My biggest pet peave about Summer showings is when we come into a home that is up for sale and the A/C system is knocked way up to 85-88-90. You may be off at work, Mr./Mrs. Seller, but your home is my office this day, and I'm trying to sell it for you. Consider that the hundred dollars you'll spend on your A/C bill by bumping it down to between 75-80 may save you thousands in your contract negotiations.
In my experience, a buyer will spend more time in a home where they feel comfortable. Go ahead and bump that A/C down a tad. Don't shut your blinds entirely throughout the house. Leave a little gap, so the house isn't dark when we come in. You definitely don't have to leave the lights on throughout the house at this time of year. Our Summer days are long and our sunny days are almost guaranteed in July and August.
Leave the ceiling fans on. Having the ceiling fans on goes a long way to making the buyer feel comfortable. It also does the seller the added benefit of providing some white noise, which helps dispel the sounds of the neighborhood. This is especially helpful if you have construction or noisy dogs barking around your home. A little buffer doesn't hurt.
Leave out some bottled waters on ice, with a note for the buyers to help themselves. What a nice touch this time of year. It's 95-105 degrees out there. Prosper, TX is a small town. We barely get the A/C in the car to cool back down between stops from one home to the next. If you can keep the buyer in your kitchen/family room area long enough to down a bottle of water, they are going to continue looking around and may just like what they see. The goal is to keep them in your home as long as possible.
When the A/C system is bumped up, natural cynicism sneaks into the buyer's thoughts. You don't know how many times buyers have turned to me and asked if I thought the A/C system might not be functioning well, which could be why the owners have it turned up. Obviously, I am not an HVAC specialist. I'm their real estate agent. But, you can bet HVAC is going to be a hot topic for them when the home inspector comes through, if you are lucky enough to be the home on which they choose to offer. But, I've seen HVAC concerns scare a buyer away, and they go buy someone else's home or new construction, where they know that concern would be addressed.
I'm not a big fan of $400-500 dollar HVAC bills, either. This time of year hurts us, even if the homes are EnergyStar Certified. Unless you are on average billing, the A/C bill will generally be it's highest in July and August. But, keep in mind that the building code at the time our homes were built and the age of our homes makes our area one of the better areas for utility bills. There are others with older homes that are significantly smaller than ours paying $600-800 for their Summer cooling. My own June A/C bill was $358.00 for a 3500sf Newcastle Home in The Lakes of La Cima. (I also work full-time out of my home in Prosper). That's spot on to what I paid for a 1992 custom home with 2300sf in Frisco, TX for nine years. The difference is the energy efficiencies in our homes and the building code standards.
Buyers from other parts of the country have no knowledge of what the investment is going to be for their heating and cooling needs in Texas. That's a huge issue for them, and one we spend a lot of time talking over. Do your part to assuage their fears - bump down the A/C so it's nice and cool when we come into the home for a showing, and consider putting out a copy of your last few electric bills to help the buyers make this momentous decision.
Have a blessed day!
Ronda
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