Home and Consumer - How To Sell A Messy, Disorganized And Dated Home For More Money

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How To Sell A Messy, Disorganized And Dated Home For More Money

Clint Cohen

How is it that one can live in a home that is in contention for a “packrat” museum of the decade, but yet take offense by an honest opinion of their listing real estate agent. They ask the agent to tell the potential buyers to look past it all.

If they decide to buy it, we will clean it out and fix the drywall damages and the water leak. We decided not to paint it because the new color may offend the buyer? Oh by the way, they ask the agent, why did the last buyers leave so soon, and why can’t you sell our home. The neighbors home sold right away for more money.

As an agent does this sound familiar? As a disgruntled seller, have you ever said or done this? Did you ever wonder why many homes just sit and never sell?

I had a situation as mentioned above, except…I believed to be much worse visually and aromatically, but I will spare you the details. The home had lots of potential, but it was hard getting the buyers past the first floor.

Remember this one thing: people buy on emotions….Only a small percentage of people can see through the present state, and if they decide to make an offer, it is generally lower. The other buyers run out of the home, and the few that remain, make an insanely low offer.

This buyer was very anxious and slowly heeded my advice. First, he had a major garage sale, a storage locker and a big dumpster. That managed to clear a path so that buyers could walk through. Hey, it was a start.

Next, I had him remove the excess, broken and non-antique relic furniture. I didn’t ask, but it just disappeared? Next were all the personal knick-knacks and personal collections of…? What possesses people to collect what they do?

Hey, we’re moving right along now. Kind of on a roll? Believe it or not, he is getting more showings? And…they are staying longer.

Now comes the hard part…spending some money. Even a collection in his wallet. He had the obvious repairs done, such as, a few broken windows, damaged drywall, missing doorknobs, leaking faucets and missing light bulbs. Mowed the lawn and attended to the overgrown landscaping and swept the driveway. We’re getting there. The pace is picking up.

He hired a painter to paint the front door and trim around it. A major concession, he gave the go ahead to paint the interior of the home, deodorize and clean the carpets. The pets found a new area in the basement. A few new inexpensive window shears and new bathroom accessories and shower curtain.

Tidied up a few other smaller details along with a cleaning crew and wow, I didn’t even recognize the place. Wonder of wonders and miracles from heaven. A home that we are now proud to show.

The follow week, it was shown on agent tour and had several open houses and a steady stream of second and third time buyers. Finally…two offers came in at the same time for full price…now what? Went back to each and asked for their final and best offer.

The home that no one wanted to look at let alone make an offer was finally sold and closed. The verdict? First of all…he got not only one, but two offers and sold for more than he was asking because now the buyer could see the potential.

Was it worth it? The seller spent about $5,000 to get it ready not including his time. He actually got an extra $5,000 in sale price and no discounts and or repair items. And…this messy, disorganized, cluttered and dated home sold for more than the asking price. An amazing feat in and of itself.

To learn more about how to sell your home fast and for more money including the use of home staging, please visit my web site today.

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http://www.truthofrealestate.com/profits

This news arrived on: 08/22/2008

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