‘I could never live here,’ buyers might say

What's good for the pig will not, of course, be good for the gander. (Flickr photo by Todd Ehlers)

Almost everyone agrees that staging a property well is a necessity. But what if a place not only lacks staging but otherwise shows badly?

Many buyers literally or figuratively will venture no farther than the door if something about a property turns them off.

They may detect unpleasant odors, see evidence of abhorrent taste, decide that the homeowner is no champion of cleanliness or tidiness. There are myriad faults that can turn off prospective buyers.

At the same time, furniture that is inordinately expensive, photos that are too revealing or art that has a lofty provenance can intimidate buyers who otherwise ought to make an offer on the property.

“I could never live here,” such buyers may be thinking. Right! But the “here” they are seeing and sensing is not where they would live.

Although I have written previously about “the vision thing” and the inability of some buyers to see beyond décor that is not to their liking, the necessity of getting past other issues is perhaps a more subtle obstacle to their finding a new home.

It is in buyers’ best interest to ignore the litter box, the dustballs under a bed, the Old Master over the fireplace, the encrusted dishes piled in the kitchen sink, the Academy Award on a pedestal, the piles of dirty clothing in the closet or grandma’s overstuffed furniture with doilies on the arms.

Searching for a next home is hard enough without overlaying an emotional response to things that easily can be changed.

While buyers may well be thinking, with justification, that they could not imagine themselves living like the sellers, they do need to appreciate they will not, in fact, be doing so once they make a house into their home.

Tomorrow: Weekly Roundup

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Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201

Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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