Creating an inviting atmosphere is key to a successful home showing. Avoid common seller mistakes that can turn buyers away.
5 Things Home Sellers Do That Home Buyers Hate
Want buyers to love your home? Avoid these five big mistakes when they visit.
Are you going to sell your home? You probably want the best price. You don’t want to lower your price. To do that, you need one thing: a buyer who is excited and ready.
Good news! That buyer is looking for your home now.
But here’s what buyers see. They look at homes online for months. Then they call a real estate agent. They need to move by a certain time (like Christmas or school starting). Now the agent is trying hard to find a house they like. But seeing homes in person is different from seeing them online. Online pictures don’t always show the real home. The location might not be as nice as it looked in ads. And sellers can get in the way. This makes buyers dislike homes they might have liked.
How do sellers get in the way? They make these kinds of mistakes:
Mistake #1: Your Home Looks Lived In
When you sell, your home needs to look like a model, not your home. It’s not your home anymore. Now it’s something to sell. If beds are not made, dishes are in the sink, clothes are on the floor, or counters are messy, it hurts your chance to sell.
Buyers see many homes. When they come to yours, they compare it to the others. If your home is messy, they won’t like it as much. Most buyers don’t look past the mess to see if the house is good. A messy house makes its value lower. Many buyers will just leave.
Smells are also bad. Smells from cooking oil, teenagers’ rooms, and pets turn buyers off. Try to air out the house. Make it smell fresh.
Do you need to stage your home? Staging (decorating like a showroom) helps sell homes. This is because clutter makes it harder to sell. People buy how they feel. But you don’t need a pro stager if your things look nice. They don’t have to be new, just neat. Sometimes, you just need to take things away. Most families should pack away one-third to one-half of their things before selling. This makes a few nice items stand out. The house looks better.
Mistake #2: Ignoring the Obvious Problem
Think of a big problem no one talks about. Everyone knows it’s there, but they talk around it. If your home has a big problem, it’s better to point it out. Don’t pretend it’s not there.
For example, if your pool deck has big cracks, show them to the buyer. Tell them how you looked into fixing them. Don’t offer to fix them or give money to fix them. But let the buyer know you know about it. If the neighbor’s dogs bark a lot at strangers, tell buyers. Say that when they go to the backyard, the dogs will bark for a bit. Buyers don’t like barking dogs! Maybe go outside first to show them.
If the dishwasher is old, if the counters are chipped, if the bathtub needs work, point these out. Then say, “I’ve done a lot already by fixing this, this, and this. So, I decided to leave this for the buyer. I know it’s a bit of trouble, but the house has many other good things.”
Mistake #3: Being Home During Showings
Sellers being home when buyers visit is a big reason buyers don’t buy a house. Even if they liked it at first. “What?” you might say. “Just because I’m home, they won’t buy it?” Yes, that’s right. The best way to show your house is to leave. Let the agent show it.
Even trying to stay out of the way doesn’t work. Buyers have left good homes because the seller was in the kitchen, backyard, or laundry room. The seller was trying to not bother them. But the seller’s being there made buyers feel like they were intruding. They couldn’t think about how they would live in the home.
As a seller, you might want to point out all the great things about your home. But buyers just want to see it for themselves. If there’s something special they might not notice, you can write it down.
When it’s time to show your house, let the agents do it. Go out for 15 minutes. If you come back and the buyers are still there, that’s a good sign. You timed it right. Now the buyers have seen what they want. If you say a few words about the nice neighborhood, that’s even better.
Note: If you have teenagers or people who sleep during the day, this is hard. You might need to work with the agent to set up showings at certain times. But that can cause other problems (see #4).
Mistake #4: Making Showings Hard to Schedule
Putting your home on the market when you still live there is not easy. But homes only sell if buyers can see them. And buyers have very different schedules. Someone might have a free afternoon and call their agent to see new listings. That agent might want to show your house with only an hour’s notice.
When sellers make it very hard to see their home, agents get frustrated. They might just take that house off the list. Or they have to tell buyers that your house isn’t available when the buyer can see it. Most buyers will just go to the next house if they can’t see yours when they want.
When it comes to scheduling, the best thing is if you’ve moved out. Then agents and buyers can come and go easily. Buyers can stop by without much notice.
But in a fast market, most sellers stay in their homes. If you’ll be home when you sell, talk to me. We can find the best way to let people see your home without too much trouble for you. One way is to have “showing hours.” Agents can come and go then using a lock box. At other times, they need to make an appointment with you.
Mistake #5: Not Managing Pets
Your pet might be the best and friendliest. But some buyers will be scared, turned off, or distracted by it.
Buyers have left houses quickly because a tarantula in a tank scared them. Buyers have left because they were afraid of a small old dog. Buyers have run from loud birds. They don’t like cat litter. And they really don’t like poop in the backyard.
Showing your home is also a problem for your pets. Think about putting dogs in crates. Clean the cat litter and yard every day. Cover pet spiders and snakes. Find someone to watch the birds.
Final Word
When we talk about selling your home, we’ll talk about how to show it best. I’ll give you a list of things to do and not do. This will help you get your home ready to sell. We’ll work together to solve any showing problems like the ones here. Our goal is to sell your home for the best price as fast as we can. Avoiding these mistakes will help a lot!
Do you have questions about showing your house? Call us. We’d like to talk with you!
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