We only got feedback from 5 realtors and here is what they had to say.
1. Shows extremely well! Small back yard. Priced too high - need to be competitive with new home sales.
(I can't change the backyard. It isn't priced to high. It is competitive with the new homes because it has more "upgrades" than they do.)
2. Home showed very well but buyers thought the bedrooms were too small. Thank you for allowing me to show.
(Can't change the bedroom size but I can try to de-clutter a little more.)
3. Client thought it was cute and clean.
(Thanks. Doesn't help me too much but glad I got some positives.)
4. My clients really like this home. It shows well and is a good layout. However, they decided to go with a new home in Oakhurst that has a lower tax rate of 2.70% =lower payment. Great home, I am sure you will sell it.
(Frustrating that they went with a different home over a tax rate...which we can't control.)
5. very nice home, in the top 3
(Again, frustrating that we were in someone's top selection and not picked...unlike the previous comment though we don't know why this buyer didn't pick our home)
Overall I was happy with the feedback. I'm just going to keep doing what we were doing. We have a few changes we want to make, nothing too costly, and some more de-cluttering. Also, at the end of our cul-de-sac (we don't have houses on that end, just a walking trail) they are putting in a "lake". Supposedly that will make our home value go up because we'll technically be lake view. Hopefully they will be finished with it by the time our house goes back on the market.
Is anyone currently shopping for a home? What do y'all look for? I think J and I just have better vision and can picture our stuff in someone else's house. Do I need to take down all our family pictures...does it really make a difference?
Is anyone currently shopping for a home? What do y'all look for? I think J and I just have better vision and can picture our stuff in someone else's house. Do I need to take down all our family pictures...does it really make a difference?
10 comments:
We had to sell our house and move last July for my husband's job. Our realtor told us to take down all of our family pictures. She also told us to pack up all of our stuff in the closets in our guest bedrooms so it looked like we had more space. We also packed all of our winter clothes in our closet so it would make more space in the master closet. Our realtor also told us to only have one appliance out on the counter in the kitchen and nothing else. Our son was 5 months old when we were getting our house ready to sell so it was very difficult to always keep our house "show ready". Our house was on the market for several months before it sold.
I haven't sold a house yet (but we plan on trying to in the next year or so), so I don't have much advice from experience.
However, when I look for the next house, I will be looking for a house with a lot of storage (our houses' storage is so minimal), a large kitchen (I love our large kitchen, so it'll be hard to down-size), and open floor plan, and upgraded floors/appliances. All of those things of which you couldn't change if it wasn't there anyways.
I remember when we were looking the first time, I did notice there were hardly ever any family pictures up. I don't know if that's a normal thing realtors tell the sellers, but it may help. Even if people are good as 'visualizing', the fact they see a ton of family photos may just make them feel like they're going to be living in someone elses house. When you see no photos, even if it's not your furniutre- it may be easier to imagine it already being 'yours' type thing.
When my parents sold their house, they also painted some walls to make it more neutral colors. I noticed that with the house we moved into as well- a lot of rooms were freshly painted.
Wow that was a lot of rambling, which most probably didn't even help. :P
Good luck in March!! I bet it'll fly off the market!
If you have any model homes you can check out I would do that. Get ideas on what appeals to you. I would definitely suggest taking down family pictures. Another reason for this is people, mainly women will focus on how cute your baby is and now the details of the house. This will help the buyer stay focused on what is important in their search.
I've heard about taking down family pictures so I guess it's worth a shot. I always look at closet space so I would suggest trying to empty them out as much as possible!
We just sold our home in arizona. We had several showings within a few days and then had an offer above asking price on the third day. We were lucky. I think the market is picking back up here. Our house was only 2 years old, so that helps, with (mostly) fresh carpet and paint and such and granite and upgraded appliances. I found what helped was to completely declutter. We took everything off the walls, refridgerator, counters, etc. The only thing we had out on the counter was our toaster oven (not even the soap stayed out). Same with the bathroom sinks/counters...completely clear them off and keep the faucets buffed. It is such a pain to keep everything "hidden" but hopefully you will know in like an hour advance so you can put things away. That's what I had to do. Also, when we were looking for a house (we are moving out of state to Madison, WI), we saw tons of resales. I am SUPER picky and I hated ALL of them that we saw. Not even one was "OK". We ended up buying a new build which we will move into in two weeks. Anyway, had we gone with a resale, I would definitely look for emaculate cleaning, brand new appliances, paint, carpet, and no clutter (no pictures around). That's just me. SOrry for the long rambling, but hope this helps. Good luck!
My mom was a PRO at prepping a home for sale. She always took down all pictures and her biggest de-cluttering thing that she swears by was to almost empty all closets. As much of a pain as it is to pack up your storage space it makes it seem bigger. In a coat closet she would hang three coats. And in all other closets she tried to make them as empty as possible. I know, easier said than done but she swears by it! haha!
It's good to know that you got some good feedback. I'm sure it's hard when there are some things you can't do anything about! I agree with the others about making storage spaces seem as big as possible. I've never really noticed family pictures when looking at houses but that does make sense!
We sold last year. With a 2.5y and a 5m old it was hard to keep the house show ready, but I made a list of everything I needed to take out of the house and stuff in my car! We did take down family pics. Although I am with you on why can't they imagine themselves there even w/ my pics up. I made everything as streamlined as I could. De-cluttered counter space in kitchen and baths. I usually did this when we got the showing call. We asked for 24 hours notice due to having a baby. Empty as much closet space as we could and stored it at my MIL.
We always had good smelling scentsy scents going which I assume you do as a consultant. :) And I can't remember if you still have a dog or not, but we cleared all signs of pets...some ppl are weird about that. Matter of fact the gal that bought our house said if she detected pets she wouldn't have bought our home. It was a don't ask don't tell situation. :)
Our house sold in 6-8 weeks and we listed in March at the start of summer selling season.
Finally, this process makes you feel so judged in a way, try not to let it get to you. I thought we would never survive it and those 8 weeks felt like 8 months at the time. Hope it sells quickly when you re-list. Good luck!
My great aunt helps people get their homes "show" ready when getting ready to sell. She always suggest that they paint their walls neutral colors, take down all pictures, decutter EVERYTHING (from the kitchen sink to any and all living space) and have all closets almost completely empty.
We're looking to buy a bigger house, but it's tough around here because in our neighborhood the ones that are priced well need a lot of work. I definitely am attracted to houses with less stuff in them, though. I don't know why, but I just always see more potential in a house that doesn't have someone else's decor in it. Obviously still living there, you can't do much, but I am always turned off when I'm looking at houses and they have a TON of decor and it doesn't match my tastes.
Good luck to you guys! We had our house on the market for about a month and had no one come to look at it, haha. Thank goodness we weren't too serious about selling it!
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