When I was selling my condo we had a weekend open house. I stuck around, the realtor didn’t mind. I dressed like I was going to work and everyone who came in thought I was part of the realtor team, so I heard some interesting comments that would not have been shared had they known I was the seller.
However, with all the looky-loos traipsing through, and in spite of me being there, someone did some snooping and lifted my checkbook - identity theft ensued. :mad:
In addition to leaving yourself, I agree to take the pets with you and remove any evidence you can of their existence. You have no idea how many people have pet allergies or just think they do. Plus,nervous or excited animals have a tendency to piss. And double-check the toilets. I’ve looked at TONS of houses in my day and can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a bathroom with the lid up and a floater inside, or at least some colored water. Plus, if you need to light candles to cover any smells, FIX THE SMELLS. The candles don’t fool anybody… Neither does the chocolate-chip-cookies-in-the-oven gambit (I don’t care what your realtor tells you.) If it’s an open house, tell your realtor not to be too pushy about the sign-in sheet. I don’t want to give out my contact info just to take a walk through a house (plus, it’s more for her client-development than it is for your benefit, anyway.) If I’m interested in your house I’ll volunteer my info. Remove any prescription meds, especially those related to depression/mental health. It’s not just about having them stolen. There’s just something off-putting to some buyers about that kind of “energy” in a house (I picked that one up from an agent.) Include family photos in your sweep of clutter removal. Yes, to anyone but your parents they’re clutter. And, I can’t stress this enough: if you have mounted hunting trophies, get them the hell out of your house. Unless Ted Nugent is walking through, nobody wants to see that.
your realtor should have explained this all to you. Five years ago when we were looking, one family didn’t leave, they were watching a football game. The real problem was having to step over the dirty underware to get to the bathroom. we just left never even went upstairs, it was still on the market a year later.
Ok, great advice! Well, the pet thing I can’t comply with. I did take the dog with me for the one that showed up over the weekend, but most of the time it just isn’t going to be possible. Ditto the cat, I’m not going to stress a cat by trying to shove/lock him in a cat carrier 15 times before this deal is done. Dog has always been kennel trained, so she isn’t a problem.
Personal effects, pretty much already done. I did, right before I left before the (scheduled) showing this evening, realize that I still had stuff on the fridge! Hadn’t occurred to me before, but sure enough there was a birth announcement for my niece, alphabet magnets, and a handwritten note from my g/f from when she came and checked on my cat when I was on vaca. Those got hastily tossed on top of the fridge where only freaks can see them.
Now for the micro-rant…nobody was here for a showing, as far as I can tell. I will have to check, but I don’t think anybody came. That would be annoying.
Boy was having a meltdown when we left..so I was a little distracted. As we were leaving he opened the little slide-down door on the key-hidey-lock-thing. When we got back, it was open. Not much evidence, but I think I also, in the midst of my wrangling, forgot to lock the front door (I know, :eek:). When we got home, the door was unlocked.
So either nobody showed up, or the realtor didn’t lock the door behind when they left.
And, the blank-except-for-the-endorsement check I left on my dresser as a test was still there untouched. :dubious:
It is standard practice in my neighborhood for agents to require the homeowner or tenant to vacate during the showing.
I may be the only Realtor in my Board who disagrees with this practice, at least in some cases. The few times that the homeowner has been present, his/her knowledge of the property and neighborhood has been quite valuable to buyers.
And in the case where I am selling my own property, I have told all agents that I will be present at all showings. No agent knows my property or neighborhood as well as I do, so that’s the way it’s going to be. If a prospect wants to visit a second or third time with another agent, that’s fine. I’ll just step outside, because I know they will have questions.
When my house was for sale, if there was a showing, the agent usually left a business card. Same for when I was looking.
I don’t really care if there are people there when I go to look. I know how inconvenient it was for me to pack up the dogs and go somewhere for an hour so someone could spend a few minutes looking at my house and deciding it needed too much work to be worth buying.
Heh. We bought out house in 2006. We looked at what seemed like hundreds of places, (probably just dozens) and the one we bought was the only one we looked at where the homeowner was at home at.
Now mind you, we’re a long term married gay couple, and the fact that the previous owners were, very obviously gay may have swayed us… We were able to chat about how the neighborhood was, how many kids were in the cul-de-sac, what the neighbors were like, etc.
I think they were great guys, and we still exchange Christmas Cards with them… Maybe it was knowing that moving into a residential neighborhood with neighbors who embraced Don and Dave and 6 years later still are great neighbors to me and the Husband swayed our decision, but in our case meeting them was the tipping point in the transaction…
We were renovating a house, and I was there on a sunday morning doing a few last touch ups. The realtor, whom I knew, showed up unexpectedly with a client.
Certainly having a familiar face introduce me smoothed things over. Since I was the renovator, I was able to answer the potential buyers technical questions. For example, they wanted to know about the structure, and I told them that the floor beams were comprised of solid fir, rather than composite pine, which is more common these days.
The house sold to that person, and they were very pleased. We were able to discuss some of the flaws and remedies, and that was atypical from the “everything is perfect!” line that buyers get fed.
If I went to look at a house I might be interested in buying, and the homeowners’ dog was there, I’d spend all the time talking to the dog. If you’re going to leave the dog, that better be some stunning architecture.
Stunning architecture it ain’t. It definitely has some nice charm, as it was built in the 1930’s and was the original farmhouse for all of the property surrounding. It’s on 1.5 acres, and is bordered by treed fencelines. However, it was a rental property for a very long time before x-wife got it, and ther was a lot of iffy work done to it that definitely shows in spots. Still, people who visit love it for some reason.
Oh, did I mention that the addition that was put on in the 70’s has severe structural issues? As in, its goal in life is to escape the rest of the houe and be free! Yeah, that.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that the people looking at this house are going to be looking for a place to live, themselves. I think the person who buys it will be a rental investor.
Just got a an offer on the house, from the don’t-want-to-say-‘rich’-but-pretty-well-off-guy who owns some property across from and also down the street from my house.
Cash offer. He hasn’t seen the inside of the house in years, apart from talking to me at the front door earlier in the week.
They are waiving an inspection.
He kind of buys properties as a hobby.
I am selling the house post-divorce, for a couple reasons, but it’s entirely possible that I can stay there and rent it from him for quite a bit less than I am paying now.
And she would LOVE that!