- Golden Retrievers! I’m a pet lover who thought everyone loved Golden Retrievers, since they are among the friendliest of “man’s best friend.” If you’re marketing your house, moving the dog to a screened porch or location outside of the house may not be enough. At one showing, I’d put the Golden Retriever out on the screened porch, but when the agent arrived with her Buyer, the Buyer refused to come in until I put the dog in my car and moved my car down the street where she couldn’t see it. Lesson learned – even if you have the sweetest dog in the world, not everyone loves dogs (cats, birds or fish), so make arrangements for your furry family member to be out of the house for showings.
- Music – soft music playing is thought to set the mood for the house during showings is a popular sentiment. I thought so too, until one day at a showing, Rod Stewart’s “Do You Think I’m Sexy?” started blasting out of the speakers, the Buyers were laughing and distracted, so I dashed to find the volume control. Don’t trust Pandora or Spotify to play the kind of music your buyers might want to hear. Classical music may be soothing and peaceful, but if the Buyer arrives with Linkin Park blasting out of their car, it won’t be an ideal match.
- Snacks and personal items – before you list your home, be certain all your personal belongings are safe, secured and out of sight. At one home inspection, not only was I present, but also the Buyer’s agent, the Buyer and their 3 children. The home inspector brought snacks for the kids. Surprisingly, some parents do not watch their children and in this particular instance, just as I was setting one child up at the kitchen island to eat a snack, another child went streaking through the 1st floor with another sibling chasing her. I gave chase (wondering how the child got out of the clothes so quickly), trying to make sure no family photos or Lladro figurines were falling during the mayhem. Once your home is on the market, it’s time to stop thinking of it as “your home;” it’s now become a commodity for sale. Pack the items away safely!
- Cooking, candles and other scents – At one listing, the couple both worked from home and enjoyed cooking throughout the day. We had a showing scheduled and when the Buyers walked in, they were immediately offended by the smell of whatever the Seller had prepared that morning. Another Seller followed the old advice that “baked cookies” make your home smell appealing to Buyers, and a third seller had several different scented candles burning throughout the home. In each of these cases, a Buyer discounted the house as a possibility saying they couldn’t stand the smell of whatever food had been prepared; by the concern that the Seller was trying to cover something up something suspicious, and in the third instance, the Buyer was sneezing so hard that she couldn’t even complete the tour of the first floor. The best and most cost efficient thing a Seller can do is clean (and yes, we repeat that phrase often), but not with bleach. Some Buyers perceive the smell of bleach as an effort to remove mold.