Mow The Freakin’ Lawn!

Mow The Freakin’ Lawn!

Sellers need to understand one thing:

Your transaction is most vulnerable on settlement day. 

Here’s what happens –

The buyers are driving to your house to do their final walk-thru.  On their way, they have to stop several times along the side of the road due to attacks of car sickness. 

By the time they get to their new home, that until today they loved, they are ready to move to France to get out of the deal.

• They paid way too much money.
• They can’t afford the mortgage.
• They know that prices will plummet as soon as the ink is dry on the papers they are signing.

They are looking for an excuse, any excuse, to run, not walk, away from the deal.    They’ll move to France if necessary

And the one thing that can calm them down is to have, not just the house, but also the lawn look perfect when they pull up.

When they first saw the place, they made a judgment from their real estate agent’s car, and they liked what they saw.  Strong curb appeal helped to influence how they reacted once they passed through the front door.

So, true story.

I had a settlement on Friday.  It was a house that, in the MRIS remarks, touted the professional landscaping.  And the first few trips, it looked pretty good.

Fast forward to settlement day. 

There were countless weeds sprouting up through the layer of new mulch.  The grass was as high as an elephant’s eye!  If these people had suffered from any degree of buyer’s remorse, we’d have been in trouble. 

The listing agent called the seller and told him to get a crew over there with a lawnmower - STAT!  To his credit, he did, but not until the next day. 

We were lucky. The buyers looked beyond the shaggy lawn and still wanted the house they had met and loved weeks ago. 

But if you are a seller, why push your luck?