Work with me here people~

Kristal,

Good point, this is one difficult part of our job,convincing owners that their home is not good enough for the market.   Some make a living out of this situation however.   Stager comments anyone?

Mario

It's bad enough how slow it is but when you get something going..the clients forget to prepare.

From your lips to - - - well, you know where.

I sold a home to a nice couple a month ago and I've been waiting for 4 weeks for them to get trash taken away.  I will not put their house on the market until the trash is gone and the door is on the upstairs bedroom closet and the boxes are moved from in front of the furnace so a home inspector can get to it and . . . . . . .

 

Some folks just don't get it. The listing agents have to explain the market situation, bluntly at times, to get the message across. 

Kristal..... funny that you should write about this. In regards to your post, I just made this type of comment on someone's post that talked about dealing with buyers for a year. Do they really want to buy?  Too picky?

In your case,  do they really want to sell it?  Why do they give certain agents a hard time about being flexible...etc etc.

You wrote this...Sellers remember your home will no longer be a home, it's a product on the shelf.  I never heard it expressed like this. Very cool. Meaning.. what a great way to put it in perspective to a seller. Very creative.

                                                                                                             

Kristal - great post - you've said it better than I could of. You highlighted many of my pet peeves - misleading MLS info - Grrrrrrrrr!,

Inflexible schedules for viewings - gotta say "Vacant on Loxbox" are usually top of my list! :-) Like you we've got a bunch to see and I need as much help as possible from the seller.

The worst is getting run around by a Listing company "call desk" that wants everything including rights to your first born just to say someone will get back to you - NOT!

Kristal, I couldn't have said it better myself. I have had to show homes that are listed as 3 or 4 bedrooms but when we show up we have to search up and down for that bedroom that is just not there!!!!!!! 

KK.... I would expect many to have that much patience, unless they had nothing else on their plate per se. In regards to working around other's schedules... that part cracks me up. But then they sometimes complain when you can't sell it as quickly... or they ask you why there isn't much traffic. But that is only if they were difficult to work with. Limiting the times that their house can be shown. Not saying that this happens often, but I know it has happened. 

                                                                                                            

Amen sister!  I love the part about "let's make a deal" with my schedule.  In my area, some agents still insist on being present at showings.  One agent particularly comes to mind - you call her for an appointment for 2:00 on Tuesday and she'll say "I can't make it at 2:00 on Tuesday but how about 11:00 on Wednesday?" 

KK - This is where a good home stager can make all the difference. When I finish staging an occupied home I give the homeowner pictures of how the home should look. I place the pics in inconspicuous places throughout the home.  I put the kitchen pics right in the kitchen under the dishtowels - bathroom pics go inside the medicine cabinet - bedroom pics especially kids ones inside a dresser drawer.  I try to get the whole family involved.  Even the little ones.  I try to make a game of it with families with a bunch of kids.  I tell them when someone wants to show the home you need to go into CODE RED mode.  Everyone gets a job - that way the the responsibility is shared.  I have heard that the families like it - sort of like a race or game to get things ship shape.  Hopefully since the home is beautifully staged they won't have to "play" for long!

BTW - I LOVE your rose pic!

KK,

I am surprised there are not more comments on this post already.  This is so true and I would add that it is the same for borrowers in regards to preparing for purchasing a new home.  Well, I will create a blog about that later.

Krystal,

You've raised the bar again! Homes are products and our time and expertise is what we offer. Ease of purchase is what drives so many businesses and we as agents should remember to be as accommodating as we can in showing our product and as listing agents we should counsel sellers to Make It Available!

Imagine your beloved Starbucks only open by appointment, or 24 hour notice, or filthy with refuse. Adios Starbucks.

Imagine new home builders doing the same thing. Adios homebuilder. The examples are there for us to learn from.

Love the Tarnished Rose. "Fragrance is the gift a rose gives to the heel that crushed it". Or something like that. Great work Krystal!

You always have really good posts!  The Starbucks analogy is excellent - buyers can't buy if they can't get in!  And they can't use their vision to imagine how the house will look because they have too much on their mind - buyers are considering location, price, mortgage payments, where their furniture will fit or not fit, what are the schools like, etc.  Sellers only have 10-15 seconds to embrace the Buyer.  Stagers help the homeowner transition their property from a haven to a home to a house to a product.  Motivation to Stage is the true  line in the sand for a seller putting their home on the market - if the homeowner is motivated, they will Stage the house.  If the Seller resists Staging the property, there is something else going on in their life and they do not want to sell.

Very well written KK. There is nothing more frustrating than showing homes that are not prepared to be seen. And trying to negotiate showing times. When sellers won't cooperate, they get dropped from the list.

Excellent, excellent! I didn't take the time to read the comments, but just yesterday, I showed a home that we wouldn't have bothered with if the listing agent had completed the MLS correctly. My buyers want a 1st flr MBR and hardwood floors - which the MLS specifically indicated this home had. Well, the MBR was on the 2nd floor and what he had said was a 1st flr MBR was really a den and the hall bath happened to have a shower. The hardwood floors were really Pergo! He also said there were only 2 BR's up when there were actually 3. And he said there was a BR in the basement - there wasn't. GEEZ!

Kristal, this has to be one of the most frustrating things about being a real estate agent!  Like you said, we are not miracle workers and if we are to sell a home for top dollar, the seller needs to expect to put forth some effort as well.  Agents need to be more cooperative as well.  Since in all likelihood, they've experienced the frustration of showing a 4/2.5 that's really a 3/2.5 with a loft (yes, I see this all the time), they should know better than to do it to other agents.