A Tale Of Two Showings
It was the best of houses, it was the worst of houses.
It was the time of staging, it was the time of clutter.
It was a time of educated and enlightened sellers, it was the time of uninformed, unmotivated sellers.
Yesterday, I showed a buyer several houses. From the time we approached what we will call house one, it was apparent that they liked it. They liked the front porch and general appearance of the home.
We entered the home and it could not have been a more precise floor-plan to what they had been looking for. The house, while not neutrally painted, was tastefully and PROFESSIONALLY painted. It was also apparent that it was STAGED. The furniture in place, optimized to show off ample living spaces...the office set up as an office, the bedrooms with the beds made and a soft gently clean smell as well a softly playing music in the background made this house "FEEL" like home the second my buyers entered. They spent a lot of time looking at the home and considering it's benefits.
Two houses later, we approached another home that looked very similar to the one they had liked. It was obvious that it would be the same floorplan, just located several streets away in the same neighborhood.
We were met at the door by a mid 20ish gentleman in a white undershirt and boxer shorts. He welcomed us in and then went and joined his spouse on the couch as he played a video game in the living room while his wife worked on a laptop. They acted as though we were not present.
The house was the exact floor-plan, but something was different. The office was cluttered with papers and mess. The living room, though tiled nicely, was dirty and cluttered. Around the TV niche that the buyers had liked so much in the other home were gobs of wires and electronics that seemed to be haphazard in their arrangement.
The beds in the bedrooms were not made.
The kitchen was dirty and the sink had dishes in it.
My buyers looked at the office, kitchen and living room and said "Thank You" and headed for the door.
Once outside, my buyers and I briefly spoke of the house we had just left. They were not comfortable commenting on the house with the owners sitting there watching. They were not happy with this house even though the floor-plan, as we noted in the first house was PERFECT.
The price difference on these two houses? $12,000!!! The Staged House was listed at $12,000 more than the unstaged, owner managed house. Let me put that in perspective for you because $12,000 to a $500,000 home is not the same as this home. This staged home is listed at $125,000 and the second, exactly the same home, built the same year home is $113,000. ALMOST 10% difference in price!
One of the two homes ended up on my buyer's final three that they want to consider and see again before making an offer today. It wasn't the one that was $12,000 less.
Could presentation REALLY make all the difference in an offer when there is that large of a price difference? What do you think the cost of the staging was? Was it $12,000? No, probably not. And even if it was, and it brought that $12,000 back to the owner in 2 weeks rather than 6 months on the market, wouldn't that still be worth something? I have no doubt this house will sell...quickly. Maybe even by the end of the day today if my buyers make that choice, but the other house will not, and certainly will not until the other house if off the market!
Don't take an agent's word for it...take a REAL LIVE BUYER'S word for it...That's all that really matters in the end anyway! Isn't it?
We have professional stagers that we work with. Your home listing may qualify for our initial consultation with one of our stagers, you get the benefit of the consultation and we pick up the tab...it's just that important. Call us now for your appointment to see if your home qualifies!
Call us now if you are looking to buy or sell a home in the West Houston and Katy Texas area! We are area specialists who guarantee our results!
Call the team that knows Katy at 281-935-7152 or our Toll Free information line (anytime):
Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:
Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003
$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004
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Great example of how people need help to look at the floorplan and condition and if the sellers aren't going to help the buyer, they're also not helping themselves.