When I go to list a house, the sellers' to-do list can sometimes seem endless! Tidy and trim the yard -- paint the front porch railing -- repair that rotten siding on the chimney .. declutter the whole house .. replace the old storm door .. repaint the orange bedroom .. and on and on. It usually takes months for sellers to get ready to put their homes on the market. I have one seller who has been working on her list for two years and counting!
But once the house has been prepped, staged, and goes Active in MLS, I tell my sellers that I do understand that Life Goes On. We want the house to show at its best, but some days pristine will just be too high a standard. The Three Imperatives, however, have to be met every single day before they leave for work, no exceptions.
1) Beds made. 2) No dirty clothes in sight. 3) No dirty dishes in sight.
I remember calling one seller, her name was Lucy, to tell her that the buyers had accepted her coutnter and her home was SOLD. (This was before Due Diligence dates confused the issue of when SOLD really happens.)
"No more showings?" Lucy asked.
"No more showings," I assured her.
"Great!" she said. "Now I can get my dirty dishes out of the oven!"
I was confused. "For heaven's sake, Lucy, why are there dirty dishes in your oven?"
"Because the dishes in the dishwasher are clean!"
Clearly, Lucy had internalized the Three Imperatives.
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