In a competitive buyer's market, it is essential for homes to be in the best showing condition possible. As the saying goes, "you only get one chance to make a first impression." So why is it that so many homeowners still refuse to get their homes into "showroom" condition before allowing homebuyers to view the home? Have they tricked themselves into thinking that the home will get top dollar regardless of condition? Are they too lazy to do any work? Too stubborn? Whatever the reason, the fact remains that if a home doesn't show well early on, then it will most likely sell for less than its potential.
Sometimes it is a challenge to get homeowners to take our advice, and the decision to ignore our advice can be a costly one. As REALTORS®, we are well aware of what it takes to market a home properly, or at least we should be. So you can imagine my surprise when I recently brought buyers into a home owned by the listing agent, and it showed terribly! Mind you, this is not a REALTOR® living in a depressed area. This particular home was listed for over a half million dollars, in a gated community, so expectations were high (to say the least).
As the buyers and I walked through the front door, we were greeted by a group of barking dogs, and one of them kept jumping against our legs. I happen to be a "dog person" and I found it annoying and distracting, so I can imagine what the buyers were thinking. The downstairs of the home was fine, although the butler's pantry was used as a catch-all, filled with a lot unnecessary clutter. Did the buyers notice this? Probably, but not enough to mention it because there were far more obvious issues to discuss.
We proceeded upstairs to check out the bedrooms. The master bedroom was very large, which is something that the buyers were looking for. However, the room size was overshadowed by the large cracks in the wall that easily could have been patched up and painted before putting the home on the market. The master bathroom was also very large, and in decent condition, but the puddle between the sinks made it look like a public restroom. How much effort would it have taken to wipe off the sink area before allowing us to view the home?
The hallway was carpeted, which is a bit unusual for newer construction. Most of the time it wouldn't be an issue, but this particular carpet stood out because of the large urine stains, which carried over into one of the bedrooms. The buyers instantly made note of the smell as they pointed the stains out to me. While homeowners have a tendency to overlook things at times, a REALTOR® listing his or her own home should know better than to allow for showings without taking care of the things that obviously would turn a buyer off.
Before leaving the home, I escorted the buyers downstairs to see the basement. The finished area was a small, cluttered room, but it was the best part of the basement. On the others side of the stairs, it was apparent that the darkened, unfinished area was filled with clutter as well. Many people use unfinished basements for storage, and it would have been perfectly acceptable if there were boxes neatly arranged, but this was not the case. The area was an absolute mess, filled with boxes, junk, and worst of all, papers strewn all over the floor. How much effort could it have possibly taken to just make this area presentable?
For the record, I understand that people of all walks of life are having some financial difficulties in this economy. I have no idea whether or not this is the case in this particular situation. The fact of the matter is that this home could have easily been fixed up to show properly with very little outlay of cash. All that it would have taken was a little effort on the part of the listing agent / homeowner.
As a parent of two small children, I know how difficult it can be to keep an orderly home. This is not a judgment of how this agent lives, but rather how the agent prepared the home for sale. Agents, just like homeowners, must be mindful of the fact that our homes are products once they are listed for sale, and we must do whatever we can to make our product marketable. In essence, we must practice what we preach!
Steve:
It makes a huge difference to a buyer to walk into a cluttered home with annoying dogs. It's a complete turnoff. In this market, every home has to put its best foot forward because there are a 100 more that look nice.
You are right. People may say...do what i say not as i do....that would not be a level 5 leader according to GOOD TO GREAT. Level 5 leaders...Model the Behavior! Thats a true leader. Good post.
Steve - People may also say It's easier to coach a game than to play it, but please, even a coach can clean.
Have a Fabulous Real Estate Day!
Anona
It amazes me too.....the old adage in sales is, sell the sizzle, not the steak....folks who don't prepare the home for showing are doing away with their sizzle! Even if it's a good steak, it ain't going to sell!
Bob Mitchell
ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.
Hi Adam,
Great info for all home seller, especially in today's challenging market.
I have seen a lot of this happen in my experience. Often times, the "owner/agent" homes are the worst, which never ceases to amaze me. My home is not in "showing" condition most of the time, but my home is also not on the market. When we sold our first home five years ago, it was immaculate during the period of time that we had showings.
I cannot believe they left the dogs in the home when it was being shown!
And everything else is such easy fixes - take everything in the basement to the lawn for a garage sale, use the garage sale money to have the rugs cleaned, buy some spackle and a couple gallons of paint. Then the dogs may have to live in the basement until the home sells!
I totally agree...and am appalled at what we see when showing homes sometimes, but it goes also to the paying a professional when we buy or sell real estate and/or hiring a professional stager. We expect people to use us and be loyal and pay for our services, but we often want to "sell it ourselves or stage it ourselves" and/or represent ourselves when going to another area...worse when we take clients to an area we are unfamiliar with rather than refer we try to represent them ourselves. Or a trades person, we want them to discount their services but don't want them to ask us to do the same. We get what we give. We need to practice what we preach, I wholeheartedly agree. Good post.
Adam - It sounds to me like this is more of the mental issue than anything else, at least it was with several clients I have had. When people are going through though times, they get depressed and overwhelmed. What perhaps would be a simple task to do, takes them forever, they lack motivation to start and get it done. It may seem like it would be easy to figure out what needs to be done, but it really isn't for people in depression. So, it's not necessarily a matter of material resources.
Great post, as always.
Adam,
In the end when the home does not sale it is usually "the agent fault" may be it was that the home did not sell.
So many agents have told me that in this market the two top factors in getting a house sold is, 1. Priced Right. 2. Model Condition. Looks like this agent has either done her clients a huge disservice by not impressing this on them or 2. She just doesn't have any control over her sellers.
It is kind of like the painter whos house neds painting and the Doctor who is poor health. We tend to not take care f the thiongs we do for a living. It is an interesting subject!
To your success,
Susan
This can't be said enough, Adam. Many homeowners just don't grasp the significance of repairing the little things, let alone the major things when preparing a home for the market. They don't put themselves in a buyer's shoes. When selecting amongst 10-20 houses (and often more in today's market), they are looking for reasons not to buy a house. Why provide them with one, let alone several? There is a certain rationale that a homeowner who neglects the smaller, obvious items will have neglected the big ticket and hidden items as well. If you won't bother to patch a stucco crack, will you really have taken adequate care of the roof? The plumbing?
The agent/homeowner should retake preparing a home sale 101.
Hmmm could this be why 400,000 real estate agents nationwide did not earn a paycheck last year. If this is how the agent kept their home we would only assume that she would not advise her clients to do anything any different.
It can be frustrating to waste your clients time with homes that are not pared down, cleaned up and presented to sell.
Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group
Adam: You are cranking out those little gold stars, aren't you! Great job--I just spent over a month helping a Seller prepare their home for selling and just listed it today! I'm with you, time is just about the only investment that was needed to spruce up the place and de-clutter. I should have taken before and after shots to share!
Excellent post, as always - You're right, agents don't get a pass when selling. They, of all people, know how important it is. I think the very first comment was probably right.
we should practice what we preach. maybe you need to be a little brutal with your feedback.
"this home could have easily been fixed up to show properly with very little outlay of cash."
Clean your house, its the only thing that is free! Enough said....good post and congrats on another one!!!
TO ALL: Thank you so much for your comments. Since so many responses are similar, I've decided to respond to the group in the interest of time. Fortunately, things are getting very busy around here, so I may not get back to doing individual replies. I'd like to touch on some things in response.
[1] It seems that some people missed the fact that this is an agent's own home, so I would like to reiterate it. This was not a regular homeowner, although I'm sure that homeowners could benefit from this story as well.
[2] The photos are not of the actual home or the actual dog. There were three dogs all together, all barking in unison. The one that wasn't in the owner's arms was jumping on our legs.
[3] I can't speak to the success of this particular agent, but my guess is that if there is any success, that it is working with buyers. This was such an unnecessary lost opportunity. If you can't convince yourself to stage the home properly, how can you possibly convince a seller to do the same?
[4] It is very difficult to live in showing condition, and most people don't (including me). However, when we've had previous homes on the market, the home was immaculate for EVERY showing.
[5] The only feedback request was the standard one that is being sent out by the brokerage. I gave an honest assessment with the multiple choice questions, but didn't go into details about the condition of the home. Should the agent decide to follow up, I will have no choice but to be brutally honest.
[6] I believe that we should hire professionals to help us also, as we expect to be hired to help others. I've already told Kathy Passarette (a Long Island stager) that I'm going to use her when the time comes to sell my home in the next few years. Even though I know what works, why not have a second set of eyes to make an unbiased suggestion?
[7] I have to question the motivation of this seller. If he or she truly wants the home sold, then it should have been cleaned up. If they couldn't find the motivation to clean, then hire someone to do it. The money saved would have been returned several times over in the sales price.
[8] Today's buyers are looking to eliminate houses. This is what happens in a buyer's market. I'll discuss this in further detail in an upcoming post.
[9] Many agents have left the business, and more are sure to follow. In NY, the requirements to be licensed are increasing, so the liklihood of someone going through the process just to buy or sell their own home is diminishing. I don't know this agent, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was the only listing ever.
Thanks again for all of your support and comments. I really appreciate it.
A house cluttered, with animal damage, etc. isn't one I want to sell. Although, if my buyers wanted it because of location, price, etc., the condition would lower the price further.
One thing for sure, the buyers need to be warned that a house in this condition is not likely to have well maintained systems, heating/cooling, etc. Expensive systems need attention as well as a house.
The way I see it, it's my job to help my buyers see past the clutter, dirt or improper home preparation/staging. Think of it this way...back when the market was hot, hot, hot, no one staged, because you didn't need to. Buyers were falling all over themselves to buy literally anything that came on the market - no matter what condition! Anyway, I totally agree that it is extremely important for the home to look and show it's very best, especially now, in today's market. Why don't sellers take our advice and make it happen? Not sure. But I can't twist their arms and make them do it. Which is why, when representing a buyer, I try very hard to help them see past the messes, pets, smoke or whatever else there may be that gives a bad impression. Great post, Adam!
I agree with you 100%. Sometimes, the homeowners are reluctant to take our advice and then when they hear feedback that suggests that they clean up, repair cracks, etc. they ask us what they can do. Unfortunately, as you said, you only get one chance to make a first impression and it can be too late. They have already lost that important time at the beginning of their listing to impress serious Buyers. It is hard not to say to them "I told you so". Great post!
Sellers are often their own worst enemies.
A huge part of our job is to counsel sellers on how to prepare their home to show to best advantage.
We had one a few weeks back with the over-powering cat urine smell. I think my client could see the despair on my face and we gracefully, but quickly, exited that house. The owner/agent was giving us the tour, BTW...
Cat's will destroy walls and flooring...literally. If they decide to go outside the litter box, you aren't just going to replace the carpet to fix the smell. You have to remove everything that was touched by the urine, sub-flooring, baseboards, and possible parts of walls included.
Wow, that's amazing! The stains on the carpet have to go!
Adam:
One of the worst experiences I had out was also with a listing agent owned property. She had listed it would be open on this particular weekend, so my clients and I walked right in. To her husband's surprise, of course. She had not told him she was holding an open house. Nor was she there. And since he didn't know, the house was a MESS....and he was sitting in his underwear watching a basketball game. IT WAS AWFUL.
Great info. I thank you for taking your time to post this valuable info. I hope all others can use this to their advantage.
Thanks again,
Adam Affleck
Charlottetown Remax
Remax PEI Real Estate
1 902 629 4997
http://www.adamaffleck.com/
http://www.atlanticrealtysolutions.com/
Adam - I never show a home without previewing it first --too many unpleasant surprises. I learned the hard way--a home that appeared perfectly lovely on the exterior was home to a litter of puppies running helter skelter through the entire house, and leaving a trail of this and that everywhere! We left in a hurry wiping our shoes before entering my car! By the way, I left a message prior to showing and there was no warning about the new additions to the family!