You're Offended?

Sometimes it's hard to convince Sellers of the importance of keeping their listed property in "showable" condition. Actually, it's very hard. During a recent appointment, I took the homeowners outside of their property, had them lock the door and then had them open the door as if we were viewing a listing. Prior to entering the home, I said, "Let's walk through your home as if you are in the market to make a purchase. Tell me your TRUE feelings about the house and treat it as if it belonged to someone else." As we walked in the door, the Sellers paused and then immediately became embarassed and defensive. "It's hard keeping a the house clean EVERY SINGLE DAY! WE HAVE THREE FOUR KIDS, EACH ONE PLAYS SPORTS," said one of the parties. I simply stood there and stared. I explained that the purpose of the exercise was not to humiliate them, but to walk a mile in the shoes of prospective home owners. There's no point in expecting home buyers to be more concerned about your very personal situation than they are going to be about their own situations. If you don't want to purchaser a filthy home, why would someone be interested in purchasing your filthy home?  Does it really make sense to have standards of others that you don't live by yourself? Just when I thought that we were going to have a meetig of the minds, one of the parties says, "Well, if a buyer really wants the house, all THEY have to do is..."

You know how the story ends.