Your home is ready to go on the market and all those little jobs have been completed to make the property stand out – you have had to deal with 3 or 4 estate agents who have all visited your home and said completely different things regarding values, fees payable and how you should stage your home for maximum effect – but i could hazard a guess that you weren’t told about these little gems that will almost certainly make you pull you hair out.
#1 VIEWERS DON’T TURN UP FOR VIEWINGS.
The amount of time and effort that you put into getting your home ready for prospective purchasers to come and view and the plans you put in place for removing the kids and pets for that set time, will just seem wasted when the viewer doesn’t even turn up.
Normally it will be your estate agent standing there waiting for this person not to show up, but on occasions it might well be you that is watching the ‘tumbleweeds’ roll past your window and it is best that you don’t let it upset you, instead let your agent know the viewer has not shown up and let them deal with it.
Purchasers do this all the time and for any number of reasons, all though the emergencies that the applicant had to deal with are generally lies (the odd one is true) it is normally down to laziness, which is why they don’t call the agent to let them know.
#2 THEY NEED TO VIEW NOW!!!
Through out life you will meet this kind of person, the queue jumpers, the ones that deserve to be served before anyone else or those that demand the service you offer them is better than the service you offer others. Well these are the types of viewers who will want to come and view you home with the shortest possible notice.
Agents will always try to explain to these viewers that like them, the vendors have a life too and see if they can make the appointment with 24 or 48 hours notice – but there are occasions where buyers who are moving into an area (normally job relocation’s) will require a viewing. It is now your choice whether to let them in or not, after all it could mean a sale – alas 80% of the time it will all be in vain.
That other 20% though could be a ‘what if’ moment if you reject that viewing, be guided by your agent as they will have vetted the applicant – even though it may mean a frantic 20 minutes of refreshing your home try not to dig the viewer in the ribs as you pass each other on your front door step !
#3 THEY SAID WHAT ABOUT MY HOUSE?
Don’t shoot the messenger ! When the agent calls it will either be with good news (offers or 2nd viewings) or bad news (the purchaser didn’t want to buy your home).
Whilst you will love to receive the offers and those second viewing bookings that will lead to offers, when you hear that someone is not interested in your home and you know that the feedback will be negative, you cant help yourself and the first thing you ask is “Why?”.
Somethings you can’t change about your home, but some feedback may help you to sell, the issue is normally that you will get brutally honest feedback from your agent and you will take it to heart.
A lot of my vendors would always asked me to give honest feedback but to soften the blow – “Ahhh yes Mr Vendor, the purchasers said that when the sun shone on the front of your home it made them forget how much like a haunted house it was” or “the purchasers loved the french doors to the rear garden as it released the smell of the pets from the house”.
If you want feedback be prepared for what you get, it may irritate you but it also may help you and don’t shout at the agent for giving it !
#4 THAT’S NOT HOW I LEFT IT.
Don’t worry, the viewers have not invited a poltergeist into your home that has moved everything – normally a potential purchaser may move things to see your home a bit more clearly, to look at walls that are hidden by furniture or to see the depths of cupboards etc.
If a child sees another child’s room they may see something that peeks their interest and pick it up to show their parents and then put it down in the wrong place or may sit on the sofa out of boredom whilst their parents talk to the agent and move a cushion or two.
Items will get moved around sometimes and neither the agent nor the buyer will know the original positioning quite like you do, just don’t let it get to you – after all you may have just secured that offer that lets you move.
#5 THAT’S NOT AN OFFER, IT’S AN INSULT!
You have been through viewers not turning up, spoilt purchasers, demoralising feedback and an apparition moving objects around your home and when it finally come time for a bit of good news the offer that comes in makes you want to scream.
Every offer that comes in must be put to you buy law and believe me when i say the agent has already questioned the applicant as to why it is so low and is dreading picking up the phone to tell you.
Low offers happen and usually they can be negotiated to an acceptable level but when they can’t just take it on the chin and move on, for when you get an acceptable offer the low ones will be forgotten.
Selling your home is not easy and those five things above can just drive you insane if you let them – my advice is to let them just wash over you, it’s the price you have to pay for dealing with the general public and whilst most of the public are utterly wonderful there are some that you just want to throttle.
Use your agent, you chose them for a reason and they will have been through this many times over – reach out to them – it’s all part of their service to you.
The House That Roared 