Just in Time for Halloween…Staging a Pig Pen?

Just in Time for Halloween…Staging a Pig Pen? 

If you think it’s OK to ignore the ketchup that dropped on the carpet last week, and the black furry stuff growing in the shower is normal, do me a favor:   Don’t list your home for sale.....yet.  As a Realtor, I’ve seen more than my share of filthy, smelly houses, but yesterday’s showing could have been a staging for a Halloween nightmare.   

Entering the front door of the home with my buyers I noted several rows of shoes in the foyer.  Normally, this is a sign that the occupants care about keeping their floors clean and don’t want to track dirt from the outside world into their home.  However, as I gingerly stepped onto the carpet, not only did I keep my shoes on, but I was wishing I had worn waders to protect me from whatever life forms were living in the carpet!  What were these homeowners thinking?  The carpet was stained to the point that it was difficult to determine the color and piles of dog and cat hair billowed around my feet at every step.  And they remove their shoes?  Really?

Most sellers of course don’t live in a pig pen, and if your standards of cleanliness are a bit relaxed, that’s your business.  However, most of us become so comfortable in our own environments that we may not be able to see things that will distract a buyer.  When it comes time to sell your home, listen to your Realtor!  Most buyers lack imagination and will not be able to see past dirt or clutter.  They need to visualize themselves living in the space, so hand prints on the walls and greasy appliances are seen by the buyer as work they don’t want to do…especially when it’s someone else’s dirt!

Ready to sell your home?  Ask your Realtor for a candid evaluation of items that need to be cleaned and/or repaired before you worry about the list price.   Staging your home doesn’t necessarily mean putting everything in storage and spending money to redesign the interior.  It can be as simple as a good deep cleaning and boxing-up trinkets and personal items.  Remember, we all want to sell your home and a buyer’s first impression should not involve the term “pig pen” or begging for hand sanitizers.  There just isn’t enough Febreze to make it OK.