Today I was reading a great blog post written by the Scott Loper Team out of RE/MAX in Harleysville, PA. It was all about the top 10 odors that offend home buyers. Scott really hit the nail on the head with that post, and it served as the inspiration for this post.
In addition to odors that offend buyers, there are numerous other ways - some obvious, some subtle - that can turn buyers off.
If you're considering selling your McKinney TX home, make sure to read the following "7 Sins of Home Selling" so that YOU don't turn off the first home buyer to walk through the door.
1. Odors - I'll echo what the Loper Team said. Odors CAN NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED. Cigarette smoke, cat urine, and strong cooking odors top the list. Many times drastic measures need to be taken to remedy these - new flooring and padding, paint and thorough duct cleaning.
2. Messy Homes - not just cluttered, although clutter is never good, but I mean truly MESSY homes. I've seen breakfast left on the kitchen table, beds unmade and dirty dishes left in the sink.
3. Sellers who STAY IN THE HOME during showings - nothing can immediately make a buyer more uncomfortable than by a seller who stays in the home - and even worse - STALKS THEM - during the whole showing!
4. Sellers who have too many SHOWING RESTRICTIONS - for example: no showings before noon or after four and none on the weekends without approval. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm not making that one up, either! How do you expect to get an offer, if you can't get buyers in your home?
5. Misleading Online Photos/Marketing - with the advent of PhotoShop, even the most novice photographer can doctor up pictures. Don't like that power line that shows up behind the house? Erase it. I'm serious! It's happened! Can you imagine how frustrated those buyers were when they drove up and saw that?!
6. Pets in the Home...that WEREN'T MENTIONED WHEN THE APPOINTMENT WAS MADE - I've written an entire post on why I don't think pets should be in the home during showings, so I won't belabor the point. But in a nutshell, buyers who are either allergic, scared of or who don't like pets will be annoyed if they show up to see a home and Fido is there to put a big black shadow over the whole showing.
7. Inappropriate Photos/Art - this SHOULD be a no-brainer, however I've seen with my own eyes my share of nude photos on display in homes that are on the market for sale. Everything from art to calendars with naked girls to porn left up on a computer screen. I sometimes think that it must be a messy divorce situation when I see something like that is a blatant attempt to thwart the sale of a home, but you never know.
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