interesting considerations in a tight inventory market....from Investopedia.com
How to Find and Buy Off-Market Homes
With real estate inventory still tight in many markets around the country, home buyers need an edge, and that’s where off-market listings come in. Otherwise known as pocket listings, these are homes that are for sale but aren’t listed on the multiple listing services. That means the real estate agents selling these properties have to do the legwork to find buyers.
Off-market listings may seem counter-intuitive to the seller. After all, there is more demand than inventory which means bidding wars are a common occurrence in many neighborhoods. This all poses the question why would a seller want to do a secret listing? Some opt for an off-market listing to test the waters while others go this route for a more private sales process. Certain homeowners even think a pocket listing will create an allure that will get them an even higher price than a traditional bidding war.
Buyers Get An Edge Over The Competition
For buyers, the benefits of an off-market listing are twofold. For starters, it gives them access to inventory that their competition isn’t seeing. If you are buying in a particularly hot market, pocket listings may be the only way to purchase a home. In regular market climates, buyers of pocket listings often get a deal partly because the commission the seller has to pay is lower. Buyers who have access to these off-market listing increase the odds they will end up purchasing a home. (Read more, here: How To Avoid Overpaying In A Real Estate Bidding War.) And today it is easier than before to locate off-market listings. In the past, the only way to hear about a pocket listing was through word of mouth. The Internet changed all that and now websites like Zillow.com and HiddenListings.com are examples of places buyers can find off-market houses.
Off-Market Listings Come In Different Varieties
When it comes to off-market listings, they come in different flavors. There are the traditional, secret prestigious listings-the exclusive, million dollar homes that most of us only see on T.V. Then there are those listings that will show up on real estate search websites 30 days or more before the house will hit the multiple listing service that everyone has access too. There’s also those opportunistic off-market listings where a real estate agent will approach a homeowner about selling their home.
Real Estate Agents Are Often Key To Off-Market Listings
Finding a traditional, exclusive, off-market home isn’t going to be as easy as searching the web. It’s going to require a little homework and lots of networking. Once you have pinpointed the neighborhood, you want to buy in you’ll need to come up with a list of top agents and contact them about any pocket listings they may have. That’s going to mean calling or sending an email to make contact. Some real estate agents even have websites where they showcase their off-market houses and have services that buyers can subscribe to and get email alerts about new listings.
Websites Make It Easier To Find Them
In addition to contacting real estate agents directly, buyers have a lot of Internet tools available to them to find listings before they are open to the general public. For instance Zillow’s “coming soon” feature lets agents, brokers and multiple listing services market homes on Zillow thirty days before it hits the multiple listing services. That gives quick acting buyers a bit of an early advantage, granted their competition isn’t using Zillow as well. PocketList.co is a website that lists off-market real estate in the San Francisco Bay area and is an example of a local pocket listing service.
Finding a pocket listing is half the battle but seeing a deal go through is the end-game, which is why buyers of off-market listings have to know the ins and outs of the process. Once you get to contract, it is a standard deal, but since the agent is likely representing both of you, it can get a bit murky. While a pocket listing gives you VIP access to the real estate market, the tradeoff is often the real estate agent is representing both you and the seller. Known as a dual agency sale, while perfectly legal, it can be hard for the buyer to tell if the agent has his or her's best interests in mind. The higher the sale price, the heftier the commission for the agent. If you are buying in a market with little inventory, it may not matter if you are getting the best deal as long as you get the home, but it pays to be aware of any conflicts of interest.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Bidding Wars: How to Lose (but Also How to Win One)
good considerations from realtor.com
Bid wars crop up during prime home buying and selling season, and if you’re looking to buy in an area with low inventory and high demand, you’re probably going to run face-first into a bidding war. After the housing crunch of 2008, they certainly went away for a while, but now a recent study has found bidding wars are back in force.
So here's the question for buyers: Do you know how to handle a bidding war, or are you going to let that dream home get away? Here are all the things you can do wrong—so you know how to do it right.
Fail to realize you're in a bid war
A surefire way to lose a bidding war is to not realize there's going to be one. So, how do you know?
First thing's first: Know where you're shopping. If you're in one of the following markets—some of the hottest in the country, viewed two to seven times more often on our site than the national average—chances are, there's going to be a bidding war:
Even if you're not in one of those regions, the housing market remains tight nationwide (too many buyers, not enough inventory). So, observe your surroundings. How many people are at the open house?
“If it feels as though you're at Grand Central Station at rush hour, chances are there will be a multiple-offers situation,” says Victoria Vinokur, an estate broker at Halstead Property in New York City.
Finally, if you’ve made an offer and your agent tells you they’ve heard of higher bids, “you now know you have competition,” says Susan MacDonald of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in Garden City, NY.
Be completely disorganized
Sellers want your offer to come in a crisp, easy-to-read package, not in a mis-autocorrected Snapchat. When you know you’re in a bidding war, says Vinokur, get answers to these questions:
• Is there a deadline to submit offers?
• Is there a specific offer format the seller wants to see?
• Are there any other factors that might be important to the seller? Do he want a quick closing or a delayed one?
Noncontingent financing offers? Does the seller want to stay in or rent the home until he can find another home (also known as a rent-back agreement)?
Not asking these questions is a good way to get your offer rejected. You also want to know what the seller is looking for and if it lines up with what you’re willing to do.
“Have a clean, correct, and easily legible offer packet, with a pre-approval letter or proof of funds,” said Sepehr Niakin, a broker who owns CondoBlackBook.com in Miami. Add a cover letter, and don’t be afraid to get personal.
“Write a letter to the owners stating why you love the home," Vinokur said. Make no mistake: This should not be a lighthearted letter—it should be well-written and sincere.
An effective cover letter should include these things:
• An introduction complimenting the seller’s property
• A second paragraph describing what you’re like—your job (a good one, we hope!), your family, your interests.
• The third paragraph should describe how you envision your future in the property. For example: "We hope you
will accept us—we would love to raise our kids here."
Make a lowball offer that doesn't stand out in the bid wars
In a hot market, don’t lowball to see if the seller will entertain your offer (that’s for the off-season). When crafting your bid, make it a strong figure—and make it a number that might stand out.
“Most offers will be in round numbers, so stand out by going to the next highest number with a 1 or a 6 at the end of it,” says Brian Horan, a broker with Home Buyers Marketing II in Los Angeles.
Don't sweeten the pot
When you’re competing with multiple offers, you have to come prepared. If you can pay with cash, that’s a huge plus—our experts agree it’s one of the best ways to win. But not everyone can do that. Get pre-approved so the seller knows you’re serious. If that’s not enough, sweeten the pot.
“Pay with cash if possible; if not, consider increasing the amount of your down payment,” said Sharon Voss, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association.
You can also put down some substantial earnest money—“1% or greater,” says Lera Lasater Lee, a Realtor® with Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty in Dallas.
If you’re still dead-set on getting that home, you can also offer to pay the seller’s closing costs.
Lose sight of your limits
It's a fine line to walk, though––sweetening the pot can be helpful, but be careful not to get caught up in a buying frenzy. If you overpay for the house, did you really win? Take a step back and figure out a limit on how much you want to pay for that property.
You can go about this in two ways:
1. Make your best offer upfront, pre-emptively assuming you won’t have a chance to make another, Voss says.
2. Go with an escalation clause, which details how much you’re willing to outbid another offer up to a certain limit, says Niakin.
For example, you make an offer of $400,000 with a cap of $425,000, offering to outbid the last bidder by $5,000 increments until it reaches $425,000. (You’ll also want to get a lawyer to word the clause correctly.)
“This is only recommended if the buyer really wants the property and is willing to lay all their cards on a table when they know there will be multiple, very motivated buyers making offers,” Niakin said.
Put in a bid, then skip town
Now is not the time to head to the Bahamas. If you really want that home, you should stick around until you know whether your offer fell through or was accepted.
“Don't go out of town or be otherwise inaccessible to your Realtor during a bidding war,” says Voss. “Be prepared to make decisions very quickly and respond very quickly to questions about your offer.”
Drag your feet to the closing
Sellers like to close fast. When you’re in a multiple-offer situation, it’s best to make an offer with few contingencies. That can mean forgoing repairs or added appliances and furniture.
An appraisal contingency is debatable if you're paying with cash—if you really know your area and are confident it will appraise right, you might decide to waive it—but be sure to ask your agent. One thing you don’t want to do is skip the inspection contingency.
No matter what, be quick about it.
“Tighten up your timelines,” Niakin said. “Instead of 15 days, make it seven or 10 days. If you run into some issue, you can always ask for an extension later.”
Lose your sense of perspective
Above all else, keep a clear head.
“Don't be emotional; set a threshold price and don't be upset if you lose,” Vinokur said.
“Get your ducks in a row before entering the home purchase process," Lee echoed. "Don’t be afraid to walk away.”
Bid wars crop up during prime home buying and selling season, and if you’re looking to buy in an area with low inventory and high demand, you’re probably going to run face-first into a bidding war. After the housing crunch of 2008, they certainly went away for a while, but now a recent study has found bidding wars are back in force.
So here's the question for buyers: Do you know how to handle a bidding war, or are you going to let that dream home get away? Here are all the things you can do wrong—so you know how to do it right.
Fail to realize you're in a bid war
A surefire way to lose a bidding war is to not realize there's going to be one. So, how do you know?
First thing's first: Know where you're shopping. If you're in one of the following markets—some of the hottest in the country, viewed two to seven times more often on our site than the national average—chances are, there's going to be a bidding war:
Even if you're not in one of those regions, the housing market remains tight nationwide (too many buyers, not enough inventory). So, observe your surroundings. How many people are at the open house?
“If it feels as though you're at Grand Central Station at rush hour, chances are there will be a multiple-offers situation,” says Victoria Vinokur, an estate broker at Halstead Property in New York City.
Finally, if you’ve made an offer and your agent tells you they’ve heard of higher bids, “you now know you have competition,” says Susan MacDonald of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in Garden City, NY.
Be completely disorganized
Sellers want your offer to come in a crisp, easy-to-read package, not in a mis-autocorrected Snapchat. When you know you’re in a bidding war, says Vinokur, get answers to these questions:
• Is there a deadline to submit offers?
• Is there a specific offer format the seller wants to see?
• Are there any other factors that might be important to the seller? Do he want a quick closing or a delayed one?
Noncontingent financing offers? Does the seller want to stay in or rent the home until he can find another home (also known as a rent-back agreement)?
Not asking these questions is a good way to get your offer rejected. You also want to know what the seller is looking for and if it lines up with what you’re willing to do.
“Have a clean, correct, and easily legible offer packet, with a pre-approval letter or proof of funds,” said Sepehr Niakin, a broker who owns CondoBlackBook.com in Miami. Add a cover letter, and don’t be afraid to get personal.
“Write a letter to the owners stating why you love the home," Vinokur said. Make no mistake: This should not be a lighthearted letter—it should be well-written and sincere.
An effective cover letter should include these things:
• An introduction complimenting the seller’s property
• A second paragraph describing what you’re like—your job (a good one, we hope!), your family, your interests.
• The third paragraph should describe how you envision your future in the property. For example: "We hope you
will accept us—we would love to raise our kids here."
Make a lowball offer that doesn't stand out in the bid wars
In a hot market, don’t lowball to see if the seller will entertain your offer (that’s for the off-season). When crafting your bid, make it a strong figure—and make it a number that might stand out.
“Most offers will be in round numbers, so stand out by going to the next highest number with a 1 or a 6 at the end of it,” says Brian Horan, a broker with Home Buyers Marketing II in Los Angeles.
Don't sweeten the pot
When you’re competing with multiple offers, you have to come prepared. If you can pay with cash, that’s a huge plus—our experts agree it’s one of the best ways to win. But not everyone can do that. Get pre-approved so the seller knows you’re serious. If that’s not enough, sweeten the pot.
“Pay with cash if possible; if not, consider increasing the amount of your down payment,” said Sharon Voss, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association.
You can also put down some substantial earnest money—“1% or greater,” says Lera Lasater Lee, a Realtor® with Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty in Dallas.
If you’re still dead-set on getting that home, you can also offer to pay the seller’s closing costs.
Lose sight of your limits
It's a fine line to walk, though––sweetening the pot can be helpful, but be careful not to get caught up in a buying frenzy. If you overpay for the house, did you really win? Take a step back and figure out a limit on how much you want to pay for that property.
You can go about this in two ways:
1. Make your best offer upfront, pre-emptively assuming you won’t have a chance to make another, Voss says.
2. Go with an escalation clause, which details how much you’re willing to outbid another offer up to a certain limit, says Niakin.
For example, you make an offer of $400,000 with a cap of $425,000, offering to outbid the last bidder by $5,000 increments until it reaches $425,000. (You’ll also want to get a lawyer to word the clause correctly.)
“This is only recommended if the buyer really wants the property and is willing to lay all their cards on a table when they know there will be multiple, very motivated buyers making offers,” Niakin said.
Put in a bid, then skip town
Now is not the time to head to the Bahamas. If you really want that home, you should stick around until you know whether your offer fell through or was accepted.
“Don't go out of town or be otherwise inaccessible to your Realtor during a bidding war,” says Voss. “Be prepared to make decisions very quickly and respond very quickly to questions about your offer.”
Drag your feet to the closing
Sellers like to close fast. When you’re in a multiple-offer situation, it’s best to make an offer with few contingencies. That can mean forgoing repairs or added appliances and furniture.
An appraisal contingency is debatable if you're paying with cash—if you really know your area and are confident it will appraise right, you might decide to waive it—but be sure to ask your agent. One thing you don’t want to do is skip the inspection contingency.
No matter what, be quick about it.
“Tighten up your timelines,” Niakin said. “Instead of 15 days, make it seven or 10 days. If you run into some issue, you can always ask for an extension later.”
Lose your sense of perspective
Above all else, keep a clear head.
“Don't be emotional; set a threshold price and don't be upset if you lose,” Vinokur said.
“Get your ducks in a row before entering the home purchase process," Lee echoed. "Don’t be afraid to walk away.”
10 surefire ways to scare off homebuyers
good considerations for how to market your home during your home sale from bankrate.com
You may have a right-sized home in a good neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean you have the upper hand in selling your house, especially if the house is smelly and cluttered.
To talk about homebuyer turnoffs, we assembled a coast-to-coast team of experts: Chad Goldwasser of Pure Gold Realty in Austin, Texas; Terry Cannon, a buyer’s agent and broker with EBA Realty, in Salem, Oregon; and Julie Dana, a “home stylist” in East Aurora, New York, and co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell.”
They suggest 10 turnoffs that sellers should avoid.
Dirt, grime and filth
Nothing will turn off a homebuyer faster than showing a house with filthy floors and kitchen counters where new life-forms are evolving.
“The No. 1 biggest mistake is not getting the home in the best possible condition. That’s huge,” Goldwasser says. “I won’t even represent sellers at this point unless they are fully aware of how important it is to get their home in the absolute best condition that they’ve ever had it in.”
Goldwasser recommends that sellers make an extra effort, from steam-cleaning tile and grout to replacing carpets.
“If the carpets are old and smelly, you should put in new,” he says. “If they’re relatively new, you should at least have them shampooed.”
Cannon agrees that grime can derail any showing.
“The home should be neat and clean and free of all debris,” Cannon says. “If it reeks of cats or the kitchen sinks and counters are so filthy that it almost looks like the food is moving, I won’t even want to come in.”
Odors from food, pets and smoking
Don’t sell a stinky house. Buyers don’t like to detect by smell what your favorite foods are and the types of pets you have.
“Odors are a big one, especially kitchen odors,” Dana says. “I advise my clients not to cook fried food, fish or greasy food while the house is on the market.”
Some pet owners mistakenly believe pet smells to which they’ve become accustomed help make their residence homey. Wrong.
Dana advises her clients to remove all traces of pets, not just pet odors. It’s important to get rid of pet paraphernalia and have a “pet plan” to make sure the animals are not around when the house is shown.
“A lot of times, people will leave pet items out — dog dishes, cat litter boxes, etc.,” Dana says. “That immediately turns off a buyer because they wonder, ‘What has that animal done in the house?’ Also, some people really don’t like dogs. The minute they walk in and see this big, old dog bowl, they immediately won’t like the house.”
The same rules hold true for smokers: Remove all ashtrays, clean all curtains and upholstery, and consider smoking outdoors while your house is on the market.
Outdated fixtures and appliances
Buyers are not impressed by tarnished doorknobs, disco-era light fixtures or old ceiling fans.
“You need to change out old fixtures in your house,” Goldwasser says. “New cabinet hardware and doorknobs will probably cost all of $400 or $500, but it makes a huge difference.”
The same holds true for dated ceiling fans, light fixtures and kitchen appliances.
“Homes that have old fans, lights, ovens, microwaves, ranges and dishwashers can really turn a buyer off,” says Goldwasser. “Sellers will say, ‘Oh, the buyers can take care of that.’ Well, yes, they can, but it’s going to impede you from getting the highest price possible for your home.”
Wallpaper
Today’s buyer doesn’t want wallpaper, no matter how much your grandfather liked it.
“Wallpaper is a definite no-no,” Dana says.
Wallpaper is difficult to remove and simply adds another chore to a buyer’s to-do list, Dana says.
“Wallpaper is extremely personalized. You’ve spent hours looking over books to pick out the wallpaper you want,” she says. “What are the odds that the person walking in the door will also like that wallpaper that you picked out?”
Popcorn acoustic ceilings
The shag carpet from the ’60s or ’70s was replaced long ago. But acoustic popcorn ceilings, another artifact of that era (and of the ’80s, too) might remain. They badly date your home.
If you can’t stomach the cost or the mess to remove the overhead popcorn, be prepared to credit a buyer in certain markets to close a sale.
“The popcorn acoustic ceiling is a major, major turnoff to buyers these days,” Goldwasser says.
Lots of personal items
Shopping for a house is like shopping for clothes. Buyers are trying on your home to see how it fits, as if it were a pair of shoes. If personal items clutter your house, it’s like the buyer is trying on those shoes while you’re standing in them. A fit is unlikely.
“Anything that makes your house scream ‘you’ is what you don’t want,” Dana says. “I tell all my clients that how we decorate to live and how we decorate to sell are different, and right now, we’re decorating to sell.”
Sellers should try to remove personal items, including family photos, personal effects and even unique colors, she says.
“As soon as you have family photos, buyers get very distracted. ‘Oh, did I go to school with him? What do their children look like?'” she says. “Suddenly, you’re selling your family, and you’re not selling the home.”
If you really want to entice a buyer, Dana offers a tip: “I try to place a mirror strategically so that people can actually see themselves in the home, so they can actually picture themselves living there.”
Sellers who hang around the house
Generally speaking, buyers don’t like it when sellers meet them at the door, follow them around, eavesdrop and make unsolicited comments.
“It’s so annoying,” Goldwasser says. “They will want to walk around with the potential buyer and put in their 2 cents’ worth. It’s not good. Normally, there are 1 out of 10 sellers where it’s OK to have them there, and that’s because they know what is up with the property and how everything works.”
Goldwasser makes a point to shoo his sellers away from showings when he’s the listing agent.
“They like to think they know what they’re doing, and that’s fine,” he says. “But when you’ve sold thousands of homes and you have a system, you know how to get people the maximum value for their home. That’s why they hire you, right?”
Misrepresenting a home
Sellers use photos and words to make their homes enticing on the multiple listing service. But sometimes the words and pictures paint a false portrait. Buyers don’t like that.
One of Cannon’s buyers loved a home she saw online. When Cannon drove by, he was surprised to see acres of ramshackle mobile homes across the street.
“Sellers are going to paint the best picture they can,” he says. “Some listings I’ve looked at and wondered how in the world they got that gorgeous photo without showing all the junk that’s around it. When you get there, you wonder, why didn’t they just be upfront?”
Poor curb appeal
Seeing a house for the first time is like meeting a person for the first time: Appearance counts. That first-glance impression of a house is called “curb appeal.”
“You have to totally trim and edge your yard to get it into the most immaculate condition you can,” Goldwasser says. “It’s a big mistake to not freshly mulch the beds and trim the trees. Every little detail counts.
“To not power wash the exterior or leave mud dauber and wasp and bird’s nests in your eaves and above your doors? You’ve got to be a fool to do that.”
Clutter
A lot of us live with clutter. We get so accustomed to it that we scarcely perceive it anymore. But homebuyers notice. Where to begin with clutter?
“I usually start in the closets,” Dana says. “Your closets should be half-full, with nothing on the floor. Why? Because most people looking for a house have outgrown their previous house. Showing them that you’ve still got room to grow gives them a reason to buy.”
Kitchens and bookshelves should showcase spaciousness by following the rule of 3. For kitchens, no more than 3 countertop appliances. Meanwhile, bookshelves should be divided into thirds: one-third books, one-third vases and pictures, and one-third empty.
The home office should be generic so any type of professional can imagine living there, Dana says. “Otherwise, it can be a distraction: ‘What does he do for a living? How much money does he make?'” she says.
Dana’s tip for toddler parents is to pack away extraneous “kiddie litter” and keep a laundry basket handy.
“When you get that phone call one hour before a showing, toss everything in that basket and take it to the car with you and your kids, and you’re all set,” she says.
You may have a right-sized home in a good neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean you have the upper hand in selling your house, especially if the house is smelly and cluttered.
To talk about homebuyer turnoffs, we assembled a coast-to-coast team of experts: Chad Goldwasser of Pure Gold Realty in Austin, Texas; Terry Cannon, a buyer’s agent and broker with EBA Realty, in Salem, Oregon; and Julie Dana, a “home stylist” in East Aurora, New York, and co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell.”
They suggest 10 turnoffs that sellers should avoid.
Dirt, grime and filth
Nothing will turn off a homebuyer faster than showing a house with filthy floors and kitchen counters where new life-forms are evolving.
“The No. 1 biggest mistake is not getting the home in the best possible condition. That’s huge,” Goldwasser says. “I won’t even represent sellers at this point unless they are fully aware of how important it is to get their home in the absolute best condition that they’ve ever had it in.”
Goldwasser recommends that sellers make an extra effort, from steam-cleaning tile and grout to replacing carpets.
“If the carpets are old and smelly, you should put in new,” he says. “If they’re relatively new, you should at least have them shampooed.”
Cannon agrees that grime can derail any showing.
“The home should be neat and clean and free of all debris,” Cannon says. “If it reeks of cats or the kitchen sinks and counters are so filthy that it almost looks like the food is moving, I won’t even want to come in.”
Odors from food, pets and smoking
Don’t sell a stinky house. Buyers don’t like to detect by smell what your favorite foods are and the types of pets you have.
“Odors are a big one, especially kitchen odors,” Dana says. “I advise my clients not to cook fried food, fish or greasy food while the house is on the market.”
Some pet owners mistakenly believe pet smells to which they’ve become accustomed help make their residence homey. Wrong.
Dana advises her clients to remove all traces of pets, not just pet odors. It’s important to get rid of pet paraphernalia and have a “pet plan” to make sure the animals are not around when the house is shown.
“A lot of times, people will leave pet items out — dog dishes, cat litter boxes, etc.,” Dana says. “That immediately turns off a buyer because they wonder, ‘What has that animal done in the house?’ Also, some people really don’t like dogs. The minute they walk in and see this big, old dog bowl, they immediately won’t like the house.”
The same rules hold true for smokers: Remove all ashtrays, clean all curtains and upholstery, and consider smoking outdoors while your house is on the market.
Outdated fixtures and appliances
Buyers are not impressed by tarnished doorknobs, disco-era light fixtures or old ceiling fans.
“You need to change out old fixtures in your house,” Goldwasser says. “New cabinet hardware and doorknobs will probably cost all of $400 or $500, but it makes a huge difference.”
The same holds true for dated ceiling fans, light fixtures and kitchen appliances.
“Homes that have old fans, lights, ovens, microwaves, ranges and dishwashers can really turn a buyer off,” says Goldwasser. “Sellers will say, ‘Oh, the buyers can take care of that.’ Well, yes, they can, but it’s going to impede you from getting the highest price possible for your home.”
Wallpaper
Today’s buyer doesn’t want wallpaper, no matter how much your grandfather liked it.
“Wallpaper is a definite no-no,” Dana says.
Wallpaper is difficult to remove and simply adds another chore to a buyer’s to-do list, Dana says.
“Wallpaper is extremely personalized. You’ve spent hours looking over books to pick out the wallpaper you want,” she says. “What are the odds that the person walking in the door will also like that wallpaper that you picked out?”
Popcorn acoustic ceilings
The shag carpet from the ’60s or ’70s was replaced long ago. But acoustic popcorn ceilings, another artifact of that era (and of the ’80s, too) might remain. They badly date your home.
If you can’t stomach the cost or the mess to remove the overhead popcorn, be prepared to credit a buyer in certain markets to close a sale.
“The popcorn acoustic ceiling is a major, major turnoff to buyers these days,” Goldwasser says.
Lots of personal items
Shopping for a house is like shopping for clothes. Buyers are trying on your home to see how it fits, as if it were a pair of shoes. If personal items clutter your house, it’s like the buyer is trying on those shoes while you’re standing in them. A fit is unlikely.
“Anything that makes your house scream ‘you’ is what you don’t want,” Dana says. “I tell all my clients that how we decorate to live and how we decorate to sell are different, and right now, we’re decorating to sell.”
Sellers should try to remove personal items, including family photos, personal effects and even unique colors, she says.
“As soon as you have family photos, buyers get very distracted. ‘Oh, did I go to school with him? What do their children look like?'” she says. “Suddenly, you’re selling your family, and you’re not selling the home.”
If you really want to entice a buyer, Dana offers a tip: “I try to place a mirror strategically so that people can actually see themselves in the home, so they can actually picture themselves living there.”
Sellers who hang around the house
Generally speaking, buyers don’t like it when sellers meet them at the door, follow them around, eavesdrop and make unsolicited comments.
“It’s so annoying,” Goldwasser says. “They will want to walk around with the potential buyer and put in their 2 cents’ worth. It’s not good. Normally, there are 1 out of 10 sellers where it’s OK to have them there, and that’s because they know what is up with the property and how everything works.”
Goldwasser makes a point to shoo his sellers away from showings when he’s the listing agent.
“They like to think they know what they’re doing, and that’s fine,” he says. “But when you’ve sold thousands of homes and you have a system, you know how to get people the maximum value for their home. That’s why they hire you, right?”
Misrepresenting a home
Sellers use photos and words to make their homes enticing on the multiple listing service. But sometimes the words and pictures paint a false portrait. Buyers don’t like that.
One of Cannon’s buyers loved a home she saw online. When Cannon drove by, he was surprised to see acres of ramshackle mobile homes across the street.
“Sellers are going to paint the best picture they can,” he says. “Some listings I’ve looked at and wondered how in the world they got that gorgeous photo without showing all the junk that’s around it. When you get there, you wonder, why didn’t they just be upfront?”
Poor curb appeal
Seeing a house for the first time is like meeting a person for the first time: Appearance counts. That first-glance impression of a house is called “curb appeal.”
“You have to totally trim and edge your yard to get it into the most immaculate condition you can,” Goldwasser says. “It’s a big mistake to not freshly mulch the beds and trim the trees. Every little detail counts.
“To not power wash the exterior or leave mud dauber and wasp and bird’s nests in your eaves and above your doors? You’ve got to be a fool to do that.”
Clutter
A lot of us live with clutter. We get so accustomed to it that we scarcely perceive it anymore. But homebuyers notice. Where to begin with clutter?
“I usually start in the closets,” Dana says. “Your closets should be half-full, with nothing on the floor. Why? Because most people looking for a house have outgrown their previous house. Showing them that you’ve still got room to grow gives them a reason to buy.”
Kitchens and bookshelves should showcase spaciousness by following the rule of 3. For kitchens, no more than 3 countertop appliances. Meanwhile, bookshelves should be divided into thirds: one-third books, one-third vases and pictures, and one-third empty.
The home office should be generic so any type of professional can imagine living there, Dana says. “Otherwise, it can be a distraction: ‘What does he do for a living? How much money does he make?'” she says.
Dana’s tip for toddler parents is to pack away extraneous “kiddie litter” and keep a laundry basket handy.
“When you get that phone call one hour before a showing, toss everything in that basket and take it to the car with you and your kids, and you’re all set,” she says.
People in glass houses: The best uses of glass in architecture
not for the shy, especially the bathroom photo at the bottom, just in case you're looking for some interesting design ideas, here's an article excerpt from newatlas.com
S-House, by Japanese architect Yuusuke Karasawa, offers a take on the glass house that requires a very outgoing person. Situated in Tokyo, the unusual 50 sq m (538 sq ft) dwelling is envisioned by the architect as a comment on the limited privacy we face in the internet age.
Though the majority of S House's interior, including kitchen and lounge areas, are completely open to nosey passersby, Karasawa did at least put the master bedroom and bathroom in a basement below street level.
Vertical Glass House – Atelier FCJZ
Atelier FCJZ's Vertical Glass House can be found in Shanghai and was built for the West Bund Biennial Architecture and Contemporary Art exhibition, and it now serves as unusual guesthouse for visiting artists and architects. The home is mostly glass and steel except for the facade, which is concrete, and sports small glass slits. A generous glazed roof offers plenty of daylight inside.
Still, lest you get the impression that this is a glass house suitable for shy, retiring types, check out the placement of the toilet in the photo above.
S-House, by Japanese architect Yuusuke Karasawa, offers a take on the glass house that requires a very outgoing person. Situated in Tokyo, the unusual 50 sq m (538 sq ft) dwelling is envisioned by the architect as a comment on the limited privacy we face in the internet age.
Though the majority of S House's interior, including kitchen and lounge areas, are completely open to nosey passersby, Karasawa did at least put the master bedroom and bathroom in a basement below street level.
Vertical Glass House – Atelier FCJZ
Atelier FCJZ's Vertical Glass House can be found in Shanghai and was built for the West Bund Biennial Architecture and Contemporary Art exhibition, and it now serves as unusual guesthouse for visiting artists and architects. The home is mostly glass and steel except for the facade, which is concrete, and sports small glass slits. A generous glazed roof offers plenty of daylight inside.
Still, lest you get the impression that this is a glass house suitable for shy, retiring types, check out the placement of the toilet in the photo above.
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