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I understand your point is to be antagonistic, but I'll play.
Your suggestions are completely unrealistic.
"These days" is no different than "past days".
Smell like kids? What smell would that be? Maybe you should up your "looking" price if the ones you look at "smell like kids". The adults in the house obviously aren't too clean, if a house has any odor to it.
Try this: Sellers, please dump your cat or dog at a local kennel for every showing you have. Stuff the doggie bed, cat tree & all "toys" and pet paraphernalia in storage (NOT THE CLOSET!!! Someone might look in it). Make sure you get rid of anything that might give an inkling to a potential buyer that you have a pet. They smell bad and pee wherever they feel like it and when they feel like it. And the pet hair in the ducts and carpet and fridge and everywhere else? Just gross. Put the litter box outside. Hire a cleaning crew to make sure there is not one sign that you have a pet -it's a real turn off, and we all know cats and dogs lick their behinds and sit, with their disgustingly nasty behinds, on all flooring surfaces. Even counter tops and other furniture.
And please don't put "no showings until after 7pm" on your listing via your realtor, because your crated pet can't handle the stress, doesn't need it's normal "day" interrupted. Or you're afraid someone might let the cat "out".
See how far that gets you.
You are absolutely right about pets. The smelliest house I ever walked through had two dogs, a parrot, and God knows what else roaming around, no less.
But the biggest turn off was a house with kids, that had two to four feet of blowing and drifting toys strewn around, filthy walls, junk all over the fridge door, toys all over the yard, and smelled like a diaper pail. Even the realtor shrugged his shoulders and indicated that he was unable to get the sellers to clean the place up. It was on the market for over a year. As for me? I was in my fixer upper mode, and it was an interesting property at a good price but honestly, I couldn't linger long enough to even give it a chance. Remember, I was the one with the money - they were the sellers.
btw...I have sold three properties way above their worth, and two above asking price. Oh...all within two weeks. It was all presentationization. I know what I am talking about.
Exaggerating to make a point may result in you selling your house faster and for a better price then had you not read my post.
We're thinking of listing our house, so I'm finding this thread quite helpful (despite the emotional pro-kid/anti-kid posts). If we list this house it, will be because we made an offer on another property (and it has been accepted), so you'd better believe that we will bend over BACKWARD to accommodate a potential buyer in order to sell pronto. Our kids are old enough (13 and 14), and sufficiently motivated to move to another house, to keep their room tidy and bail at a moment's notice, so I won't have to deal with many of the same scheduling restrictions as sellers with younger children.
What did surprise me in reading these posts though, was what a turn-off animals could be to potential buyers. I had planned to keep our Siberian Husky in his paved/locked dog run during showings; but it seems to me that this could be problematic based on the posts I've read. I'll just plan to take the dog with me whenever I leave the house for showings.
The smell thing was something I hadn't considered either. Though our boys are well past the stinky Diaper Genie stage, bacon is practically a food group for us. If we list the house, we'll probably need to stick to turkey sausage for breakfast. Thank you for enlightening me!
Last edited by Voyageuse; 02-07-2014 at 11:16 PM..
I've gone to look at houses at 3pm all the way to 9pm. The way I see it
As a seller I have to accommodate the potential buyer and their schedule
As a buyer I expect to be accommodated not because I'm special but you are trying to sell. So you're gonna have to make some sacrifices if you want me to look and give a offer.
No different than being a LL. I have to show the house when the tenant is available not even I feel like it. Granted in some cases I simply can't cause I'm working or out of town etc but I can have someone come and open the door.
Electrician has it right.
IMHO restricting to no shows after 6 is too restrictive. as a working professional, I can't make that. I can leave a bit early some days, but realistically that is too early. As a seller, you need to be accommodating to get the most views from buyers. Do you have to show your house at 9 or midnight? no. But selling a house is going to be inconvenient, once you come to that realization and embrace it, things will go easier.
Smelling like children, it may sound stupid, but lets be serious here.... when you have a kid in diapers, there are definitely times where the diaper pail smells, and you haven't changed it. when they're older, its dirty laundry smells, and "accidents". when they're teenagers its BO, dirty dishes, cologne, laundry or whatever. None of that should be there, but there are plenty of houses that have these issues, and they're not located in trailer parks.
Pet smells too.
mostly with kids its the toys everywhere. I am constantly amazed at the mess my 2 year old can make in 15 minutes with his toys. If I were to sell, half the toys need to be put in storage, and the other half monitored constantly before showings.
24 hours notice needed as a LL who has tenants to enter the property. For ANY reason that isn't emergent.
Potential (new) tenants, or buyers if your rental is up for sale, have to deal with that little restriction too.
Unless your tenants don't mind a much shorter notice...like a few hours and don't care how late you want to bring lookers through.
But, 24 hours is the general rule, as a LL.
Sawdustmaker, I'm mainly referring to showing a property not tenant occupied and having to be available when a potential tenant can see it not when I feel like showing it. I never showed a property with a tenant in it. Once they're out I go through check plumbing, general paint fill in nail holes repair get cleaning crew in etc. Once its ready to show I list and show it. What you see is what you get. But that's not the topic. As for notice yeah I give it and its usually to inspect something. I like the little downtime because it gives me a chance to do a health check on the place and do repairs before another tenant takes possession
I won't let someone see a house at crazy hours say 10-11pm. But I try to accommodate every person. My cutoff is about 9 or so. Mostly when I sell I don't live in the house although I have lived in the house in some cases mostly its vacant. But the times when it wasn't I had no issue with late showings. They are rarely long at that time. It's usually a peek-a-boo showing. Besides 5-8:30 maybe even 9 is prime time. Lots of oeople can't get out of work. And if I put a house for sale means I actually want to sell not screw around for months.
I've looked at houses with kids in them. Stuff like that doesn't bother me. Its a bunch of kid toys. If you want a house with no smells, no kids and completely sanitary go buy a new house don't even bother looking at a lived in house. And those houses you're not getting in after 6 unless its by appointment
As for animals? Dirty litter boxes, cat pee and poop smell are a turn off. But I've gone in houses that had cats and there was no smell. I've been around residences with dogs, cats, kids, chickens, geese, ducks horses etc. If I see myself living there all those things are fixable. Unless the kids come as part of the house sale they won't be there when I move in. And neither will the dirty diapers.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 02-08-2014 at 08:55 AM..
There's a thing called being reasonable..6-6:30 is reasonable. After 7:00-7:30 is not on a weeknight. Home inspections take longer than 10-20 minutes. If I was a childless singleton like I was before, I'd have no real problem keeping my home open like a diner, but that's not the case now. People without families won't understand and I'm not about to explain to them why, as a working parent, evening homework is important, or adhering to a bedtime, or whatever. That's not the point of this topic anyway.
I have a house to sell, and I also have a right to determine what works best for me and my family, as well as the common stranger. As a seller, I will try to accomodate, but to a point. If you don't think my reasons are sound to you [general you here] as a buyer, then again. I invite you to go look somewhere else..I'm not going to get hurt by that. I've been a buyer myself, so I've been on the other side of the fence.
It really all depends on the state of the local market and how quickly you want to get the house sold. If it's a seller's market and you have buyers jumping before a house can even go on the market? Then there's probably little issue with limiting your hours to those which are convenient for you. If it's a buyer's market and you're competing with plenty of available inventory and other sellers who (for whatever reason) can or are willing to make their house available at more convenient hours, you should be prepared for that to impact the amount of interest you get, and how quickly you can get the house sold. To some people, it might be less annoying to have buyers there at inconvenient hours but sell the house in a few weeks, versus a lot of restrictions and not selling the house for months and months. Just depends on the state of things locally where you are.
IMHO restricting to no shows after 6 is too restrictive. as a working professional, I can't make that. I can leave a bit early some days, but realistically that is too early. As a seller, you need to be accommodating to get the most views from buyers. Do you have to show your house at 9 or midnight? no. But selling a house is going to be inconvenient, once you come to that realization and embrace it, things will go easier.
Smelling like children, it may sound stupid, but lets be serious here.... when you have a kid in diapers, there are definitely times where the diaper pail smells, and you haven't changed it. when they're older, its dirty laundry smells, and "accidents". when they're teenagers its BO, dirty dishes, cologne, laundry or whatever. None of that should be there, but there are plenty of houses that have these issues, and they're not located in trailer parks.
Pet smells too.
mostly with kids its the toys everywhere. I am constantly amazed at the mess my 2 year old can make in 15 minutes with his toys. If I were to sell, half the toys need to be put in storage, and the other half monitored constantly before showings.
It really all depends on the state of the local market and how quickly you want to get the house sold. If it's a seller's market and you have buyers jumping before a house can even go on the market? Then there's probably little issue with limiting your hours to those which are convenient for you. If it's a buyer's market and you're competing with plenty of available inventory and other sellers who (for whatever reason) can or are willing to make their house available at more convenient hours, you should be prepared for that to impact the amount of interest you get, and how quickly you can get the house sold. To some people, it might be less annoying to have buyers there at inconvenient hours but sell the house in a few weeks, versus a lot of restrictions and not selling the house for months and months. Just depends on the state of things locally where you are.
All very good points.
Some on here have actually said "I have never wanted to sell a house that much to put up with UNREASONABLE viewing hours (after 6)" . To which I say, okay. You might be putting up with living in a fishbowl for a lot longer than you find desirable. This is what I would say whether or not people have kids, by the way...
And just FYI for all of you with a 9 o'clock bed time, a realtor friend just told me she showed a place at 11 pm yesterday. The client was jetlagged because he had been doing business overseas and had a few days between flying out again, so she was flexible and made late appointments for him. It happens.
We're thinking of listing our house, so I'm finding this thread quite helpful (despite the emotional pro-kid/anti-kid posts). If we list this house it, will be because we made an offer on another property (and it has been accepted), so you'd better believe that we will bend over BACKWARD to accommodate a potential buyer in order to sell pronto. Our kids are old enough (13 and 14), and sufficiently motivated to move to another house, to keep their room tidy and bail at a moment's notice, so I won't have to deal with many of the same scheduling restrictions as sellers with younger children.
What did surprise me in reading these posts though, was what a turn-off animals could be to potential buyers. I had planned to keep our Siberian Husky in his paved/locked dog run during showings; but it seems to me that this could be problematic based on the posts I've read. I'll just plan to take the dog with me whenever I leave the house for showings.
The smell thing was something I hadn't considered either. Though our boys are well past the stinky Diaper Genie stage, bacon is practically a food group for us. If we list the house, we'll probably need to stick to turkey sausage for breakfast. Thank you for enlightening me!
Please yes, take the dog.
Your Siberian Husky is probably lovely, but there are a lot of us who don't like dogs, don't want to see any evidence of dogs, and are very sensitive to dog smell.
In a house with kids, in a hot market, the best advice I took was to get the house in show ready condition on the market, and leave on vacation that first week it is up. That is when it gets the most showings, and without you there they can be anytime.
IMHO restricting to no shows after 6 is too restrictive. as a working professional, I can't make that. I can leave a bit early some days, but realistically that is too early. As a seller, you need to be accommodating to get the most views from buyers. Do you have to show your house at 9 or midnight? no. But selling a house is going to be inconvenient, once you come to that realization and embrace it, things will go easier.
Smelling like children, it may sound stupid, but lets be serious here.... when you have a kid in diapers, there are definitely times where the diaper pail smells, and you haven't changed it. when they're older, its dirty laundry smells, and "accidents". when they're teenagers its BO, dirty dishes, cologne, laundry or whatever. None of that should be there, but there are plenty of houses that have these issues, and they're not located in trailer parks.
Pet smells too.
mostly with kids its the toys everywhere. I am constantly amazed at the mess my 2 year old can make in 15 minutes with his toys. If I were to sell, half the toys need to be put in storage, and the other half monitored constantly before showings.
I didn't say no shows after six. That is not feasible. I said no shows after 7:-7:30 on a weeknight and definitely no shows at 9 pm on a weeknight. I work, as well, so I wouldn't be so unreasonable as to impose a time restriction that couldn't be met. I understand selling a home is going to be inconvenient -- it'd be disrupting my life totally whether the weeknight time restriction is in place or not. And I'd be prepared for that if I was selling. That is why I wouldn't even contemplate selling my home unless I was ready for that hurdle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kitkatbar
It really all depends on the state of the local market and how quickly you want to get the house sold. If it's a seller's market and you have buyers jumping before a house can even go on the market? Then there's probably little issue with limiting your hours to those which are convenient for you. If it's a buyer's market and you're competing with plenty of available inventory and other sellers who (for whatever reason) can or are willing to make their house available at more convenient hours, you should be prepared for that to impact the amount of interest you get, and how quickly you can get the house sold. To some people, it might be less annoying to have buyers there at inconvenient hours but sell the house in a few weeks, versus a lot of restrictions and not selling the house for months and months. Just depends on the state of things locally where you are.
You do have a point there. But even in a buyer's market, I will always take into consideration the needs of my family first. That little window until 8 pm is very important for my family , especially since my child is in school and I work (can't speak for someone else's) and I find it totally unreasonable that some prospective buyer would expect me to make my family completely disappear from the house if they are having an inspection at 7:30. I'd be more amenable to an evening inspection if this buyer would not take issue to my young children being present in the home. That's my chief issue, even more so than the time.
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