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Thermostats. I'm surprised how many people don't know how they work and think putting it at 60 or lower will get it colder faster. And they they leave it there for me to pay the bill on it.
I have a neighbor who returned after a showing to find puddles of dog urine throughout their house.
And years ago my parents watched as potential buyers picked all the flowers in my mom's award winning English garden. She actually ran out of the neighbors' house and screamed at them.
We've just been through the process of selling our home and people leaving a mess is unsettling. Even though I have a wooden sign on my front door, hanging signs inside, and baskets of medical booties at ever entrance, some people still didn't bother to put them on. To me it's so disrespectful, but the idea that someone would bring a dog into a stranger's home is shocking.
We have relocated 14 times, and most of the homes we owned, a few were rentals, but each and every one was placed on the MLS for sale before we actually moved on to our next state or city. Therefore, I have VERY strong feelings about the entire process of selling and showing my homes. Learned early on that I would not leave the house for a first showing ( sometimes I might on a return showing if the buyer appeared serious & viable, but not always) and I refused to have open houses or LOCK BOXES. Did I meet resistance from the RE community? Yes I did. I respectfully declined to budge on those 3 issues, however. I did my part when showing a home and additionally I expected "my agent" to do their part. To me it was a business arrangement and the discussion was had before I agreed to list with them. For my part the house would be immaculately cleaned prior to any showing, personal items were always pre-packed or stored, very soft music would be playing,( appropriate to the type of home I was currently in or type of buyer who would most likely be touring), as well as other staging tactics pertinent to the type of day, season, or house/community/likely buyer). We reasonably priced the home per the agent/broker advice and I expected them to know of the scheduling of appointments and to follow up with me on feedback after any showings. My children would be out of the house and only I would be there.
I opened the door, warmly greeted and met everyone in attendance, politely asked that shoes be removed ( if they had not already done so by observing the hints that ours was a shoeless household), and invited them to take their time touring the house, while informing them of which out of the way corner or location I would be occupying, should they need me for any questions. I would then bury my nose in a book and not speak again, unless spoken to. ( most often there were nice conversations at the end of a showing but again, these would be initiated by the potential buyer or the showing agent.) Sometimes situations would arise that required my intervention, and I did not hesitate to take it up with the agent that was present or if need be the parent of an unruly child.
Sold every one of those houses ( even the leased ones) and if I am ever on the market again, I will do the same. It is amazing what people will do when they are wandering through a home, even when the owner is present, so I can vividly imagine what others might do when the owner is not present. I learned early on one cannot depend upon the RE agent or broker to look out for the interests of the seller. Therefore I had to make my own list of rules and suggestions for my own "business" arrangements.......
Last edited by corpgypsy; 05-08-2016 at 02:26 PM..
We've just been through the process of selling our home and people leaving a mess is unsettling. Even though I have a wooden sign on my front door, hanging signs inside, and baskets of medical booties at ever entrance, some people still didn't bother to put them on. To me it's so disrespectful, but the idea that someone would bring a dog into a stranger's home is shocking.
This has happened to me twice. Once it was over a 100 so I didn't feel good about leaving the dog in the owner's car. I brought the dog into the garage, and had it stay there while I showed the home. The other time just happened recently. They opened the back and the dog jumped out. I told them no dogs in the house, but it was cool enough to leave the dog in the car.
It didn't occur to either of them that their dogs couldn't go in.
Oh, yes, pack up the valuables definitely by all means. Put them in a safety deposit away from your home.
YES, the sliding glass door someone mentioned here that was slightly ajar...instantly I thought ah, someone planning to return later. Not that it would happen, although I've seen it happen.
That was me--I have to admit, that thought didn't cross my mind, mainly because the setup of my old house was that the garage/basement were on the first level, and you had to go up an (interior) flight of stairs to get to the living room/kitchen level (the second level of the house), which was the level the sliding glass door was on. (And there was no stairway leading from the sliding glass door to the ground level outside.) This isn't to say somebody *couldn't* have gotten to the second level from the outside.....but given the arrangements of the townhouses, it's likely they would have attracted a lot more attention that what they'd wanted if they'd tried.
This has happened to me twice. Once it was over a 100 so I didn't feel good about leaving the dog in the owner's car. I brought the dog into the garage, and had it stay there while I showed the home. The other time just happened recently. They opened the back and the dog jumped out. I told them no dogs in the house, but it was cool enough to leave the dog in the car.
It didn't occur to either of them that their dogs couldn't go in.
If a dog is going to urinate or defecate in a home, I have no doubt it's going to be in a strangers house first. They want to mark their territory. One time my neighbors dog got in from my side door and he immediately went to my den and pooped in there. What in the world are people thinking? It's so bizarre.
Bizarre. I've sold two houses and not experienced this, and bought three houses, after going to plenty of showings and open houses. We never did any of these things, either.
But I'm not surprised to hear it does happen. There are so many crazy people in the world.
Sell your home empty. It galls me how many sellers complain about every irritating thing buyers do, justified or not, when they're attempting to sell their home and still live in it simultaneously. I get it; selling your home is a giant PITA. So sell it empty and eliminate the stress, and if you can't afford to, sell it occupied and deal with a lot more hassle.
Sellers keep being told to keep the house looking lived-in. But I prefer looking at empty houses. Furniture and other personal belongings left there typically do not appeal to me at all, and some things smell.
So, speaking from the buyer's perspective, this is one opinion from someone who really dislikes the standard filled look of a house. Staged houses might be tidier but they are still distracting. I like to visualize the way I would arrange things and existing objects do not constitute a clean slate.
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