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Landscaping Fail

By
Real Estate Agent with Compass

Oh I love it when the market improves, you see sellers who just completely let it all hang out with the confidence someone will buy their house with all the warts and pimples on full display. I showed this house to lovely first time buyers yesterday.  Things first time buyers think when they see a 99% empty house but random and possibly hazardous junk is left behind:  Will they ever remove it, or would I be stuck with this stuff when we buy it? 

The contract does call for a seller to leave the property "broom clean and free of trash and debris" but when it is obvious they've already moved out, it's hard for a buyer to believe they will ever remove their scary stuff. 

Moral of the story - call a junk removal service BEFORE placing a home on the market.   

The $300 it will cost you to remove the scary stuff from your house, is way less than the thousands of dollars buyers are discounting from the price because you left a very bad impression. This stuff was only a portion of what was left behind too.  There was a basement full of miscellaneous junk, a broken down car, and a garage we were afraid to enter. 

If this were my listing, I would have had it removed myself before putting it in the MLS, if the seller's circumstances didn't allow it to happen. 

A true professional agent really should not place a property on the market in this condition unless it's a foreclosure with rock bottom pricing to compensate.

 

 

Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

This is an excellent point Coral.  I (we) see trash and debris left behind all the time, and sometimes it's dangerous.  Your point about how that affects the bottom line is super.

Sep 21, 2013 10:33 PM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

This is just a baby version of the Sanford and Son like junk yards I have been stunned to see.  Junk companies are great.  A really good one in Northern Virginia is 123 JUNK.

Sep 22, 2013 01:56 AM
Kathy Stoltman
Ventura, CA
RETIRED

It seems like such a simple task to get rid of this eyesore!

Sep 22, 2013 02:49 AM
Coral Gundlach
Compass - Arlington, VA
Real Lives. Not Just Real Estate.

Jay, thanks. I know it really makes buyers think your house is a fixer upper, even if it might not be and they will take it out of your sales price.

Chris Ann - I know, it's easy, just make a call and it's gone.

Kathy - I agree.  Just don't get why either the owner nor the agent didn't just get it done.

Sep 22, 2013 06:01 AM