My thoughts are if you REALLY want to sell you home read this article, pay close attention to the list, and do the EXACT opposite! It really will help you sell your home. It is amazing what I see everyday when looking at homes. True, some people really don’t want to sell their home, for various reasons, but if YOU DO then take the time and get your home ready before you put it on the market to sell.
If you really don’t want to sell your home, here are 10 things that you can do to sabotage the sale (based on my real world experience working with buyers).
1. Make it difficult to see your home. If you really want to turn off the buyer, agree to a time and
then don’t show up (no lockbox, obviously).
2. Don’t clean off the front walkway and front porch. This is especially a deterrent if it has been snowy or icy.
3. Keep your Holiday decorations up all year round.
4. Don’t remove the dead trees and shrubs on your property.
5. Put a key that doesn’t work well in your lock in the lockbox. Using a deadbolt and then not providing a key in the lockbox works well, too.
6. Put lots of plug-in air fresheners in your house. A lot of them!
7. Don’t get too caught up in vacuuming or keeping the kitchens and bathrooms clean.
8. Leave the dogs out and about…especially if they bark at the door when someone rings the bell.
9. Agree to a showing time and have people asleep in different bedrooms so that they can’t be seen.
10. Keep a lot of trash around the yard; old appliances, recycling and broken bikes work really well for this.
It is a lot of work to sell your home. Many buyers try to overlook some of the things that buyers opt not to do before their home is listed, but at some point, it is very difficult to pay attention to the house when there are so many non-essential things vying for a buyer’s attention.
Do the heavy lifting (literally!) prior to listing your home. Your home will look good, buyers will be impressed and, hopefully, it will go under contract quickly and for a good price. After all, isn’t that your ultimate goal?
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I believe that buying or selling real estate should be a GREAT EXPERIENCE. If I can help you, your friends or family buy or sell their next home in Northern Virginia, please let me know!
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