my humble opinion. In any case, your priest likely knows your situation better, so you can ask him what he thinks.

I am in agreement with MariaM - I think since people are \\"trying the house on\\" in their mind, it is better to pack away all but a few icons - just as a home stager would take down family photos.. it de-personalizes the house so it makes it easier for the prospective buyers to imagine themselves in it. I used to be in real estate years ago, and when there is too much of the current owners personal items that reflect who they are, a lot of people have trouble imagining their things in it... just an opinion, hope it is helpful!

I agree as well. Pack some away, but keep a few in place. Maryintuscson makes very good points.

I knew a guy who said, \\"I don\'t care what you have to do when you sell a house two things will make it move fast ... first have nothing but white walls, second, gold carpeting.\\" Apparently people come in see it and think oh my stuff would go with this. What looks like a pretty blue wall to you maybe in a buyers mind would clash when they think of their furniture. So when you show the house, set it up so it will sell. Let the HS guide them when His timing is right.

Thanks for the tips, everyone! ^^

An Orthodox friend of Russian ancestry was selling his house some years ago. The neighbourhood was ethnically mixed, including Greeks, Russians and Serbs. As people do, an \\"Open for Inspection\\" attracts the locals as much as prospective buyers. I mentioned to my friend that any Greek or Slavic locals visiting the house and seeing the icons in his bedroom would think: \\"Oh, he must be a good Orthodox lad, wonder if he\'s married?\\" His reply was swift: \\"Any Slavs would know straight away - no wedding icons.\\"