Attention sellers – Buyer turnoffs!
Posted by AZF Contributor on 4/22/11 • Categorized as Arizona Homes For Sale
There are lots of reasons for a potential buyer to decide against purchasing a home, but wouldn’t you like to know that one of their reasons wasn’t YOU or something you did? We’re going to help you be sure that this doesn’t happen to you!!
1. As a seller, don’t think that it’s your duty to oversee the entire walk-through when a prospective buyer comes to see your home. In fact, don’t follow them around at all! Buyers want to be left alone with the people that accompany them to discuss what they may want to do with the house if they were to purchase it. Having the seller right there makes it difficult for them to do this. The best thing for you to do as the seller is nothing! Just be available if they were to have any questions.
2. Buyers don’t want to see your dirty, crowded, smelly house! Buying a home is probably the most expensive purchase a person can make, and when you are in competition with SO many homes that are available on the market today, you need to stand out as being one of the cleanest, neatest homes available! Clean up your dishes and laundry before showing your home.
3. Set your expectations at a rational level. Again, you are in a buyers’ market! Spend some time looking at comparable homes to yours before pricing your home. A seller that understands where the buyer is coming from is more likely to sell their home faster because they’ll price it competitively in the market!
4. Be truthful! No one wants to be misled or feel that they had to discover something that you should have revealed. Don’t state that your home is an approved short sale unless it is, or say that you’re ok with your agent verbally approving a buyer’s offer unless you intend to stick to it! Whether you like it or not, if buyers find out that you’re misleading them at any point during a potential sale, they’ll run the other way.
5. Don’t go and make home improvements that may not appeal to everyone’s taste! You may think that the new light lavender carpet in the spare room is great, or that the fancy tile with paisleys on it looks really cool in the guest bathroom, but to someone else, it may be a real turn off. If you’re going to make home improvements, first check with a realtor as they will be able to help you minimize how many home improvements to make in order to increase your curb appeal. Second, if you do choose to make some improvements without consulting anyone, make them neutral so that they are appealing to the broadest spectrum of potential buyers.
6. Pictures! First off, you have to have them! Most potential buyers won’t even spend 10 seconds reviewing an ad if it doesn’t have pictures. The next thing about pictures is, make sure that they present a flattering image of your property! Nobody wants or cares to see your laundry on the hard-wood floors that you advertised…they want to see the floors! Clean up your kitchen before taking pictures of it…don’t leave the dishes in the sink! And for goodness sake, keep your animals out of the pictures since they usually have a way of doing something in a photo that can be unflattering!
