“What Buyers Hate,” “What Things Turn Off a Buyer,” “Things That Sabotage Your Sale,”“How to Get Less Money When You Sell”— anyone of these would make an appropriate title for this article.
Sellers take note. The presentation of your home affects buyers and their decision as to what to offer on your home, that is, if they offer all. Here are some of the most common mistakes sellers make.
Odors – This comes up most often. Food, pets and moldy smells are a huge turnoff.
Cleanliness – Clutter such as dishes in the sink, cluttered kitchen countertops (people want to envision themselves cooking there), piles of laundry/clothes and cluttered corners in rooms. Less clutter means more space.
Haunted House Landscaping. Yards with too many weeds, or too much of any one thing, dead lawn or foliage or no landscaping at all. (Chris and Dena you know you are exceptions!)
Personalized Decor – HGTV and the décor shows think you should put up wallpaper and paint accent walls, but personal taste is just that, personal to you. If you are getting ready to sell, do not put up wallpaper, or paint unusual colors. Ask the Realtor or Stager about color choices that neutralize.
Valuable collectables should not be left out. They should be packed up and removed from the homes. Bottom line, too much of anything — collections, color, décor, etc.—could inhibit a buyer’s vision of your property becoming their home.
Less Bedrooms – A music room or a pet room is great as long as you are not sacrificing (converting) one of the bedrooms. Not all buyers have pets, some are allergic to them. Forty-four percent of all American homes do not have pets. More bedrooms is best.
Think about appealing to the buyers most interested in a home like yours. Then neutralize your home so they can realize their dream there, and not yours. Unless you are in a senior’s only community, you may need to offer flexible space options for the type of buyer coming through.
While it does take effort and a budget to prepare your home for sale, the return will be more interested parties resulting in more offers and thus more money to take to your next home. The emotional difficulty is taking your “home” and turning it back into one of the largest investments most folks make in a lifetime. Once you make that shift, primp, polish and treat your home like the investment it is. It will pay you back.
If the slower market, as indicated in the statistics to the right, gives you pause, remember a well-prepared and staged home brings more money and a faster sale.
