Staging

A group of  REALTORS® recently discussed a book whose author suggests agents get more money for their homes when they sell them.  This author's premise sparked a lively discussion about whether agents' homes really do sell for more, and if so, why?

Our conclusions were that we really didn't know if agents' homes sold for more, BUT if they do, it's because:

We clean and de-clutter like maniacs before the house is listed.

We win the battle with our teens to take down those awful posters!

We make lots of donations to charities before listing.

We pay Ralph Lauren for a LOT of paint!

The dog's favorite chair goes to the dump because it smells!

Our "off season" clothing, the 200 DVD's, and the mounds of paperwork from our office get packed and taken to Mom's house!

Ugh!  Even the oven and the vegetable drawers in the "fridge" get scrubbed.

That stupid catch in the front door lock that only the family can open?  We get rid of that, too.  Afterall, if someone outside the family can't open the door, how can a prospective buyer see it and want to buy it?

We make our adult kids who work nights get up for showings that fall in the middle of their sleep time.

Every "drip, drip, drip" gets taken care of before the house is shown.

We check the home sales in the area to make sure we don't overprice our house.

We concluded that real estate agents have the experience to know why one house sells before another (or for a higher price), and they take the time to prepare their house to sell quickly for the top dollar.

We all shook our heads.  Each agent had memories of houses that just didn't sell.  Invariably the seller remembered the 20 year old carpet the way it was when it was first installed and didn't see the threadbare areas that had developed over time; or, the seller's favorite color combination was lavender and orange; or, the one whose house was so dirty it smelled; or the family who didn't have the financial means to make the changes.  We each had war stories we could have shared.

This real estate business is tricky stuff.  Will the client trust our expertise enough to do what needs to be done?   Or will we be considered pushy when we make suggestions?

Comments

[Mary in Vegas]

January 15, 2006
- I like this - Posted by MaryInVegas

This is so true...unless you're in real estate you don't realize how important these little touches are when putting your house on the market. One does not have to invest that much money in the house to get it sold...just pack stuff away (you have to do it eventually anyway) and clean, clean, clean. Good luck with your BLOG Bonnie!