This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link). (Incidentally, this kind of previewing is one of the reasons I developed the ideas that led to engenu. You can organize photos and details for a lot of houses into one web site, then you can easily reorganize them by conceptual categories (A-list, possibilities, rejects) as you go along.)
Do you want to make sure your home will sell? Little things matter
I tend to do a lot of previewing. I will go into houses alone to take photographs. My buyers and I then use those photos to draft a short-list of homes to view when they’re ready to see for themselves.
Because of this, I get to spend a lot of time alone in homes, looking at absolutely everything, with no distractions.
Here’s what I’ve learned from looking at thousands of homes for sale: Little things matter.
Is the home picked up, or are there clothes, toys and magazines scattered everywhere? Are there dirty breakfast dishes on the kitchen table? Dried up orange juice splotches? Toast crumbs? Are last night’s dirty dishes piled up in the sink?
Is the house clean? Does it look and smell like the cleaning crew just left? If I look for dirt, I can find it. But can I find it easily without having to look?
Is every room of the house packed to the walls with furniture? Are there pictures of every member of the family for three generations tacked all over the walls? Do the kids like dark blue, dark purple, dark black paint?
I can probably guess your religion by the stuff you own and the other stuff you don’t own, but my buyers should never, ever see symbols of your religion in the house. Why? Because it can be subtly off-putting to them without their even knowing why at a conscious level.
Likewise, if they can smell your cat — or the fish you fried for dinner last week — you’ve probably already alienated potential buyers before they have even given your house half a chance. Odors kill sales, so kill those odors now.
Fix any obvious defects. Only a specialist can say for sure if the air conditioner is working properly, but no one has to be told when it’s completely broken.
It only takes a few small things to drive buyers on to the next house on their list. If you want for yours to be the one that sells, it simply must be better than others. Little things matter.
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Sfvrealestate says:
This is a terrific post and I’d like to link to it in my blog. I’d add this on the odor part from my own direct experience: if you’re a heavy smoker, you’ve just cost yourself thousands of dollars in equity. People just won’t buy a house that smells like an ashtray. You might also enjoy my post on my So Cal real estate blog. It’s titled “3 Ways Sellers Sabotage Their Sales.”
May 4, 2008 — 9:42 am
Greg Swann says:
Link away. Send me the link to your post and I’ll amend it here.
May 4, 2008 — 9:45 am
Cape Girardeau Missouri Real Estate says:
It truly shocking the number of times we have walked into a home and found trash, dirty laundry, etc. The most important things are cleaning the home and removing the clutter. Most home can easily remove 25% of the stuff in the house, many can remove 50% or more.
With the exception of the religion point, I agree completely with your comments.
May 4, 2008 — 11:32 am
Brian Brady says:
“With the exception of the religion point, I agree completely with your comments.”
Lori, I don’t hide my faith but Greg’s point is well taken. It’s about selling the property. Once the decision to sell has been made, it is no longer a home but a property, being previewed to become someone else’s home.
I want all the advantages I can get when selling a property. Unfortunately, there is bias against certain beliefs. I don’t want that bias to impede the buyer’s ability to analyze the property.
May 4, 2008 — 11:54 am
Greg Swann says:
I was working with buyers from Lebanon, husband, wife, her brother, all three physicians, looking for a very pricey gated-community property, for which they would be paying cash. We found the house, they loved everything about it. Then they walked into the garage and saw a portrait of that very manly Mormon Jesus. They walked out of the house and out of my life. I never heard from them again. The religious symbols need to be put away.
May 4, 2008 — 12:06 pm
Mike Farmer says:
Good points — I showed about ten homes this morning and six out of the ten were needlessly dirty — it’s a simple to clean. Incredible.
May 4, 2008 — 2:23 pm
Vance Shutes says:
Greg,
How many homes have I been in where odor was an issue? I’ve lost track. Some time ago, I even wrote about it on my blog (http://homesbyvance.blogspot.com/2008/02/whats-that-smell.html). Odors can kill a deal, even when everything else about the house is terrific. Nice post – covering many critical topics for sellers these days.
May 4, 2008 — 3:13 pm
Tom Vanderwell says:
Greg,
I’d like to have the opportunity to post it on my “guest post” page. Check out http://www.straighttalkguestpost.blogspot.com.
You could be the first one on that page.
Let me know.
Thanks!
Tom
May 4, 2008 — 3:55 pm
Jillayne Schlicke says:
I don’t hide my faith either. I have a giant Green Day poster in my front entryway. What’s my religion, Greg?
🙂
May 4, 2008 — 8:11 pm
James Boyer says:
It is so funny what you can guess about people just by looking at their home without them there. The once that really get me are when I spot on guess things about people who my buyers make a offer on their house and later I find out I was exactly right, but I don’t know exactly why.
May 4, 2008 — 8:48 pm
Gerry (RealtyMan) Bourgeois says:
In a market like mine (Central MA), attention to detail really matters! There is so much ‘good’ inventory out there that the Real sellers need to ‘Stand Out’. So if you want Yours to sell, it must stand out from the rest – but not in the way of being dirty, smelly, or broken. 😉
May 4, 2008 — 10:41 pm
Jim Rake says:
Greg – thanks for the reminder (it ain’t complicated!)…
“If you want for yours to be the one that sells, it simply must be better than others”
Agreed!
May 5, 2008 — 3:23 am
Doug Quance says:
A unkempt property is usually a sign that the seller is not serious about selling. Well, that and a ridiculously high price.
😆
When working with buyers who are interested in a property to renovate, it can be good to find these unsightly nuggets… as these properties will sell for less money because of the presentation.
Especially in this market.
May 5, 2008 — 9:49 am
Christopher Myers says:
Great post! I have a tenant occupied property on the market right now. The tenants are not too happy about the home being sold, so prior to each showing the man of the house cheerfully fires up a big stogie…really helping us with the home’s aromatic appeal. Even with 10-20 showings per month on this great executive home, the feedback is unanimous. “We wouldn’t buy that home due to the horrible cigar smell.” One even said “we’d have to rip out the carpet and replace it all.”
The irony in this is that there is no carpet in the home. It’s all hardwood and tile flooring. We all know that the smell would be gone in a couple of weeks, however it’s a huge turnoff, especially with so many properties to choose from.
My favorite…when working with a very conservative elderly couple, we walked into a home where the owners were proudly displaying a very large photo of a male model in all his glory. That agent should know better! SERIOUSLY!
We should really have a law put into place, forcing sellers to “neutralize” their home when it’s put on the market. It’s got my vote!
May 5, 2008 — 1:26 pm
Hunter Jackson says:
This made me think of some of my past listings….the ones that didnt get it and didnt sell.
I love cats, I have 5, but I am not selling my house. Since I have decided to have pets in my life, I know I will have to rip out carpet, paint all interior walls, cleanse anywhere that accidents could have happened…oh yeah…and buy a new house before mine hits the market.
I smoke. But that is one reason I have a patio. I do almost all my paper work at my local cigar shop…as well as my blogging and social media operations. If I can smell smoke…its bad.
As soon as I get home, the clothes go into the washing machine or dry cleaner bags. Smoke is one of those things that people can pull out…even after carpet and painting as my clients found out the hard way.
May 5, 2008 — 8:17 pm
Sue says:
Then they walked into the garage and saw a portrait of that very manly Mormon Jesus. They walked out of the house and out of my life. I never heard from them again.
….this is very true. A friend of mine even told me he wouldn’t buy a house based on this. Seems harsh, but people get offended.
I have to tell you I recently showed a very expensive home and when we opened the door my client and I were both a bit shocked. The home is listed for just over $1M and inside it was like a frat house…starting right when you enter with a couple of bras on the railing of the stairway. We were literally stepping over piles of clothing and “stuff” everywhere. The home itself was actually quite nice 🙂 thank goodness my client has “vision”.
May 5, 2008 — 10:08 pm