I have been blessed with four, beautiful daughters...ranging in age from 12 to 21. (I know! You are probably wondering JUST how many shotguns my husband ACTUALLY needs to keep the boys away from our home. The answer he likes to give is..."AS MANY AS IT TAKES".)
YES, WE ARE BLESSED...blessed with lots of laughter...lots of excitement...lots of chatter...lots of laundry...lots of shoes all over the house...lots of drama...lots of little hair thingies...lots of arts & craft supplies...LOTS of "Mom, where's my (fill in the blank)...LOTS OF LOTS!
In fact, there is NOT a single day that goes by that I do not have at least three conversations about cleaning 'something'...putting 'something' away...or NOT leaving 'something' out. One day last week, shortly after my girls arrived home from school...I had a conversation with one of them that went something like this...
"Sweetheart, I was looking for 'something' in your bathroom today...but I could not find it."
"Ummmm...you were in my bathroom?"
"YES...I was in your bathroom...or at least that is where the bathroom was when we moved into the home. From ALL the clothes, it looked more like your closet."
"Yeah...well...I'm really busy at school right now. I don't have time to clean my bathroom. Wouldn't you rather I make good grades than have a clean bathroom?"
"IF you don't clean your bathroom, you are going to get lost in there and NOT make it to school one of these mornings! So...if you are sooooooooo busy that you cannot clean it during the week...you can stay home Saturday and take care of it."
By Friday afternoon, her bathroom was spotless! My little, motivational speech had worked!
Earlier this week, I showed a really nice home. Well...from the pictures (that were apparently taken when it was new)...it appeared to be a really nice home. It was difficult to tell from all of the clutter and 'stuff' piled up everywhere. There was sooooooooo much 'stuff', in fact, that all of the rooms looked exactly the same. ALL I, and my clients, could see was the home owners' 'stuff'. I cannot even tell you the color of the carpet, because there was not a single place on the floor that was not covered.
As you can imagine, my clients did not want to spend too much time in that home. So...we moved on to the next one...even though I felt strongly that the home was a good match for my clients. They just did not have the ability to see past ALL THAT 'STUFF'.
Later that evening, as I always do, I provided feedback for the homes we had seen that day. In my feedback to the listing agent, I mentioned that I felt that the home was a great match for my clients...but that they could not see past the 'stuff'...that they had moved on to another similar home. I politely suggested that she may want to have a conversation with the sellers to let them know that...if they were serious about selling their home...they may want to consider finding a new home for their 'stuff'.
In her email response to me, she said..."Thank you for showing my listing. I apologize that the home is a little messy ::LITTLE MESSY?? HAVE YOU ACTUALLY SEEN IT?:: My clients are very busy, professionals, and they just don't have time in their busy schedules for cleaning. ::THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR:: My clients are waiting for the RIGHT buyers to come along who have the vision to appreciate the home's value. I guess your clients just weren't the RIGHT buyers. GOOD LUCK!"
"GOOD LUCK!" to me? Are you kidding? Darling...GOOD LUCK to YOU and YOUR messy sellers! My buyers are under contract and ready to close. Your listing is STILL on the market.
Moral of the Story:
EVERY READY, WILLING and ABLE buyer is the RIGHT buyer!!!
Written and Posted by:
Elizabeth Nieves - Broker, REALTOR®
The Elizabeth Nieves Realty Group @ Keller Williams (A Bilingual Real Estate Team serving Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill NC and surrounding areas.)
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