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It better shine! Advice for Home Sellers - Lyn Sims (847)230-7324

By Lyn Sims

Real Estate Agent

June 03, 2009 05:49 AM

It better shine!

home seller advice,home staging, Recently I was contacting a seller back and forth about the condition and markability of her property. It's the situation where we have no 'wow' factor. It's not that her home isn't clean - it's just OK. Everything in every room of the house is just OK.

No pizazz, no sparkle, no shine.

To better attract an offer, I began to have the worn out discussion with the seller that we've got to punch it up to the next level - add that shine! Everywhere! I want everything scrubbed - polished - brushed and then shined again!

The drill sargeant's (that's me) directions were very specific: all chrome fixtures - I want to be able see my face in it! All appliances in the kitchen sprayed and cleaned with windex to remove all the cooking grime - I want sparkle! I want it to shine!

Fluffy towels and super clean bathrooms! I want it to shine!

To punch it up that added notch - I'll bring over my own duvet cover and we'll redo your Master Bedroom into a 'relaxing retreat' instead of the current 'college dorm' motif. We'll add pillows and do the best we can with the budget that we have - which is $zero$. Clean is a huge factor to add - shine is even better!

So to my surprise the weekend came and went and no word from the seller on the house. Was she overcome by cleaning products and windex fumes? When can I come over and see the 'transformation' of my plans?

Well, when I went to the house I found it only partially completed. Like the balloons bursting at a children's party - no shine! Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa .... my shoulders beginning to droop. The transformation I was hoping for just wasn't there. An email finally came from the seller saying she was going to work on it again tonight after work. What's to work on?

We've got to get that shine - do I have to send Jack over?

Sellers just don't seem to understand that the competition in today's marketplace is fierce. In fact, there are 5-6 homes similiar in this sellers subdivision alone. What would make a buyer choose hers?

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William Feela

WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN

Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

When competing wiht near identical homes in teh same area...you need to be a step above if you want to sell and get close to your price!

Jun 03, 2009 08:55 AM

Lyn Sims

Schaumburg, IL

Real Estate Broker Retired

Bill: You have to be better than your competition and step up your game in this market. Very frustrating for me.

Jun 03, 2009 09:15 AM

SHARON CHARBONEAU

UPSTAGING YOUR HOMES - Sechelt, BC

Lyn,

You are a very conscientious realtor and she is lucky to have you. She obviously does not recognize that to her detriment.

This is where the HGTV show that shows sellers what an independent realtor has to say about their house would come in handy for you.

Maybe you need to video potential buyers going thru her house and making their comments for her to see & hear.

Or you need to talk $$ - and how each flaw devalues her property and invites low ball offers. If she needs top $$ to sell her house, this may get her attention.

Or bring in a home stager to crtique the house during a consultation. The small cost of the consultation would take the burden off of you and also confirm what you have been trying to tell the seller for how long now? Your time is valuable and worth more than chasing her to do what she should have done before she called you. You could pay for the consultation and then the seller can hire the stager or do the work herself.
The cost of staging is generally far less than the 1st price reduction

Personal story from one of my staging jobs:

A fellow chorus member was selling and needed top $ to make the move she was planning. The realtor was another chorus member, who had tried sending her design person over and the seller didn't like her.

I was between jobs, so I told seller I would help her get ready for showings, not having yet seen the house.

When I drove into driveway, I was shocked. Nice home, nice location; however she had let things go and it looked awful - no curb appeal. It got worse as I walked up path to front door; it looked like a haunted house, with junk in front entry, a snowshovel in May, and cobwebs everywhere. I am now thinking, what the H is she thinking!!!!!!

She opens the door and there is a mattress in the hallway; inside are more cobwebs which she apparently was oblivious to and too much clutter. The side deck was cluttered; the backyard was grown over with brambles......the list goes on.

As a friend I was very direct with her: this has got to be cleaned up and each room needs to be de-cluttered, de-personalized and have a focal point. The fireplaces were being ignored for example, and the rooms needed cleaning, and fresh paint. She argued with me over every point saying that the realtor would not agree. I knew that was not the case.

I ignored her protests and got her involved in de-cluttering and cleaning and picking paint colours. We immediately cleaned the front entry and staged it. Within an hour the house looked way better and the outside had some curb appeal, using items I found in her garage.

I told her she needed a gardener, a painter, and a dump guy to remove the junk piled in front of her garage She agreed reluctantly, mumbling about $, and I reminded her of $$ she would lose leaving things as they were. I hired them and got them working the next day, and worked alongside them and even got my husband involved in taking the garden waste away for her.

I used my inventory of decor to add colour and finishing touches like firescreens and tools, artwork etc to each room; brought in fresh flowers.

The realtor was thrilled; the homeowner was reluctantly pleased and the house sold within a week of the staging I did. Her thank you is on my website. Stupidly, I got so wrapped up in action, I forgot to take pictures, so I can't show you the differences. However I do have other before & afters on my website at www.upstagingyourhomes.com, and you can check out my blog on AR

There are good stagers in your area who can assist you by doing what I did with this difficult client, and get the house sold for you and the client.

Best of luck,

A Canadian Home Stager

Jun 04, 2009 04:05 AM

Lyn Sims

Schaumburg, IL

Real Estate Broker Retired

Thank you Sharon, you too are very conscientious and give the added extra to the client. Glad everything worked out for you, why do they have to fight every step of the way? You bring up a valuable point about each flaw brings down the value. There's the old adage that for every $1 the buyers sees they actually want $3 to repair/replace it.

Jun 04, 2009 04:34 AM

Gabrielle Nemes

RE/MAX Realty South - Tumwater, WA

206.300.8421, S King & Pierce County RE Advocate

Ohhhhh, I have a client like this too. I've begged, I've demanded, I've even worked along side for a Saturday helping spruce things up.

Turned around and a month later, cobwebs were back, the sidewalk wasn't swept, the rugs hadn't been vacuumed. ARGH. Dang this is hard sometimes! Talk about bashing one's head against the wall. ...

.... and yet they're wonderful people who appreciate everything and love me to death. I just wish they'd take some direction and stick with it.