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Thanks for your advice, oldtrader. We don't own guns, stuffed trophies, or pictures of such. We don't hunt, wear cowboy hats, or say "ain't" -- few people here do. I'm actually that species despised by some native Texans -- a Californian (though most folks here are VERY friendly).
As mentioned in my first post, the house is neat, clean, and uncluttered. Our furnishings aren't a distraction, many are already stored, and all rooms, walls, closets, etc. can be easily viewed. The house was built in 2014 and is in perfect condition. Also as stated above, children under twelve can come to all viewings after the first one.
What you really do not understand, is the first viewing is the most important one. Their impression of the home on the first viewing, is the one that will make them even interested in a second or third viewing.
If parents are told that they cannot have their children with them when they view your home, a large share of them will not even look at the home. This is especially true, of people that are from out of town, who are a big percentage of actual buyers. Telling them they have to find a baby sitter for their children in a town they do not have such connections, eliminates them even being interested in seeing your home. Out of town people that want to see your home, are really in nearly all cases serious buyers. They are looking for a home that they can move to, and are not interested in wasting their time on vacation, etc., looking at homes. A lot of local people, are looking at homes, to get ideas of where in town they want to live in, and can be planning on buying in the next year or two, but looking at a considerable number of homes, so when they become serious buyers they know the neighborhoods they want to buy a home in. Some will look at as many as 100 homes, over a period of time without buying one of them. Looking at homes, is recreation for too many people. That is why I chose investment real estate and took university real estate and investment analysis classes at a major university for a year, before I went into the business.
The out of town buyers you do not want to see your home as they have children with them, are not the ones that are going to waste time looking at homes as a way to pass time. They are the more serious buyers, and do not have baby sitters so they will not even see your home. Some of the best classes I took that were not specifically oriented towards investment property, all emphasized this fact.
I don't understand people bringing small children to view a home anyway. I never would have taken mine when they were small because it would be such a distraction and keep me from focusing on the home. People do it though and there are those that let their kids run amuck regardless of where they are or to whom the property belongs. We have friends and family with small children that we never invite over to the house just because of this.
Anyway, as for all the art and such, I personally hate all that junk in a home when I come to look. I actually prefer the house be mostly empty so I can see the condition of the complete home without clutter blocking areas. Realtors will tell you to leave the stuff so people can see how things will fit in the home and all that other nonsense but new homes sell all day every day along with empty homes where people have already had to move for a job relocation or moved when they retired. So I basically call BS and say move your stuff out so people can see the house unobstructed with no distractions and you also don't have to worry about kids breaking stuff....which they will. Nobody really cares about your art or statues or any of that.
Seems you're all set but my advice would have been to have your house photographed for MLS with the art, sculptures, etc but put the more valuable pieces in storage before viewings begin. That way people can see your house both with and without the art but you are not in danger of having anything ruined.
What you really do not understand, is the first viewing is the most important one. Their impression of the home on the first viewing, is the one that will make them even interested in a second or third viewing.
If parents are told that they cannot have their children with them when they view your home, a large share of them will not even look at the home. This is especially true, of people that are from out of town, who are a big percentage of actual buyers. Telling them they have to find a baby sitter for their children in a town they do not have such connections, eliminates them even being interested in seeing your home. Out of town people that want to see your home, are really in nearly all cases serious buyers. They are looking for a home that they can move to, and are not interested in wasting their time on vacation, etc., looking at homes. A lot of local people, are looking at homes, to get ideas of where in town they want to live in, and can be planning on buying in the next year or two, but looking at a considerable number of homes, so when they become serious buyers they know the neighborhoods they want to buy a home in. Some will look at as many as 100 homes, over a period of time without buying one of them. Looking at homes, is recreation for too many people. That is why I chose investment real estate and took university real estate and investment analysis classes at a major university for a year, before I went into the business.
The out of town buyers you do not want to see your home as they have children with them, are not the ones that are going to waste time looking at homes as a way to pass time. They are the more serious buyers, and do not have baby sitters so they will not even see your home. Some of the best classes I took that were not specifically oriented towards investment property, all emphasized this fact.
Amen. And Austin has a lot of such relocations. We almost got a job there and would have been in that exact spot.
Would someone please advise about the best solution for this potential problem in selling our home? Our house is very clean, neat, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. My husband and I would like to show our home with most of its furnishings, but we have a large art collection that we don't want kids to get to, including some very heavy, ornate statues, large urns, antique textiles, rare paintings, etc. During the sale of our last two houses, quite a few parents let their kids run through our homes unchecked, resulting in stained carpets and furniture, broken picture frames, uprooted plants, smashed vases, etc. Several children were scraped or gouged from trying to climb large statues, and one little boy had to be rescued from our lily pond by the realtor (the parents didn't notice).
My husband and I would like to avoid a similar experience when selling our present home.
What you really do not understand, is the first viewing is the most important one. Their impression of the home on the first viewing, is the one that will make them even interested in a second or third viewing.
If parents are told that they cannot have their children with them when they view your home, a large share of them will not even look at the home. This is especially true, of people that are from out of town, who are a big percentage of actual buyers. Telling them they have to find a baby sitter for their children in a town they do not have such connections, eliminates them even being interested in seeing your home. Out of town people that want to see your home, are really in nearly all cases serious buyers. They are looking for a home that they can move to, and are not interested in wasting their time on vacation, etc., looking at homes. A lot of local people, are looking at homes, to get ideas of where in town they want to live in, and can be planning on buying in the next year or two, but looking at a considerable number of homes, so when they become serious buyers they know the neighborhoods they want to buy a home in. Some will look at as many as 100 homes, over a period of time without buying one of them. Looking at homes, is recreation for too many people. That is why I chose investment real estate and took university real estate and investment analysis classes at a major university for a year, before I went into the business.
The out of town buyers you do not want to see your home as they have children with them, are not the ones that are going to waste time looking at homes as a way to pass time. They are the more serious buyers, and do not have baby sitters so they will not even see your home. Some of the best classes I took that were not specifically oriented towards investment property, all emphasized this fact.
This was my thought. Years ago, my husband, a tech consultant, and I moved cross-country with a kindergartener and a preschooler. We allotted ourselves two days with a Realtor to find a home. Childcare was not an option; they had to come with us. I understand that the OP might not want children in his or her home, but if someone had said "No children for viewings," we would have moved onto the next house without a second thought. Oh, and did I mention that we were prepared to make a cash offer, no contingencies? That said, I have no tolerance for out-of-control children, so we made sure that ours were well-behaved, and our Realtor facilitated our house search by being willing to watch the children while we made a once around when a house really piqued our interest. I'm wondering if your listing agent could ask showing agents to take extra care in ensuring the safety of potential buyers and the security of the home when arranging for visits to the property.
Our first home was a patio home with a very small front yard that was mostly taken up with a lily pond and a nearly non-existent back yard. Our second home had no garage and was approached up a hill with steep stone steps. Despite these conditions, which eliminated the majority of would-be buyers and put us in a very narrow niche market, both homes sold for our asking prices within ten days. We're not worried about missing out on a lesser percentage of buyers for this third house.
I think the subject of this thread is played out. I thank everyone who gave constructive advice. Thanks also to those who humorously pm'd me about the snarky naysayers!
Seems you're all set but my advice would have been to have your house photographed for MLS with the art, sculptures, etc but put the more valuable pieces in storage before viewings begin. That way people can see your house both with and without the art but you are not in danger of having anything ruined.
Yep. They won’t listen as the confirmation bias is overwhelming, but this was the simple answer.
A lot of the best buyers want to have their children see any home they are considering.
I disagree, especially in the investor market, which is what you said was your area before retirement.
Investors are not evaluating a home for their children to live in, rather a property that will make them money.
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