We have been Realtors for a long time. Bunny sold her first home in 1978. I came in full time in 2003. And it never ceases to amaze me that sellers do not do some of the most basic things when they put their home on the market. And sometimes I blame their Realtors for not taking control and telling them what they need to do.
Let’s start with the exterior of the home. When I show a house to a buyer, I like to park in the street and walk up the driveway with my clients. What I like to see, because the buyers see it too, is a neat, good looking home. One with neat landscaping. And a nice lawn. We don’t want to see a dirty house with green mold growing. We don’t like cobwebs around the front door. And speaking of the door, it should look clean. And freshly painted is better. And a door knob that is stained, dirty and / or rusty is not a good impression.
Inside there are some things I see all of the time. A dirty house is one of them. I look for clean, without cob webs in the upper corners. And a clean floor is always good. If there is carpet and it is stained or dirty, buyers automatically think they need all new carpets in the home, and will adjust any offer to cover the cost. And they always over estimate the cost.
Another thing I look for (actually I don’t look for this) is for odors that are not so nice. I’ve actually taken people into homes where we had to turn around and walk out immediately because of odors from smoking and animals. We had one listing where the place smelled really nasty when you first entered, and many people commented on it. We finally figured it out. Her son worked in a restaurant, and when he came home, he took off his work shoes and left them by the door.
Another is clutter. We see so many times people have stuff just stacked up all over. Please clean out the clutter. Either throw it out or box it up and rent a storage unit for it.
Just doing some simple things like this can greatly improve your odds of selling. If buyers see that the seller does not take care of simple things like cleaning, they thing the seller doesn’t take care of the major things also.
For more info, call us – Bunny and Art Reiman, Realtors at 732-598-7700. Or visit us online at www.BunnyandArt.com www.55PlusInOcean.com www.55PlusinMonmouth.com