In a competitive buyer's market, it is essential for homes to be in the best showing condition possible.  As the saying goes, "you only get one chance to make a first impression."  So why is it that so many homeowners still refuse to get their homes into "showroom" condition before allowing homebuyers to view the home?  Have they tricked themselves into thinking that the home will get top dollar regardless of condition?  Are they too lazy to do any work?  Too stubborn?  Whatever the reason, the fact remains that if a home doesn't show well early on, then it will most likely sell for less than its potential.

Sometimes it is a challenge to get homeowners to take our advice, and the decision to ignore our advice can be a costly one.  As REALTORS®, we are well aware of what it takes to market a home properly, or at least we should be.  So you can imagine my surprise when I recently brought buyers into a home owned by the listing agent, and it showed terribly!  Mind you, this is not a REALTOR® living in a depressed area.  This particular home was listed for over a half million dollars, in a gated community, so expectations were high (to say the least).

As the buyers and I walked through the front door, we were greeted by a group of barking dogs, and one of them kept jumping against our legs.  I happen to be a "dog person" and I found it annoying and distracting, so I can imagine what the buyers were thinking.  The downstairs of the home was fine, although the butler's pantry was used as a catch-all, filled with a lot unnecessary clutter.  Did the buyers notice this?  Probably, but not enough to mention it because there were far more obvious issues to discuss.

We proceeded upstairs to check out the bedrooms.  The master bedroom was very large, which is something that the buyers were looking for.  However, the room size was overshadowed by the large cracks in the wall that easily could have been patched up and painted before putting the home on the market.  The master bathroom was also very large, and in decent condition, but the puddle between the sinks made it look like a public restroom.  How much effort would it have taken to wipe off the sink area before allowing us to view the home?

The hallway was carpeted, which is a bit unusual for newer construction.  Most of the time it wouldn't be an issue, but this particular carpet stood out because of the large urine stains, which carried over into one of the bedrooms.  The buyers instantly made note of the smell as they pointed the stains out to me.  While homeowners have a tendency to overlook things at times, a REALTOR® listing his or her own home should know better than to allow for showings without taking care of the things that obviously would turn a buyer off.

Before leaving the home, I escorted the buyers downstairs to see the basement.  The finished area was a small, cluttered room, but it was the best part of the basement.  On the others side of the stairs, it was apparent that the darkened, unfinished area was filled with clutter as well.  Many people use unfinished basements for storage, and it would have been perfectly acceptable if there were boxes neatly arranged, but this was not the case.  The area was an absolute mess, filled with boxes, junk, and worst of all, papers strewn all over the floor.  How much effort could it have possibly taken to just make this area presentable?

For the record, I understand that people of all walks of life are having some financial difficulties in this economy.  I have no idea whether or not this is the case in this particular situation.  The fact of the matter is that this home could have easily been fixed up to show properly with very little outlay of cash.  All that it would have taken was a little effort on the part of the listing agent / homeowner. 

As a parent of two small children, I know how difficult it can be to keep an orderly home.  This is not a judgment of how this agent lives, but rather how the agent prepared the home for sale.  Agents, just like homeowners, must be mindful of the fact that our homes are products once they are listed for sale, and we must do whatever we can to make our product marketable.  In essence, we must practice what we preach!