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"Immaculate?" If you say so, but I'm not buying it...

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Realty Arts NC Broker License #235526

Well, forgive me for not having a graphic to illustrate, but you are just going to have to visualize....

The MLS says "Immaculate" and "Well Kept" and other stuff to set the stage for Buyers to expect, well, an "Immaculate" and "Well Kept" home.

And right there in the food prep area, we have a contribution on the floor from Fido.  Ouch.  Or, a litter box off the kitchen, or in the second bath tub that looks and smells like Kitty cornered the market on High-Fiber Cat Chow.

And we begin to discover, once again, that "Immaculate" just may mean different things to different people.  I mean we have "Q-Tip Clean Immaculate."  We have "Spotless Immaculate."  We have "Heck.  You could eat off the floor Immaculate."

 Whoops.  Sorry about that last one...  But could you ever apply the "5 Second Rule" in that kitchen?

It only gets better when this is also a "Please remove your shoes" house.  Hmmm... Maybe not.

 

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RE Blog Brawl, REBarcampRDU, Fall 2010

Posted by

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Scan the QR Code with your Smartphone to Email MeQR CodeMike Jaquish, REALTOR®

919-880-2769 www.RealtyArts.com

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Independent Broker/Owner, Realty Arts

130 Towerview Court,

Cary, NC

Comments(20)

Linda Graves Arnold
Coldwell Banker Gundaker-St. Louis, MO - Chesterfield, MO
St. Louis Real Estate Pro - 314-422-2762 - Referr

Yikes...   get me out of there!  Puffing????  PLEASE!!!

Aug 08, 2010 03:13 AM
Terri Adams-Scott
J. Rockcliff, REALTORS - Walnut Creek, CA
Realtor, Walnut Creek CA Real Estate

Once again, I guess it's best to leave adjectives out of the descriptions because they do mean different things to different people. 

Aug 08, 2010 03:16 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Jim,

Too many pet lovers in particular are clueless as to how their homes show to other people.

Terri,

Living up to the adjectives can make them more palatable.

Aug 08, 2010 03:26 AM
Holly Weatherwax
Associate Broker, Momentum Realty - Reston, VA
A Great Real Estate Experience

Don't you sometimes wonder if certain Agents just have favorite adjectives that they use and re-use?

Aug 08, 2010 03:56 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Holly,

My favorite is "Stunning!!" as I can only ever think of Tasers and StunGuns when I see it....

I mean, really, do we take people out to get Stunned!?!

Aug 08, 2010 03:59 AM
Janet Sebile
Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors - Rowlett, TX

Most of the time you overlook these terms unless I know the agent and have actually been in houses they have listed before.  Otherwise, it's like anything else - buyer be ware.

Aug 08, 2010 05:05 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Janet,

You can learn a lot about an agent by reading their listings and then visiting them.

Aug 08, 2010 05:53 AM
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

When you puff up your listing and it doesn't make the grade when people come in...It surely isn't going to sell !!

Aug 08, 2010 07:35 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Sometimes the Seller has to help too, like taking care of the pets.

Aug 08, 2010 07:40 AM
Nick T Pappas
Assoc. Broker ABR, CRS, SFR, e-Pro, @Homes Realty Group, Broker/Providence Property Mgmnt, LLC Huntsville AL - Huntsville, AL
Madison & Huntsville Alabama Real Estate Resource

Mike, as William said, if your description doesn't match reality, the buyers are going to be very disappointed...after all...just because a house has indoor plumbing...that doesn't make it ultra modern!

Aug 08, 2010 02:35 PM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

William,

Indoor Plumbing isn't ultra-modern?

Great.  15 years of convincing the wife I have her on the cutting edge of technology shot in one sentence!

Aug 08, 2010 02:48 PM
Linda Jandura
Raleigh Cary Realty - Apex, NC
Realtor, North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist

Another favorite of mine is the "move in ready".  Yeah, if you live in a barn, built in the 1950's and never updated.   I took a buyer to see a home recently that looked like exactly what she was looking for.  We didn't even get up the driveway before we were already put off by the "immaculate" yard that hadn't been mowed in months!

 

Aug 10, 2010 11:05 AM
Connie Harvey
Pilkerton Realtors - Brentwood, TN
Realtor - Nashville TN Real Estate

Agents need to be a little more careful with how they describe a property.

Aug 11, 2010 08:49 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Linda,

Oh, Yeah...  "Move in Ready" after the HazMat crew leaves....

Connie,

Yes.  And we all need to be careful about the expectations we develop based on a listing description.

Aug 11, 2010 09:46 AM
Don Sabinske
Don Sabinske, Sabinske & Associates Inc. - Zimmerman, MN
Sabinske & Associates Inc.

I rarely wax poetic in my descriptions.  Just the facts, Ma'am.  And sometimes the properties are so loaded with amenities, its difficult to get it all in. 

Aug 12, 2010 12:56 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

LOL!  This is definitely a little over the top in the description.  (I almost accidentally typed that "it was a litter over the top".)

Aug 12, 2010 08:28 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Don,

I do try to capture the imagination a little, but try not to imagine what isn't there when doing so.

Jeremy,

Sometimes you have to wonder if the listing agent ever saw the property.

Aug 13, 2010 12:20 AM
David O'Doherty
Clayton, NC
Clayton NC Homes, Raleigh, NC

Remove shoes in a twenty year old house kills me!

Aug 15, 2010 12:29 AM
Karen Kruschka
RE/MAX Executives - Woodbridge, VA
- "My Experience Isn't Expensive - It's PRICELESS"

Mike May I add to your list - this same house will have "gleamimg hardwood floors".  Here in VA we also have "creampuff"

Aug 15, 2010 08:10 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

David,

Not too bad if the carpet was changed.  This year...

Karen,

Hey...  When I say "Gleaming," you can believe it!  LOL

Aug 15, 2010 04:00 PM