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The Most Important Step You Can Take When Showing Your House

Recently, I received a phone call from a fellow stager in a different part of the state. She was flustered over the fact that she was dealing for the first time with a home at a higher price point and a very intimidating top producing Realtor.

It seems the property in question could do with a good cleaning - several children and cats also occupy the home - and she made haste in letting them know that the home would have to be cleaned (and kept clean) if she were to stage the listing. The Realtor was very offended that she would make such a suggestion. It is a $900,000 listing - how dare she say such a thing and risk offending the seller.

The stager was doing her job and was right to say that cleaning the place up would be their starting point. A clean house is paramount to a sale in any price point and is even more so the more a buyer is expected to pay for it.

Should she decide to forgo this little bit of information so as not to risk the offense, she would actually have been doing the client a disservice. A Stager is hired to give you the perspective of a potential buyer and if that perspective is that the house is dirty and unkempt, then it is something that must be addressed and remedied. Such details can hinder a sale and a stager's job is make sure all hindrances are removed or at least minimized.

If you are about to place your home on the market, take a good hard look at your house and ask yourself if it is clean enough to receive guests. If it is not, roll up your sleeves and get scrubbing. It is by far the most important step in preparing your home for the real estate market. Not sure where to go from there? Details can prepare a Do-to-Sell list for you that can be your guide to getting your home sold.

Posted by Kimberly Wester on 10/21/2007 06:48 PM

Comments (21)

home staging, real estate staging, professional, selling, staging consultations, staging process

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21 Comments on The Most Important Step You Can Take When Showing Your House

OCT

2007

Very important message. I tell my "messy" clients that buyers really want new & in order to compete with new model homes, their home must not show any evidence of wear & tear!

Kathy - What really amazes me is that the Realtor didn't want it addressed for fear of offending the seller. did she think it was okay to list a dirty $900,000 house? I just don't get it. How do you get to be a top producer that way?

Ha ha Kimberly I like your question about a home being clean enough to receive guests. Many dirty people don't even think about that aspect. I have a friend who is no house keeper. She has 5 German Shepherds. I don't think her house has seen a cleaning product in 10 years. Yet she doesn't think twice about inviting people in. I had to tell her I was allergic to GSD's in order to not have to go inside.

Kimberly, we suggest our clients to do the 'white glove' test to see if their home is clean enough. Do you remember that episode from The Mary Tyler Moore show where her mother is coming to visit and Mary actually dons white gloves and checks everything to see if it will meet her mom's standards. In my humble opinion, testing the tops of the doors was going a little too far. LOL Betty

OCT

2007

I tell sellers cleaning includes windows (inside and out) as well! If they are not up for the task, I recommend hiring someone.

Terry - I know what you mean. I can't let people into my entry if it hasn't been swept, but I have a girlfriend that doesn't care it she has mac and cheese spread all over her dining table. It doesn't make sense to me.

Betty - The white glove test is great! It is a little over the top if you are touching the tops of the doors, but I would not overlook the ceiling fans. When we bought our fixer, the fans had so much dust on them i would not allow anyone to turn them on until they were sufficiently vaccuumed. Yep, Vacuumed!

Linda - You are absolutely right. SOMEONE has to clean it!

Kimberly you are so right. It is the #1 most important thing to do -- CLEAN!

I have eased into the subject by asking the homeowner (and Realtor,if necessary) if they saw the 20/20 episode on Home Staging. Then I giggle about the silly "cheerleading" portrayed in the episode; from there I point out, however, the best part of the show was the emphasise placed on "Q-Tip Clean". It helps, as if it not my idea; but considered a must by 20/20! (like they are experts : ) )

Amen to all of this! I have a CD called Dress Your House for Success that I sometimes lend out to clients in this situation. If I become aware that there will be issues (from the realtor or in my initial walk-through) I leave/lend this CD for the sellers to watch. Of course cleaning is a major point of this video and it is really well done. (I think it was Coldwell Banker backed)

I DO NOT leave it with every seller because it gives a bit too much info. and makes it sound like anyone can stage a house and we all know that's not true. I bought it two years ago so I don't know if it's still available but here's the website listed on the CD package. wwwbcwvideo.com.

There's something about seeing it on a video or reading it in a book that makes it more viable with sellers. Like our info. is just knit-picking.....ugh!

Hope this helps.

Karen - I had never thought of referencing that segment in anyway (because I find the singing, etc. embarassing). Maybe I will suck it up and see if that works.

Ginger - I will forward that link to the other stager. I don't know who the agent works for, but if she can get the agent to understand with the dvd, maybe she can avoid this in the furture. Thanks!

Kimberly: Sad comment on the top-producing listing agent. I can't imagine that she didn't think that cleaning the home and keeping it clean was a top priority. I have no problem telling homeowners that their home needs a deep cleaning before it is put on the market. I don't tell them that their home is dirty, just that it needs to be sparkling clean so that potential buyers don't use the cosmetic condition of the home to negotiate the selling price lower. Most people get it when I explain it to them that way.

Michelle - I know, right? How can you continue to be top producer if you do not want to address the most basic of sale prep procedure? She may have been afraid of losing the listing, but in the end she would have been losing the sale.

I always use the term "detail" instead of "clean". Guys tend to get that part of it at least. Top Producer? Holy Moly, maybe 2 years ago when homes were selling like hot cakes.... but even if she didn't want to say that the house was dirty... you just have to know that she knew it. She probably didn't know what to say and she didn't want to rock the dirty boat. Ha... now she knows. Maybe it was the way that the Stager presented it. I would use "detail"... it is less of an implied put down.

Kimberly,

You are so right that it is part of our job to be honest about how the home presents to the public. The last home I was in I was greeted by a dead plant (very dead) exercise equipment along with a mattress & box springs in the foyer. This house had been on the market and had an open house, the home owners had evidently already "cleaned up" according to the realtor. It can be hard to be tactful in these situations, but a friend of mine reminds me every once in a while that you can't always be nice and tell the truth, but somebody has to do it.

Penny White, Beststagedesign Inc.

Great point Kim. I never understand people that don't at least try to keep it clean during showings. I know having kids can make it more difficult, but at least give it an effort.

OMG, so true. However, it really eats my craw when I have to clean. I pay someone to clean my house!! There've been times when I've been on my hands and knees minutes before the Open House picking up crumbs, stones, dust, play doh......oh, let's not go there!!!!!!!

OCT

2007

We find this happens to us on occasion. It's very disappointing to hand over a beautifully presented home to a client and then find that it has not been kept up.

Thanks everyone for your comments. It is a sticky situation, but one that is necessary to deal with. Cleanliness is the first step, no matter the price point or prestige of the property. I hope this particular agent sees the light.

I CANNOT believe that the realtor felt the stager offended her client, I thought realtors like our honesty and that is why we are called into see the property in the first place so we can be the bad guys, not them. There is nothing worse than a dirty house. WHen I submit my proposals I always submit the name of a cleaning company that I work with.

Phyllis Pafumi

OCT

2007

Phyllis - I believe this may be the first time this particular agent has used a stager, but I'm not sure. I definitely think it is a 'can't see the forest for the trees' type of situation. It may be that the agent needs this commission and has put a lot of pressure on her self to secure it. By seeing the big picture she may realize that you don't make any money listing - only selling.

I use the "detailing a car when you are going to sell it" story - I also tell them they are competing with new builds and have to stand out (in a good way) in the crowd.

OCT

2007

Great Post Kim...We give out a sheet with "10 commandments of getting your home spotless for showings" and it spells out WORK!

We also mention to clients that if there is Surface dirt/uncleanliness- do you think buyers will wonder about maintenance items that can't be seen i.e.....have they ever bothered to change filters, clean gutters, and other internal maintenance items that can't be easily seen BUT can effect LIFESPAN of MAJOR Mechanicals?

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