It’s not the highly upgraded homes that sell fastest and for the most money, it’s the meticulously maintained ones that do. One of our goals with every house that we list for sale is to get it in front of the largest audience possible. This means that we’re connecting with all different types of people, people whose hot buttons, wish lists, turn off and turn on will differ. Because of this, when selling real estate, it’s imperative that every single detail is addressed with each house. Below are three things that our buyer-clients got fixated on that killed the deal and could have easily been corrected.
The Dirty Baseboards Obsessor
While out shopping with clients, upon entering a home, the wife of the couple would immediately comment on how clean or dirty the baseboards were. She obviously had a higher-than-normal expectation of cleanliness than an average person but, to her, this was very important and she used this to establish a first impression about the home.
The Felinophobic
One couple I was shopping with hated cats, whether it was a fear thing, a cultural thing or a superstitious thing — it was a thing that prevented them from going into a property. They literally wouldn’t step through the door so we locked up and went to the next. You may love your fur baby but not everyone does so find somewhere for them to go while your house is open for buyers.
The Royal Throne
At every single house, the moment we walked through the door, this client would run to the closest washroom, lift the toilet seat lid and peer inside to see how clean it was. This experience would immediately set the stage for the rest of the house. The presumption is that was that if the owner wasn’t diligent enough to maintain their toilets, there were likely other underlying issues caused by a lack of care and maintenance.
Each of these clients was unique in their own way, as are the rest of the buyers coming through your house. You never know which feature, component or aspect of your home will win or lose a buyer so to be successful you MUST address every item to ensure every showing is a success.
