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My feathers are a bit ruffled, so this may come off a bit rantish. If so, just bear with me...
So, just listed my house (to which I have as much, or more, personal attachment as anyone does since I spent 8 months of 40 hour work-weeks restoring the property) and have had 2 showings in the ~10 days since listing. That's good. We're in a small rural area, my agent holds the key ~ no lock boxes and scheduled appointments in other words, and the one request we have is no shoes in the house. Not outlandish IMHO, pretty common for this area to take off shoes when entering homes (and there's a bench with shoe tray right at the front door). One last bit of maybe pertinent info, our house is perpetually "show ready", about all that's needed is to straighten the couch and lock up jewelry.
So the first showing I'm sure they removed shoes as it was raining. But several things in the house were amiss upon return. Door to our washing machine was closed (front-load, it's left open to mitigate mold), living room furniture was mussed up (pillows and blankets amiss) and our thermostat was turned way down (was set on 63 at the time of showing, 55 when I came back).
Second showing they clearly did NOT remove shoes as there was trash (leaf debris, mulch, dirt/grit) all over the floors and they used the bathroom.
This isn't my first rodeo, I've sold 3 other homes in the past decade and I don't recall dealing with this despite the same no shoes request each time. I also recognize that personal accountability has taken a Serious nose-dive in that same time, but do you real estate agents just let this kind of stuff slide? In what world is it acceptable to use the toilet in someone's home when you're viewing it for sale? And if you're going to, why not cover your tracks and return it to the state in which you found it (in our case, the toilet set was down when we left and up when we returned ~ simple).
A few comments, FWIW... You can call and be upset about buyers moving or touching things, or not removing shoes.... but all that will be accomplished is making things awkward and hostile with that buyer and possibly turning them away. The bright side is, if they spent time sitting on the couch they were feeling comfortable and thinking and talking about it, and that's a good thing.
Also... it's a rural property. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, they need to go. We can frown on it all day long, but in the end, they're human beings, sometimes with children. There isn't always a choice to just ~wait~.
I realize it's an invasion of your home to have people there, but it's part of the process and I would grin and bear it and hope the next one buys it.
Most likely, as you say, you're over attached and when you invite strangers into your home someone might wear shoes, sit on the couch or use the toilet.
If you want to keep it mint, keep it off the market.
You could do For sale by owner. Then you would be the one showing it and you would know who was doing what. Or, install security cameras inside all the rooms.
Or, install security cameras inside all the rooms.
And then what? Arrest them for illegal shoe-wearing and toilet use?
Obviously I'm being facetious, but really - what good would security cameras do, unless we were talking about people stealing from their house? As Diana said above, even confronting them (the potential buyers and/or their realtors) would likely result in losing a sale.
FYI: I personally always remove my shoes inside, whether it's my house or someone else's home; but sitting on the couch and using the toilet seem fairly benign, especially if you're running around looking at houses all day. I have arthritis and can't stand for long periods of time, so yeah, I might have to sit on the couch for a moment if my feet were hurting. I'd try not to muss it up, but really now. What's the big deal?
My feathers are a bit ruffled, so this may come off a bit rantish. If so, just bear with me...
So, just listed my house (to which I have as much, or more, personal attachment as anyone does since I spent 8 months of 40 hour work-weeks restoring the property) and have had 2 showings in the ~10 days since listing. That's good. We're in a small rural area, my agent holds the key ~ no lock boxes and scheduled appointments in other words, and the one request we have is no shoes in the house. Not outlandish IMHO, pretty common for this area to take off shoes when entering homes (and there's a bench with shoe tray right at the front door). One last bit of maybe pertinent info, our house is perpetually "show ready", about all that's needed is to straighten the couch and lock up jewelry.
So the first showing I'm sure they removed shoes as it was raining. But several things in the house were amiss upon return. Door to our washing machine was closed (front-load, it's left open to mitigate mold), living room furniture was mussed up (pillows and blankets amiss) and our thermostat was turned way down (was set on 63 at the time of showing, 55 when I came back).
Second showing they clearly did NOT remove shoes as there was trash (leaf debris, mulch, dirt/grit) all over the floors and they used the bathroom.
This isn't my first rodeo, I've sold 3 other homes in the past decade and I don't recall dealing with this despite the same no shoes request each time. I also recognize that personal accountability has taken a Serious nose-dive in that same time, but do you real estate agents just let this kind of stuff slide? In what world is it acceptable to use the toilet in someone's home when you're viewing it for sale? And if you're going to, why not cover your tracks and return it to the state in which you found it (in our case, the toilet set was down when we left and up when we returned ~ simple).
Or am I just being too picky?
You’re trying to sell. Most people don’t like taking off their shoes. Best thing to do is leave a bunch of shoe booties by the entry door. That’s what I do at my rentals. A sign stating if you do not want to remove your shoes please use shoe booties is nex5 to the booties.
I buy a big giant box of them and hav3 a trash can this way the booties don’t get overused from person to person. As far as the toilet...hey sometimes you gotta go. I don’t see that as a huge issue. Disinfect with Lysol if you’re a germaphobe.
My feathers are a bit ruffled, so this may come off a bit rantish. If so, just bear with me...
So the first showing I'm sure they removed shoes as it was raining. But several things in the house were amiss upon return. Door to our washing machine was closed (front-load, it's left open to mitigate mold), living room furniture was mussed up (pillows and blankets amiss) and our thermostat was turned way down (was set on 63 at the time of showing, 55 when I came back).
Or am I just being too picky?
It's possible that the realtor herding shoppers through your house might have thought they were being considerate by turning your thermostat down (they may assume no one was due to return to the house any time soon) to save energy and tidying up behind a peeking buyer who left your washing machine door ajar. Now if someone had obviously crashed down in the middle of a neatly-made bed I might be a little miffed. I wouldn't expect anyone to sweep away all traces they'd been there. I'd be glad they bothered to actually tour the house.
You’re trying to sell. Most people don’t like taking off their shoes. Best thing to do is leave a bunch of shoe booties by the entry door. That’s what I do at my rentals. A sign stating if you do not want to remove your shoes please use shoe booties is nex5 to the booties.
I buy a big giant box of them and hav3 a trash can this way the booties don’t get overused from person to person. As far as the toilet...hey sometimes you gotta go. I don’t see that as a huge issue. Disinfect with Lysol if you’re a germaphobe.
If you have no where to sit in the entry, put a folding chair out there next to the booties. It’s hard to balance on one foot trying to put them on.
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