Interesting Tips

[redpanda]

Yuck. When we sold our house last year, I was NEVER there. If someone showed up unexpectedly (or early!) I'd apologize and make my hasty exit, toddler and dog in tow.

On the other hand, my list agent was there for probably 95% of the showings, and could give me a quick call to answer any questions she didn't know the answers to. Best of both worlds.

[bigfatturkey]

it's true...when we looked at houses with the homeowners around...we'd not look as thoroughly...would rush through the viewing to avoid imposing...and obviously, such houses typically won't leave much impression on us as a result of that...and it'd be hard to recollect anything about the house subsequently.

i'm not sure if it's just me....but i like to take photographs of the houses (& views from the house)that i may be interested in...mainly to get a sense of the floorplan/layout and surroundings. i know you can obtain photos from the MLS...but most of the photos are of a specific room...some photos are taken with such a narrow angle that you can hardly see much...so i prefer to keep my own sets of photos. and i can only do that comfortably when the homeowners/seller agent are not around =P

[Rakin]

This has been covered in many photo threads but I've found usually when buyers take their own pics they get so wrapped up taking the photos they don't really look hard at the house.

I encourage my buyers to put down the camera the 1st time we look at the home. Once we narrow our focus on their top 3-5 homes I'm all for shooting away if needed.

I have not run into it but I could see where some sellers might not want people taking pics inside their homes for safety reasons. Usually they are not aware someone has taken the photos.

[mmoorecharlotte]

Originally Posted by Chuckity

Positively the worst advice and the way to wreck a sale.

Buyers are not comfortable with owners present - they won't stay as long and it robs them or trying to imagine themselves in the home ... with the owner right around the corner or up their hind end.

And sellers have absolutely no idea what these buyers are looking for - or what would be a dealbreaker. Imagine a seller pushing what he thinks are the positives about the house - when in actuality, those positives are pretty close to being dealbreakers for the buyer.

Dumb dumb dumb.

Totally agree. I am active buyer and there have been a few houses where the owner decided to stay and be there why we looked at their house. It made us feel very uncomfortable, rushed, and unable to freely talk about what we were seeing with the house. And like one poster stated we didn't stay for very long.

[bigfatturkey]

Originally Posted by Rakin

This has been covered in many photo threads but I've found usually when buyers take their own pics they get so wrapped up taking the photos they don't really look hard at the house.

I encourage my buyers to put down the camera the 1st time we look at the home. Once we narrow our focus on their top 3-5 homes I'm all for shooting away if needed.

I have not run into it but I could see where some sellers might not want people taking pics inside their homes for safety reasons. Usually they are not aware someone has taken the photos.

ya...i know what you mean. usually....i'd just look around the entire house first before deciding if it goes on my shortlist and if it does, i'd start snapping with my wide angle camera...but usually just so to get a sense of layout. sometimes, if i don't have my camera or can't photograph for whatever reasons, i'd just draw out the entire floorplan on a sheet of paper. i really like it when some seller agents provide the floorplans..then it'd save me a lot of trouble.

[jerseyj]

Originally Posted by margeaa

I forgot to watch the program this morning. What were the other 4 suggestions?

Marge

Here is the clip-http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/

Price it lower than the comps.
De-clutter.
Have good photos.
Up grade the appliances.

Our sellers were not there for our original visit, thank goodness!
They were pretty anxious to sell as they had purchased another home.

They had not de-cluttered, upgraded......heck....they had not even dusted!

But, they had loved this home, the orange carpet that covered the hardwood, was wool. The wild floral wall paper in the main bath was probably what I would have done in the '70's. (Gawd I think I did!)

Had the sellers been there for the original showing, I think we would have run away.

Bottom line....the price was right, the potential was there and the owners were not!

[adolpho]

My last one; the buyers weren't there either, lol. I will show up as they leave sometimes just to give them any specific answers they need on things like parking, hoa fees, taxes...........The listing agents wouldn't know a precise HOA fee if it hit them in the head
(or what it includes).