Deadly Sins of Selling Your Home
Posted by
Kristal Kraft, Denver Realtor on
October 13th, 2008
Just back from the trenches after a few days of trying to find the perfect house for my buyers, I’ve got to speak my mind! We spend so much time trying to gain access to homes that it made me wonder if the sellers who are trying to sell these homes had any idea of how difficult it was on our end!
Let me state, my clients are motivated, qualified and soon to be homeless. This was not a fire drill for them, they came prepared to buy with a checkbook in hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Seller if you are anxious to sell your home, please take notice:
- Ask to review the MLS Listing sheet as soon as it is available. Check your agent’s work. That means don’t just look for mistakes but look for what is missing. We love to know lot sizes and whether or not you have a basement, fireplace or other desirable goodies. Your agent most likely will appreciate your added suggestions, I know my buyers will also.
- Brochures in the box are very helpful, particularly when we find a neighborhood we love and we want to know if we can afford your home. Yes, I can call or use my iPhone to access MetroList, but jumping out of the car is not only quicker it gives us some exercise!
- Please don’t play “Let’s Make a Deal” with the showing time. I so wish I could honor your privacy and show up within a small window of time, but I have little control over clients who go either too slow or too fast and also decide to look at several unscheduled homes along the way. I promise to do the best I can. Remember the wise saying that goes like this, “Make it easy to business with me and I will do business with you.”
- Don’t lock the storm door when the lock box in on the interior door. Houdini I’m not.
- Shovel your walk. Park your pooch. Hide the kitty. We love them, but we want to be safe.
- Some real estate showing services are awesome and others well we wondered if they exist. Be a secret shopper and try to set a showing on your home. If you have a problem, you can just imagine we are too. With the amount of homes on the market it is easy to skip over yours if the service isn’t up to par.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest there are quite a few things we appreciated…
- Bottled water is always a hit. Often times we hadn’t had a drop to drink in hours.
- We love the aroma of fresh baked cake/cookies. Sometimes dishes were even left out for us. Not required of course but duly noted. Thank you!
- Full brochure boxes and all the disclosures are very important and helpful. Everyone likes to read about what they are buying.
- Clean homes.
- Parked dogs, kitties and shoe covers.
- We enjoyed viewing the home’s photo albums from the variety of seasons.
- Utility bills are oh so critical when crunching the numbers.
Selling your home is not an easy thing to do, but when you consider the customer needs you may end up selling it quicker and ending the pain sooner. Mr. & Mrs. Seller I wish you well!
Comments
22 Responses to “ Deadly Sins of Selling Your Home ”
Got something to say?
This site brought to you by Kristal Kraft, a licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker
The
Kris,
I am LMAO only because I have been there, done that, more times than I care to count.
Why is it always the homes that are on the market the longest who have “special showing needs”. Again… LMAO
I have read, digested and copied verbatim your list of ‘if you want to sell, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, please take notice’ and have printed out 50 copies to take with me on every day I show homes… just so I can leave a copy “ANON” of course, in their mailbox. Again, LMAO!
Thanks for the entertainment!
Matt Pellerin
Realtor trying to show homes in Scottsdale, Arizona
Kristal, Are you sure you are not from Atlanta. With the exception of shoveling the walk I think you hit the Atlanta seller’s right between the eye’s. I guess this is just a national phenomenon.
Mack Perrys last blog post..No Down Payment Mortgage In Atlanta
Kristal - you make some very good points. We see the same issues here in the Naples area, with sellers that really need to sell and put up barriers to showings.
Glenns last blog post..Fed Rate Drops .5 Percent
Matt ~ You are so right about “Special Showing Needs” they are the ones guaranteed to die on the vine. I think sellers want to retain some sort of “control” in the process, but by doing so lose out in the end. A list of 50 items is really just getting started isn’t it?
Mack ~ No I’ve never lived in Atlanta, but I suspect people are pretty much the same universally! We could change the “shovel” to “rake the walk”. I bet you have falling leaves, yes?
Glenn ~ As I mentioned to Matt, I believe the seller is trying to maintain some sort of “control” over the sale. The reality is there is little control, particularly when the buyer is king! Are you in a buyer’s or seller’s market?
I think I know the answer!
Kristal - after reading the comments and doing some soul searching, I have to wonder if the sellers are trying to gain some control over their lives, due to the turbulent economic conditions.
When someone lists their home for sale, it does put them in a situation of living in a fish bowl and this is a loss of control.
Glenns last blog post..Fed Rate Drops .5 Percent
KK, this is a great list, with great perspective from a buyer’s & buyer agent’s view. Great pointers that should be considered by every home seller.
Ryan Hukills last blog post..The Straightforward Approach to the OKC Market
Kristal you are so right about the leaves. here is a link to a post from last November: http://www.mackperryhomes.com/leaf-blizzard/
Mack Perrys last blog post..No Down Payment Mortgage In Atlanta
No doubt KK!
50 items is just the tip of the iceberg!
Matt in North Scottsdales last blog post..Fountain Hills Market Reports - September 2008
Glenn ~ Maintaining control might be a result of the current market. I tend to think it becomes more a function of apathy. After so many showing and no takers sellers get disenchanted and give up. I know the whole process is tough and it only gets worse in a slow market.
Ryan ~ unless a homeseller has been a buyer recently, they may not think about how the process if viewed by the other side.
Matt ~ LOL I must agree. I’m just to lazy and forgetful to develop the list myself.
Kristal, Awesome article on what it takes. Maybe you can do a video and sel it to the rest of us. Hello Glenn, Mack and Matt, nice to see you guys from the AA days.
Eric Boulers last blog post..French Quarter Condos-837 Royal Street-The Lush Tropical Courtyard gets an A+.
Hi Eric ~ I’ve been playing around with the video, but to date my work is rather embarassing.
Just give someone else the words. Interview with one of your sellers at the kitchen table.
I thought it was neat to see several of my internet buddies from when we all had Advanced Access websites in the beginning. Small World!
Eric- New Orleans Condos and Loftss last blog post..Warehouse District Condos-priced around 200k-A popular price range! An Update
Kristal - hope you’re well.you make some very good points. having experience this and the agony with the kids, you end up with one solution - “let’s just sell it”. We see the same issues here in the UK as well, with sellers that really need to sell and put up limitations to showings.
Thanks
Monica
Thank you for your list! Very true in today’s market! But don’t forget… show us first!! The spec inventory homes are easily accessible here at DR Horton — we are constantly working to make life easier for all realtors in the showing /selling process! Plus, we always keep water in the refrigerator, don’t have to worry about animals and our co-ops right now rival any resale home!! Think of us first when you go out 2 show — we certainly appreciate it!
Bobbi ~ You certainly make strong points for showing builder’s models first! You are a homeowner’s toughest competition. And you pay more!
Kristal ~ Great list, each and every point should be taken to heart by sellers. Since I’m in Denver’s city center areas trying to get into buildings I must add that it’s critically important to make access to the loft buildings easy. Can’t tell you just how many times I couldn’t even take buyers into a building b/c building keys didn’t work or door code was wrong. grrrrr!
Vali Wimberlys last blog post..Denver: Hilltop Neighborhood
Since we are having the discussion about listings… I have been looking for a home for myself in the Lonetree or Castle Pines areas– and it has been frustrating to go through the MLS and find some listings with pictures, some with tours and others with nothing. If nothing, there is a good chance that I will skip it. I also have noted some listing pictures are horrendous — a picture of a couch for example, does not sell the family room to me — a wide angle shot, front & rear exterior and kitchen are at the very least the minimum pictures that should be in the MLS—
How many times do you call a seller and ask them if a particular time will work and they say “NO”? I then politely explain that my client will be looking at homes in your area during this block of time and if that doesn’t work for you then I am sorry but we won’t be viewing your home. Usually that gets them to change their mind but there are still a few that say, can you look at it another day or time.
Guess they really didn’t want to sell their home!
Tony Senas last blog post..Chris Brown Gives Feedback on his WN Real Estate Blog