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Old 02-26-2010, 05:52 AM
 
1,949 posts, read 5,972,181 times
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Did anyone see GMA this morning? Five tips to selling your home? One that I found interesting that has been discussed on this board was "Be There!" They said even though it may be uncomfortable to watch someone go through your house, no one can sell it like you, so be there to answer questions and give info.

I have always been present during showings and have always sold my houses (using a realtor). Of course your realtor is not present for the showings another realtor brings in.

I have seen many, many people here say they would never be present for a showing but this might be something to consider if you are having trouble selling.
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Old 02-26-2010, 06:07 AM
 
381 posts, read 1,363,600 times
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Ugh. I think that's the worst advice EVER. When house hunting, my DH and I are always put off when the owner is there. We never stay as long, never look as thoroughly, and if it were a house that we were interested in, we would have been MORE interested if the owner had not been there.
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Old 02-26-2010, 06:11 AM
 
Location: Hoosierville
17,201 posts, read 14,482,614 times
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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.
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Old 02-26-2010, 06:13 AM
 
1,949 posts, read 5,972,181 times
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Well, I didn't make the report, just passing it along. But, like I said, I have always been there and the buyers who were interested always stayed. Sometimes, I found it annoying with how long people stayed. It's never been a problem for me....that is, when the market was "normal."
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Old 02-26-2010, 06:16 AM
 
1,591 posts, read 3,545,588 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tamitrail View Post
Did anyone see GMA this morning? Five tips to selling your home? One that I found interesting that has been discussed on this board was "Be There!" They said even though it may be uncomfortable to watch someone go through your house, no one can sell it like you, so be there to answer questions and give info.

I have always been present during showings and have always sold my houses (using a realtor). Of course your realtor is not present for the showings another realtor brings in.

I have seen many, many people here say they would never be present for a showing but this might be something to consider if you are having trouble selling.

I disagree with this idea. We looked at a house and the owner was there. He was rude to us b/c we were late (geez, we didn't even know he was going to be there and we didn't know we were "late"). He had also been smoking and had a very rough appearance. It wasn't even a foreclosure! I would say if they are dressed to the nines and have a positive attitude, ok, but, otherwise don't do it, it definitely takes away from the appeal of the home.
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Old 02-26-2010, 06:24 AM
 
Location: SW Missouri
15,853 posts, read 35,068,861 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tamitrail View Post
Did anyone see GMA this morning? Five tips to selling your home? One that I found interesting that has been discussed on this board was "Be There!" They said even though it may be uncomfortable to watch someone go through your house, no one can sell it like you, so be there to answer questions and give info.

I have always been present during showings and have always sold my houses (using a realtor). Of course your realtor is not present for the showings another realtor brings in.

I have seen many, many people here say they would never be present for a showing but this might be something to consider if you are having trouble selling.
Having been a realtor myself, I can tell you that I do not know of one single realtor that will say it is a good idea for the seller to be home during a showing. There is just so much potential for disaster there. Not only is the seller usually a terrible sales person when it comes to their house, but they also have an emotional investment in the property and they get pretty upset when potential buyers wander from room to room making remarks like...."This carpet needs to be replaced it's filthy" or "Did they have pets? This room smells like a barnyard" or "My gosh, how could anyone live in a house with an outdated kitchen like this". It's hard to be a seller and hear these kinds of common remarks and not get your dander up.

Also, you don't want buyers or buyers' agents approaching the seller directly to negotiate the sale. That is also a recipe for disaster. Sellers, for the most part (not all but most) don't have a clue about financing, mortgages, title insurance, etc. The last thing you want is to have a buyer and seller negotiating a sale without a clear understanding of what is going on.

Sellers also tend to volunteer too much information. If someone might comment about a new water heater a seller might say... "Yeah, we put that in after the other one blew up an flooded the basement". Now the buyer is going to be looking for mold, and other signs of damage in the basement and they MIGHT have a tool to negotiate a lower price. If there was no DAMAGE to the basement (which would have to be disclosed), there is no reason to mention the water heater incident. However, most sellers would not realize that such a statement could possibly reduce the offer by $10,000 or more.

It's NEVER a good idea to have a seller home during a showing. IMHO

20yrsinBranson
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Old 02-26-2010, 08:29 AM
 
Location: Las Vegas
930 posts, read 1,814,306 times
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the sellers were home when we looked at the house we recently purchased. they stayed in a room all to themselves. it was kind of uncomfortable since it was a short sale . we weren't sure of the cirmcumstances and if they might be a bit resentful if they felt they were "forced" into selling due to whatever hardship qualifier they had. we limited all our discussions about the property to being outside so not to be overheard. when leaving, we did have the opportunity to introduce ourselves and meet them. they were helpful with a few questions we had and were very cordial.

the only other negatives I would think, besides what was mentioned above, about the owners being home is if you were really interested in the home and they didnt seem to like you..mabey didnt like your age, the way you dressed, all the ugly tattoos, etc.. Owners develop an attachment to their homes and want to sell to buyers who they perceive wont end up trashing the place, especially if they spent a lot of time and money upgrading the place. so when you put in an offer, they may be inclined to play hardball, so to speak. In our case, it worked out very well since the owners mentioned to us later in the process that they were happy to be able to sell the place to someone who they perceived would get as much enjoyment out of the place as they did and left us their phone and email in case we needed them to answer any questions we had after move in.
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Old 02-26-2010, 08:33 AM
 
Location: Central FL
1,382 posts, read 3,793,919 times
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I agree that sellers shouldn't be there. I remember looking at one home where the sellers where there and it was so awkward. I just wanted to get out of there. They just stood there, watching us like hawks.

If the sellers go outside, maybe on the porch or whatever, that would be a lot better (but still not the best set up). I actually did that when we had a 2 day old baby. We sold our home to a couple who only looked at it for like 10 minutes while we all sat on the porch with the baby.
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Old 02-26-2010, 08:33 AM
Status: "Open for work" (set 9 days ago)
 
Location: Just south of Denver since 1989
11,822 posts, read 34,355,412 times
Reputation: 8950
I've told this story before, but it's a very good one.

My listing. Seller's buying new - closing in 5 weeks. First deal crashed due to buyer financing.

Sellers had an RV and were coming home after a three day getaway. Showing scheduled between 5 & 6. Dinnertime on a school night. Sellers were home with their 16 year old daughter.

Buyers arrive with their 6 year old daughter. Teenager offers to play with 6 year old in the park across the street.

Mrs. Seller is in the kitchen. She tells buyers that they will convert the fireplace to gas and repour the driveway prior to closing.

Mr. Seller is in the garage. He tells the buyers they will come down 10 grand if they could close within 5 weeks.

They made an offer, guess what it asked for?

Mrs. Seller calls me crying the day after I present the offer. She tells me see told them about the fireplace and the driveway.

Mr. Seller confesses it was him that told the buyer they would come down in price.

They both asked me to change my commission in order to accept the offer. I would get $500 and they would be forever grateful.

I told them I can't change the commission, but they could call and make an appointment with the Managing Broker, and ask him.

We did close on the property as the buyer offered without a counter. And they never did call the MB for a sit down.
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Old 02-26-2010, 09:04 AM
 
78 posts, read 407,168 times
Reputation: 55
I forgot to watch the program this morning. What were the other 4 suggestions?

Marge
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