4 Ways To Guarantee That Your Home Doesn’t Sale
March 13th, 2008 categories: For Homeowners, Sellers
On the first date, you have 1 objective (most of you). To get the second second date.
There are some obvious things you would not do on the first date. Things like talking about how much you loved your X, sharing with your date your gas or snoring problem, open the door only for yourself, or point to and start laughing about a small piece of food on the other persons face. You may decide that you do not want another date with this person. However, when it comes to selling your home, you probably don’t care who buys it. As long as it gets sold.
Since you want your house sold, there are some things that you should never do. In fact if you do them, there is a good chance that you will not be getting another date/showing of your house.
Here are 4 ways to guarantee that your home will not be sold:
4. Smoke inside of your home or cook Curry with the windows down on a continual basis. It will not matter how nice your home shows if it smells so bad that people cannot think normally. I have had clients overlook homes that show better than others because of strong odors and the work it will require to get rid of the smell.
3. Try selling your home with filthy or rude tenants living there. This is a tough one. It is hard to force a tenant to live as if they are selling thier own home. I had a listing once where the tenant would leave the house with his hair all over the bathroom, clothes everywhere… you get the point. I actually feel that it is best to wait until they move out to put the home on the market. Remember, the longer it sits with dirty tenants the more “days on market” it shows and the lower your price will go. It’s better to pay the mortgage for a couple of months with no one living there if possible.
2. Leave the house with all of the lights off and windows shut. Listen, there are a couple of things that owners can’t change easily when they buy. One of them is SPACE. If you have it- show it. Dark homes look smaller. If you know someone is coming to your house to view it, do yourself a favor and turn ALL of the lights on. If it is day time, also open ALL the blinds. People like brightness and it will make your home appear more spacious.
DRUM ROLL……. AND THE NUMBER ONE THING YOU CAN DO TO KILL YOUR CHANCE OF SELLING YOUR HOME IS……
1. Stay home while it is being shown to give a tour. Listen. We know you like YOUR house. But you being at home while a Realtor is showing it to their clients will only cause the buyer to feel VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. Buyers don’t care what you did to your house on their first visit. If you want them to see something new you put in, put a sign on it. Buyers need to feel like they can go through your closets, cabinets, etc… Remember, you want to get rid of the home. Who cares if they go through your stuff? Would you want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and not be able to know the details of what you are buying?
So…. Do not give tours. Leave. If you have a baby asleep… then let the Realtor know ahead of time and stay with the baby. Worse case scenario… Go for a walk outside. Do Not Stay Home!
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