This is a special favorite from my Arizona Republic column:
Consider this: I walk into a home, escorting buyers. In the living room there are two pieces of furniture: a big-screen television and a lawn chair.
The bedrooms are empty, except for the master bedroom, where there is a bare mattress. In the kitchen, there are dirty dishes in the sink and half-empty takeout containers and beer in the fridge.
It’s a divorce, of course. Mom and the kids are gone. Dad got custody of the TV.
It would be funny if it weren’t so nakedly tragic.
I get paid to hear the stories that empty houses whisper. This house tells me not just about the divorce, but that the divorce isn’t a relatively smooth one. It hints that the house is in pre-foreclosure or is for sale by a judge’s orders.
It confides in the certitude of silence that my buyers can steal it for tens of thousands of dollars less than market value.
Ack! Mom and Dad own a very valuable asset. What should they do to protect their money?
Frankly, both of them should move out, leaving the home vacant. If one is to stay, then they should agree to leave the furniture behind — and clothes in the closets. I should not be able to tell that the sellers are divorcing.
Here’s the takeaway point: “It’s sad the marriage didn’t work out. But properly staging the home for sale can at least help to pay for a happier divorce.”
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Michael Price says:
My wife is a real estate photographer. This year will be her 10th anniversary behind the lens. She can drive through a city of 4.5 million people without a map, could give you a zestimate within pennies of the value of a home and tell you while walking up the driveway if it’s divorce case. She now has a keen sense of when a home has become nothing more than a house. I’m sure she’s not alone. Certainly not an easy issue for agents, but definitely another indication of why the services of an experienced professional are necessary. Agent’s don’t need to be counselors, but they should be prepared for situations in which differing opinions could be expensive. Great post, your stamina is admirable.
September 26, 2006 — 11:28 am
jf.sellsius says:
The feeling of divorce can be similar to that of death.
September 26, 2006 — 5:22 pm