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Cleanliness is Subjective, and Dirty Doesn’t Sell a Home

One thing I've noticed in life is that everyone has a different idea of what clean actually is. We would all probably agree on some very basic ideas of cleanliness, but there are pretty dramatic levels of what we encounter on a day to day basis.

In Real Estate, our varying opinions and standards may cause a serious problem if you are trying to sell your home.

I have been in homes that look immaculate to me, but my client complains about how dirty it is. Honestly folks, I am pretty darn particular about this kind of thing, but somehow, there are people that are even more particular than me.

I have also been in homes with food stuck to the floor, food left on the breakfast table, and flies buzzing around. This is AFTER I have made an appointment well in advance to show the home. On a lesser degree, I have also visited homes with dishes in the sink, clutter everywhere, and general untidiness.

Now I am not here to knock anyone and the way they live, but I am here to say that there is a certain standard that should be lived by when putting a home on the market and expecting that home to sell.

My best explanation of what this should be draws from my Military background. When you move from Military Housing, you are expected to have that house clean to the point of being new. I mean as new as an older house can be with normal wear and tear. Even if you are still living in your home, you can make your home "Military Clean". If you meet this high level of standards, your home should be acceptable to even the most critical of buyers.

Kitchens and Bathrooms are the most common places of problems:

Bathrooms should be free of mold, soap scum, and hard water stains and buildup. Grout should be clean and preferably unstained. Accessories and fixtures should be clean and in good repair. Leaks should be repaired and evidence of such leaks should also be corrected and repaired. Shower doors and curtains should be in perfect condition. Again no mold, lime deposits or soap scum. Tracks on a shower door should have no grime whatsoever. Toilets should have no stains in the bowel. Floors should be perfectly clean.

Kitchens should also be free of soap scum, mold and hard water stains. Appliances should be spotless. The oven and stove should be completely free of food and burnt on residue. The drip pans should be clean or new. Seals on refrigerators should be completely free of debris and stains. Each inside component should be perfectly clean. Countertops should not be sticky, nor should be the floor. And under no circumstances should any type of food or traces of food be present anywhere.

Other common issues:

Carpets should be clean, unstained and stretched if needed. Baseboards, lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, mirrors should be clean. Windows should be clean inside and out, and window tracks should also be clean and free of debris. Everything should be free of dust. Clutter needs removal. There should be no spider webs hanging from ceilings or anywhere in rooms. Your home should be free of visible pet products and smelly pet odor (this is a tough one; we don't smell the odors that we are used to. You need to have someone else come in your home for a sniff test). And speaking of pets, there should be no sign of pet hair anywhere. Walls should be clean, holes patched, colors fresh and consistent.

When cleaning your home for sale and maintaining that cleanliness remember to think of a new home and how a new home looks. Then make every effort to make your home look as close to that newness as possible. And please listen to your Real Estate professional without being offended. This is not personal, but sound professional advice. And don't leave your home in disarray before it's shown. It could quite literally make THE difference of whether your home sells at all.

Realtors, Stagers, Cleaning Professionals and Homeowners, please submit your tips, experiences and concerns with cleaning and trying to sell homes that are not so clean.

Homeowners, consult with professionals to assist you if you are having trouble or are unsure of how CLEAN, clean should be. Waco Homeowners, if you want to list your Waco Home for Sale, feel free to contact me for a FREE initial consultation.

Wendy Montoya, Realtor®, e-PRO, SRS

Waco Residential Listing Specialist

www.WendyMontoya.com

254-315-4906

YOUR Waco Realtor® at Work for YOU!
A proud Century 21® Towne Adams Real Estate Professional!

Posted by Wendy Montoya Waco, TX Real Estate, 254-315-4906 on 07/08/2007 04:09 AM

Comments (10)

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10 Comments on Cleanliness is Subjective, and Dirty Doesn’t Sell a Home

JUL

2007

Hi Wendy - "Clean" and "taste" are relative to the individual homeowner. It is an ongoing conversation to have with homeowners! Thanks!

What a great post. This should be given to all the messy sellers as a reminder of what they need to do.

With the market the way it is where we live, if the seller is not willing to do what we tell them to do to clean up a house, then we pass on the listing.

I assume that it is hard for a potential homebuyer to look past "dirt". As a Loan Rep. I don't see to many houses day to day, but I have heard the horror stories from my clients.

As ASPs say..

We want the home to be Q-tip clean!

I tell sellers that if they were going to sell their car the first thing they would do would be to detail it, So why not detail your home like you would detail your car. It make sense to them when I tell them that.

Shine and Sparkle, those are my key words. Dust and dirt do not shine or sparkle in anybody's definition of clean. Often I recommend a professional for a "finish cleaning" just before the open house.

Margaret, Nestor and Katerna, Philip. Tara, Ginger--Thank you so much for your comments. I am glad to see some stagers chime in. It's so hard to tell a person their home is not clean enough to sell.

Wendy

JUL

2007

People today are searching for super clean homes,otherwise they are buying a fixer upper and are not expecting fantastic clean. A "CLEAN" house is half sold,!! As a Stager/redesigner,I want only very clean houses to have my name associated with it.

I recently did a home staging consultation that the Realtor paid for. She could not get the home seller to grasp "CLEAN". So I went and spent 2 hours, showing her what needed to be cleaned. Had her follow me with spray cleaner and rags! (I also rearranged a lot of her stuff and helped her box up some things -- real staging) But the real message was clean. Apparently the seller understood the word when it came from me. :)

Hi Wendy, all good points. I myself and a military brat. My homes are not only inspection clean, but also staged. I have never been able to get out of the habit of needing to move every two years!

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Karen, Terry and Unknown Person--thanks for the comments. I love to hear how Stagers handle this situation. I think having a 3rd party come in has great benefits. Terry, I know what you mean, it's tough to break the moving habit!

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