Dear Reno Short Sale Sellers,
I'd like to tell you about my recent experience showing some of your homes. Last week, I took an investor client out to look at houses for sale in Northwest Reno. He is an experienced and hands-on sort, and had compiled a list of eight short sale properties he wanted to visit. This guy is ready to buy; hot to trot doesn't even come close. Appointments were made and confirmed. Half the homes we visited still had you folks living in them.
First fly in the ointment: call from the listing agent on the first showing. Homeowner says 10am not good, could we please come between 12 and 1, that would work much better for her. Ok, sure, we will make it work. Rearrange, move that house to the end, now we will have to backtrack, oh well...
...it's a beautiful day, the investor is in a cheery mood as he has a day off from his normally very stressful job, and off we go. We arrive at home number one to find your entire extended family at home. Grandma is in the kitchen cooking, assisted by two adult daughters. Someone (the homeowner?) lets us in, waves her hand absently toward the house, then wanders back to the kitchen to join the others. We can't really see the kitchen, it isn't that big and no one moves an inch to allow us in. The living room looks ok, if a bit messy, couple of kids in there playing a game on the floor. Now down the hall...oops, can't see that bathroom, someone is taking a shower in it. Bedroom across the hall has a kid working on a computer so we don't go in there. Finally the master of the house wanders out in his skivvies, scratching his backside. At this point even my savvy investor is heading for the door.
On to house number two. Similar scenario. Heaps of stuff everywhere, entire family going about their 
business. Third house is what I would call a trash-out-to-be. You all have obviously moved out, but left so much stuff, heaps of clothes and other junk, that one can hardly walk through the place. Maybe you will return to get it. Maybe I will win the lottery.
Finally at 12:10 we arrive at the last house. Recall that we were specifically instructed to come at this time. Uh-oh, car in driveway. I ring the doorbell, no answer, knock, then begin to retrieve the key from the lock box. Suddenly the door opens and a woman in her pajamas peers sleepily out. I explain that we have an appointment. "Oh", she says, "well I'm tired right now". I point out that we rearranged our schedule to specifically come at this time, per her request. "Ok", she says sighing deeply, "let me just go clean up a bit". "Never mind", I say, "we will come back another time" (NOT! I think to myself). "Alright" she says and shrugs indifferently as she closes the door.
The worst part is, while no one is overtly rude, there is this sense in the air of veiled hostility. YOU, Mr. Buyer, are taking my home from me. You are a bad person. It isn't fair. Fortunately my investor, being a 
single and very busy professional male, is pretty much oblivious to emotional undercurrents of this sort. What if I had been showing these homes to some young first-time buyers? They would have been horrified.
Now I am not unsympathetic to the plight you, the probably unwilling short sale seller, are in. I feel for you, truly I do. But the reality is this albatross is around your neck, not my buyer's. If you actually want to 
sell your house and relieve yourself of this burden (and there are many good reasons you should want to do that), you need to put a little effort into it. I'm sure you have a cracker-jack agent with designations up the kazoo that can get this short sale accomplished for you, but there is one magic ingredient you still need: a buyer. The rules of engagement for selling a home don't change just because it's a short sale. It needs to be available to be shown, preferably with you elsewhere, and to show at least presentably well. You don't have to go overboard, just tidy up a few things and don't let the lawn die. Remember that the buyers need to be able to picture themselves living here. They need a little time to look at your house without the distraction of feeling like an intruder. Luckily for one of you, my investor buyer has the experience to see beyond the mess and distraction; most buyers can't do that. And if they can't, there are dozens of other properties on the market just like yours. Have a little chat with your listing agent, he or she can give you a few really easy suggestions to get you started on the road to a good offer. Best of luck!
Photo credits:
Albatross picture by Peregrine's Bird Photography, from Flickr via creative commons license
Grandmother cooking picture by L-plate big cheese, from Flickr via creative commons license
Comments(16)