I have been showing a TON of homes these past few months and one thing rings true over and over and over again here in Greater Cleveland and here is a home selling tip: Condition Matters.
You may think your shag carpeting from the 70s is still fine -- it's not.
You may think your avocado colored appliances from the 1960s-70s are still fine -- they are not, especially when a buyer opens the oven door and it looks like a science experiment on the inside.
You may think your golden harvest and badly worn and scratched formica countertops are still just fine -- buyers don't think so. You can replace them for $700-800 on average.
You may think having 30-80% of your home covered in dated wallpaper is just fine because it's intact and not falling down -- buyers don't want to remove it, prep walls and then paint.
You may think that your five year old fake-wood laminate floors which are buckling up due to water, etc., still are okay, buyer's don't want to stub their toes on the curled up ends.
You may think that having 5 cats and numerous litter boxes which stink to hog heaven is just fine, some buyers are allergic to cats and the smell of the litter boxes is nauseating.
You may think that the 9 bold, bright, conflicting colors that are unique in every room, along with 5 different colors and textures of carpeting is okay, most buyers don't think so.
You have a rather large German-type breed dog which could take me down in a New York Second standing on the driveway attached to what appears to be a flimsy little rope and you want us to walk by this potential threat to enjoy your backyard when we are on HIS TURF?
You forgot to flush the toilet AND put the lid back down -- #1 is bad enough, #2 is inexcusable. It was not an impromptu showing.
Speaking of dogs, I have two, and I love them dearly, but buyers and I don't want to go squish in dog manure when we are navigating your backyard (aka minefield).
The mold that is growing up the basement wall and that powerful damp, musty smell, combined with water actively coming in from different directions -- well...giving a "buyer credit" is kind of hard to wrap your mind around when your feet get wet and your nostrils are burning.
You ask that we remove our shoes, well then make sure your floors are cleaned so we aren't stepping on old food, crumbs, cat litter box elements that are outside on the floor, tons of dog hair, left over toothpaste on the bathroom floor and that isn't even talking about the unfinished basement that hasn't seen a broom in quite some time.
You may think your leaky faucet that has now caused rust at the bottom of the sink is just a minor adjustment, we couldn't agree more, so you should fix it.
It's almost June, 70 degrees here in Cleveland, you can now safely take the plastic off the windows, you know... that you used a hair dryer to install to keep out the MAJOR drafts from your old, leaky windows -- it's not a real strong selling feature at the end of May.
If you choose to smoke in your home (it's a free country and I don't care if you do), then don't get offended if non-smoking buyers (which by the way, make up 75% of the buying public on average) don't want your home because it smells like smoke.
And here's what I really don't get: You look in the garage, and see a spotless, immaculate, older car. The windows have been cleaned inside and out, the tires Armor All, and it makes you just want to hop in and go for a ride.
That car is probably worth 10-15K. Your home is probably worth 10-20 times that. So...why in the world would you spend so much time and effort keeping that used car nice and shiny when it's a depreciating asset (I am not implying that one shouldn't take care of one's car -- I wash my 6 times per year whether it needs it or not LOL) and not spend 2x, 5x, 10x more time and effort in keeping your perhaps largest asset from losing value?
We all know that a home doesn't have to be perfect to sell, and I'm not imply that it needs to be, no home is perfect. However, take some serioius pains to make your home show the best. Even dated homes can be very inexpensively spruced up with a lot of creativity and ingenuity and exceptional advice.
I am not talking about distressed sellers, elderly sellers on a fixed income that just need out, etc. I'm talking about choices.
My buyers show me over and over and over again, that condition matters. They are drawn to homes that show well, are clean, neat, organized and de-cluttered.
Here is another news flash: Even if your home is more expensive than the average neighborhood in your town, that semi-prestige factor isn't enough for someone to pay you top dollar for your home whose glory days when everything was new 20 years ago. Not unless you want to significantly discount it to reflect the MAJOR cost of updating a HUGE, older home. You can't have it both ways.
While nothing in this post is new news, the fact that probably 70-80% of the inventory suffers from some of the above items, and some suffer more than others, it's amazing to me that one sees this since we have been in a strong buyers market for over 3 years now.
End of public service announcement for sellers! :)
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