Over the weekend I showed a home to one of my buyers. They were so excited to see this house.  It showed well on the MLS - photos were nice and the house looked like it was in great shape!

But, when we got there, we were shocked.  The garage was full of junk (not furniture, like they were trying to make space in the house, just junk) and the house was a disaster!  There were ash trays that didn't look like they had been cleaned out in days, dirty towels hanging off the shower, dirty clothes in piles on the floor and in the closets (so much so that you couldn't close the closet doors), papers scattered over the tables - amazing!

The selling agent called for feedback and was suprised as well.  Apparently, the home usually showed well. Really? Sounds like time for a suprise visit to see how the house is showing.

I recognize that there are times when a Seller doesn't want to sell their home for one reason or another (divorce, foreclosure, etc.), but if you DO want your home to sell, please, please, please, don't leave ash trays out, do your laundry (and put it away), and clean up after yourself.  These things really do reflect poorly on your home if they aren't done and will cause your home to sit on the market longer than necessary.