Homestaging - Help or Hindrance? You won't believe this story!

Here's the scenario:  I have a buyer looking for a home in an older area of the city where homes have a lot of character and neighborhoods have done a lot of work to keep that character within the neighborhood.  Listings are few and far between.

So a new listing comes on the market.  Listing agent describes it as a dream come true.  It goes on to describe the home features and it has features we're looking for so we set up a showing.  My client was getting excited because finding a decent listing in this particular area was difficult.  My first clue that something was weird was the line in the description that said "window coverings and hardware not included."  Now, I don't know about your market, but a home that is vacant (and this one was) includes the window coverings, and in any case, the hardware is attached and is now a fixture and should be included (unless the seller wants to repair the holes left when they take it down.)

We get to the house for the showing, notice the beautiful original fixture on the front of the house, the gorgeous brick, and with high hopes, open the door.  The first thing we see when we walk in is . . . a sign telling us who the home stager was along with her brochures.  What?   Am I viewing a home or a commercial.  So now I know why the window coverings and hardware don't stay.  They belong to the stager. 

We walk through the living room (where the pictures on the wall all have the stagers card in the frame) into the dining room and what do we see on the dining table ... more brochures and cards . . . for the stager.  Wait a minute are we selling a home here or the stager's services?  At this point we're annoyed.

We move into the kitchen and guess what?  More brochures!  At this point we have really stopped looking at the features of the home and started making comments on the staging.  With all the stuff she's brought in, the staging has gotten very distracting.  Would I have noticed the stuff if her brochures and cards hadn't been everywhere?  Probably not, but it's so "in your face" we can't help ourselves.  

The bedrooms are next and there is nothing in them.  They are also extremely tiny, actually just small, but they seem tiny because they are empty.  The bathroom is the last room on the main floor and, oh my, more cards in the bathroom.  I have to tell you, while the accessories in the bathroom would look fine in my 7 year old home, they do absolutely nothing for this vintage bathroom.

I understand the goal of homestaging.  It's to help the seller get the home sold quicker at a higher price.  In this case, it didn't help.  The homestager's self-promotion throughout the house was in the way.  Why the listing agent allowed it makes no sense.  Whether the homeowner knew it is unclear since they had already moved. 

And, by the way, no amount of staging is going to cover up the fact that the floor upstairs was put down on ceiling joists and not floor joists and needs to be torn up and reinforced.  That floor was a moving experience and the ceiling below would be also.  But that's why the buyer hired me and not the listing agent. 

Vernal Equinox - Hallelujah, It will finally be spring!

Tomorrow, March 20, is the date of the Vernal Equinox.  Literally equinox means equal day and night and vernal is green, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's time for things to turn green and having more daylight will allow things to grow.  I have been waiting so long to watch things grow, I can hardly wait to go out and start playing in the dirt.  I've read all the gardening magazines I can without wanting to plant too early (and in my Zone 4, it's way too early.)  That's why I don't clean out my flower beds in the fall.  It gives me something to do when the weather gets nicer in the spring.

I can see changes already though.  The daffodils and tulips are starting to come up.  The lilacs and forsythia are starting to bud.  The birds are starting to sing and nest.  Now if the temperature would cooperate, I could go out and absorb some Vitamin D.

In no time at all, my garden could look like this (or not.  It did the first year, but black eyed susans self sow and are now out of control.)

By the way, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, which is why it's so early this year.  Don't forget to plant your peas and potatoes on Good Friday.

If I've already given you feedback, please stop asking.

Okay, I need to rant for a minute.  I've shown a lot of property lately.  Since I only represent buyers, my feedback is usually limited to material defects  and "the buyer wasn't overly impressed."  I did tell one agent after Sunday that the house was not clean because one of the three cats had thrown up on the sofa. 

But this Sunday, I had a listing agent who wouldn't set up a showing because she was having an open house and didn't want to inconvenience her sellers for a separate showing so she forced us to her open house.  (This may have been a tactical error, but that's another topic.)  While there, I noticed some issues with the home, which I questioned her about and she had no answers nor did she care about getting any answers.  Fine.  She knows what I think of the house because I stood there and talked to her about it.  She has now sent me two e-mails asking for feedback!  What part of "I was there and talked to you and you didn't seem to care" wouldn't she like to hear? 

Then there is the listing agent who called me for feedback on Monday, which I gave him.  (He's part of a mother-son team that should just be a mother because he doesn't quite understand real estate, and that's being kind, but) I gave him feedback.  Today I get an e-mail asking for feedback. 

Stop it!!!  If you already have my feedback, don't ask for it again.  Would you like to hear "my buyers still don't like it"?  How about "I don't recall being there." 

My point is this:  Are you representing your seller better if you harrass the buyer's agent?  OR If you can't remember what I said two days ago, what difference does it make what I say now?

Negotiating not just about price.

 

              When negotiating the purchase of a home, price is not the only consideration used when drafting an attractive offer to a seller.  This is an area where an exclusive buyer's agent can be extremely helpful.  There is generally a way to find out what a seller's motivation is for selling and if there's a way to find out, I will.  Sometimes, a seller has been transferred and needs to sell quickly.  In this case, the seller may accept a lower offer if the time frame to closing is very short.  Or, if the seller is building a new home and it won't be done for several months, the seller may accept a different offer with a longer closing period in order not to have to move twice. 

            If the seller has fallen in love with the price at which they have listed the home, then the offer can be written at full price, with the seller paying the buyer for certain items, such as carpeting, decorating, replacement of mechanical equipment, etc.  Many sellers just don't want to have to tell the neighbors that they couldn't get a certain amount for their home when they've bragged that it might worth more than another. 

            Often on new construction, the builder has been carrying the home for quite a while, which can get expensive, but doesn't want to set a precedent by dropping the price by a large amount.  That's when you start negotiating upgrade packages into the purchase price so that you're getting more value for the purchase price. 

            As an exclusive buyer's agent, I have access to a lot of information quickly that most people would have to spend a lot of time searching out.  I use all information available to me that shows any weakening of the sellers position in helping you, the buyer, determine a negotiating strategy.  I won't be like some agents who advertise that they'll save you more money than anyone, but I will definitely help you negotiate the best terms to get you the home you want on the terms that are acceptable to you.

The Story of Chicken Little (or Panicking in a weak Real Estate Market)

CHICKEN LITTLE - THE SCARED SMALL BUSINESSPERSON

Chicken Little, a small businessperson, went running around the town crying "the economy is falling, the economy is falling. . . What will I do to make my bottom line improve?  What will I do?   What will I do?"

He met his friend, Lucky Clucky.  Lucky said, "Why don't you come to a Chamber networking event with me?  I'll introduce you to some other business people who can help your business."

Chicken Little replied, "Oh I'm way too busy.  I have to find some more business," and he goes on his way repeating  "the economy is falling, the economy is falling. . . What will I do to make my bottom line improve?  What will I do?   What will I do?"

He runs into Astute Newt.  Newt asked, "Did you call the three people I referred to you last week at our networking group?"

Chicken Little replied, "No, you said you gave them my card."

Newt again asked:  "Did you call them?"  Chicken Little answered, "No.  If they wanted to work with me they would call me."  "Oh well," shrugged Newt, "I must go and take care of my business." 

Chicken Little thought to himself " a lot of help you are" and went on his way continuing "the economy is falling, the economy is falling. . . What will I do to make my bottom line improve?  What will I do?   What will I do?"

Pretty soon Chicken Little ran into Mean Jean and repeated his tirade.  "The economy is falling, the economy is falling. . . What will I do to make my bottom line improve?  What will I do?   What will I do?"

Mean Jean picked up a 2 x 4 and knocked Chicken Little up side the head and Chicken Little was unable to work for two weeks.

 

The moral of the story:  If you realize how to create business by creating relationships and following up on referrals rather than waiting for the business to come to you, you won't have to get hit up side the head to keep your business, even in a slow economy.

Safety 101

\As an Exclusive Buyer Agent, I've been through a lot of listings lately.  Here's a list of some of the lovely things I've come across lately.

   Don't they look pretty!  They smell pretty too.  (not)  Mr. and Mrs. Seller, please don't leave these burning unattended in your home.  Can you spell fire hazard?

 

  Looks like an ordinary light bulb, right?  Not when it's in a closed closet full of stuff and left on all day.  Again, can you spell fire hazard?

  Here's an ordinary door, but it has three steps up to it.  Needs a handrail doesn't it?  The bottom step slopes also and is a trip hazard.  (And if there is a trip hazard, I'll find it.)

  Heaving Concrete.  Another trip hazard.  If you're not looking down you won't see it.  (I don't need to look down.  I'll trip over it anyway.)

   This looks like an ordinary upstairs bedroom.  Do you know how high the railing needs to be to be safe?  (42 inches)  Do you know how close together the posts should be?  (Close enough that a kid's head can't get through them and get stuck.)  Did you check to make sure it's solid all the way across and anchored?  Most homes built before the 1990's have railings that don't comply with code.  Many are high enough but the posts are too far apart.  This is a concern for parents.  Short rails are an issue for anyone who likes to lean against rails. 

 

Do your new buyers know what USDA garden zone they live in?

I work with buyers relocating to the Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area from places as far away as Hawaii and Alaska.  When they get here and buy a home they are sometimes excited about starting their gardens in this new area with new choices available to them.  But, if you look on the internet for Nebraska and Iowa you might think we're in Zone 5, but wait, we're in a small pocket inside Zone 5 of Zone 4.  Yes, it makes a big difference.  Roses can sometimes become annuals.  Other perennials become annuals.  Where you plant in the yard makes a big difference.  My hydrangea dies back to the ground every year, but it comes back. 

So, as an exclusive buyers agent, who also likes gardening, I always make it a point to let my buyers know that we are in fact in Zone 4, and some things just don't like it.  I suggest plants that really thrive in Zone 4 and others that will thrive in protected areas.

Spring is coming and I can't wait to play in the dirt.  Reading the catalogs is no longer enough.  I want my buyers to have the same fun.

Equal Housing Opportunity

As Realtors, we pledge to do business in accordance with the Federal Fair Housing Law:  It is illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.  (Iowa just went one step further and added sexual orientation and gender preference to protected classes.)  So, when I, the buyer's agent called to tell the listing agent that I had an offer for the property, the response was, "do your buyers have any children?  My clients will ask because the neighbors will want to know and they really love the neighbors."   Well, my buyers may or may not have children and they may or may not be two-legged or four legged (or even three legged) but my response to the listing agent was "I thought that we believed in Equal Housing Opportunity?"  "Oh!  I'll have to remind my sellers of that."

The point here is that this question is just as wrong as asking about any of the protected classes.  Just because it was about children, and therefore not as offensive, didn't make it wrong.  It's easy to forget and hard to remember that in the interest of protecting our clients we still have to make sure we keep in mind that discrimination comes in many forms.  You would think in this market that what the sellers care about is whether the buyers can get financing, but you never know what goes through their heads.  On the flip side, we buyers' agents have to be equally careful that we don't assume something silly like a single person won't like it in a family neighborhood. 

How many brain cells are you willing to give up for that property?

After talking with colleagues in different parts of the country, I've come to the following conclusion:  If there is a relocation company involved in the transaction, before I show the property I need to ask the buyer, how many brain cells are you willing to sacrifice for your new home?  If the buyer has neither the time, patience, or wherewithal to deal with a corporation who doesn't give a hoot whether their client's home ever sells, it may be in everyone's best interest to move on rather than show it, have them fall in love and become disillusioned as the transaction drags out in minutiae. 

Am I discriminating against properties?  No I'm representing the buyer's best interest.  Some buyers can't deal with it.  Dealing with a relo company can be frustrating, and that's on a good day.  On a bad day, it can make you crazy.  If there is a home down the road that works and we don't have to deal with a relo company, of course we'll take that option.  There will be times when the perfect home has a relo company involved.  That's when I sit down with the buyers and explain the process thoroughly and explain that it will take longer, allow less flexibility and they do not negotiate at all on their addendums.  If the buyer is good with that, we move forward.  If not, the search goes on.  And, if the original owner is still involved, add another 3 weeks to the transaction.

I wonder if those relocated sellers understand that the relocation company is actually hurting them, while ostensibly helping them?

Is anyone else dealing with multi-generational living with clients?

Since my good friend Kel brought up issues facing baby boomers (yes that's us), have any of you had to deal with finding a home that works for multi-generational families?   Are those families at the multi-generational stage now, or do they just know that they will be soon?  I have a client who is looking at new construction, knowing that her Mom and Dad will be a part of the household within the next few years.  It's hard to plan for that, not knowing when, if or how to make room for them, especially without everyone on board with the plan.  Does anyone else have experience with this?