Lew Sichelman
Price, location and condition all play a part in whether or not someone decides to buy your house. But you can only control one of them.
Is it price? Not really: While sellers can price their properties however they see fit, it’s the market that ultimately sets the final figure. Location? While it’s possible to move a house to a different part of town, no one actually does that.
That leaves the condition of a place as the only element within the seller’s control. And it plays a huge part in helping buyers picture themselves living there.
Much has been written about the importance of adding a new coat of paint, repairing leaky faucets and replacing worn-out appliances. But the way the house is presented is just as important.
Once the “For Sale” sign goes up, sellers need to stop thinking of their home as their private residence: It is about to be someone else’s, and capturing that person’s interest is a matter of business. If you have a seller client, they should take a long, hard look at their house through the critical eyes of a would-be buyer.
Don’t Lead with Mess
They should start by removing all the clutter they’ve learned to live with over the years – “edit” your house, as home stager Kathy Streib prefers to say.
“Buyers are looking at your space and its livability,” the expert said. “Open space also brings about a sense of calm.”
If your seller is like most homeowners, you’ll find clutter everywhere, from the front door to the back. In the entryway, for example, they might have a spot where the kids dump their dirty shoes, or perhaps a well-used umbrella stand or coat rack. Put them out of sight so visitors don’t start with an unsightly mess. The new owner may eventually do exactly what the sellers have done, but don’t show them it’s necessary.
In the kitchen, put away all those small appliances the sellers only use once in a while: the toaster, the mixer or the electric can opener, perhaps. People value counter space, so show them the home has plenty. While you’re at it, sellers should straighten up those cabinets – people will definitely peek inside during a tour.
Would-be buyers will open closets, too. If the sellers’ are stuffed full, suggest weeding out the things they haven’t worn in years and donate them to a secondhand store. If they have seasonal stuff, they can box it up and put it elsewhere.
A seller should go through their entire house this way – room by room, one at a time, looking for things that can be put away or disposed of entirely. And stop them from just tossing all those excess belongings in the attic and garage: Buyers will be eyeballing those spaces just like the rest of the house.
Depersonalize the Space
Once your sellers have accomplished this (admittedly herculean) task, they ought to take a hard look at their furniture. There are probably a few pieces they can either do without or move slightly to make the house look more spacious. Pushing a sofa back a foot or two or taking the leaf out of the dining room table will do the trick.
You’d be surprised what a difference this can make. There’s a house a couple of doors down from mine: It’s the exact same size, but it appears much smaller because it is overloaded with furniture and other stuff. In fact, the owner said that if I ever sell, he wants to buy my house because it’s far more spacious. In reality, it only appears that way because I have just enough furniture for the two of us.
While you’re doing all this, it’s important try to depersonalize the space. It’s OK to have a handful of personal pictures and mementos, but if a family’s faces are on the walls in every room, it will be hard for buyers to picture themselves living there. So, for the time being, put them away.
By the time you get to staging, of course, the sellers will have already repaired or replaced everything in the house that wasn’t working properly. If they decide the house could use a new coat of paint, help the sellers pick a neutral color: Not only will antique white make the place appear larger, but bold orange walls are likely to turn off a good part of the market.
Finally, sellers can’t forget to give their house a deep, thorough cleaning. Wash the floors, walls, windows and screens. They can do this work themselves, or it may be cost-effective to suggest they hire a professional.
Either way, once the house is spotless, they have to keep it that way – not just until they have a contract signed, but until the sale actually closes. Buyers often return to a house several times before closing. If they don’t like what they see on a second or third visit, there all are kinds of ways they can back out of the contract.
Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate for more than 50 years. He is a regular contributor to numerous shelter magazines and housing and housing-finance industry publications. Readers can contact him at lsichelman@aol.com.
