When selling your home in the summer - keep the AC on!
Coral has some very important advice for us during these warmer months. Enjoy, and please direct any comments to her. She will really appreciate it!!
While previewing some homes yesterday, I noticed something in one of them that is possibly a big obstacle to the home selling. It was not a blazing hot Washington DC day, but in the high 80s. And when I walked in, I was hit with even more hot, stale, pent up air. The house was vacant, and clearly the sellers nor the agent are checking in on it. I can only imagine how unpleasant it would be if it were in the hihg 90s or 100s as it often is here in the summer. Sellers, don't underestimate the psychology of a buyer and how important it is to make your home warm and inviting when they walk in the door! Not only was I blown over with hot stale air, I also had to step over a week's worth of mail.
So even though the room looked more like this:
It FELT like this:
Not only will buyers get a psychological boost from walking into a cool home on a hot day (cold waters in the fridge won't hurt either!), they will also benefit from clearer air and fewer smells.
When it's humid outside and you don't have your AC on, smells come out of the woodwork. Their basement smelled musty and that smell could have been mitigated by air circulation.
Also, when moisture is allowed to sit, mold develops. I sold a house to a buyer last year that needed mold remediation because the seller was trying to save a few bucks on their utility bills and that still, humid air grew mold.
And lastly, a vacant home with no AC on in the summer screams "abandoned house!" It does not give one the welcoming feeling of home. It just looks and feels like no one cares anymore.
So spend the extra bucks on the AC - you will more than make up for it in the value of your house!
Coral Gundlach, CRS
Realtor serving Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Virginia
My Arlington Real Estate Listings
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