This past weekend I stopped by my sister and her husband’s home as I made my way back to Austin from the RE/MAX of Texas 35^th Annual Convention in Galveston.  The convention was an incredible learning experience and I had a fine time to boot.

 But back to my visit with my sister. As I looked around at her beautiful new home, a TROPHY HOUSE,  it brought back memories of a number of homes that I have listed in Austin that were definitely challenging to sell.  Not because they were over-priced, or located in a declining area or even unattractive or average looking.  In fact, just the opposite was true; each home was well above the average sales price ($289,000) for the Austin area.

Here’s what those homes did have in common with my sister’s home -- MOUNTED ANIMALS.  Yes, Texans hunt and many are very attached to their trophies, some of the Boone and Crockett type. But I learned “not everybody” shares our passion for hunting, admiring the trophy and dining on some of the best game meat to meet a dinner plate.  And “not everybody” is comfortable with the eyes of stuffed and mounted animals following them around the room or, so it seems.

In each case of the listed TROPHY HOMES, I asked the owners to remove most or all of the animal mountings. On one of the TROPHY listings, I asked the owner to remove a huge iguana aquarium and super-sized turtles tucked away in the back yard.   The sellers were not happy, but I supported my request with those wonderful feedback forms and the homes sold very quickly following the evacuation of stuffed and unstuffed animals.

There are a bunch of people moving to Austin, Texas from far away states and many of our new citizens are not familiar with the hunting décor and don’t appreciate it. 

 So sellers’, please put your animal trophies away during the listing period, by doing so you will increase the number of showings, keep the prospective buyers in your home longer and generate an offer faster.

I am not a certified home stager, I am a Realtor and I listen to the look on a buyer’s face (especially the ones not familiar with the mounted décor) when they come eye to eye with a stuffed animal, the look is memorable.  

Fortunately for my sister and her husband – they will likely never sell their home and have to store their beloved stuffed animals.