Warning for Atlanta Homeowners: If You Don’t Show It, You Can’t Sell It!
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by Eric Lowery in Atlanta Home Selling Tips
While I was reading a post on Active Rain from a home staging expert (sorry everyone, she’s not in Atlanta), I was reminded of one of my very first clients. And I couldn’t pick a better example if I tried.
When I first start selling homes back in 2006, my second listing was with a single woman with two kids. She lived in a cookie-cutter type neighborhood with lots of similar houses. At the time, there were only 3 or 4 homes for sale in the subdivision but one of them shared an identical floor plan to hers.
I got lots of calls from people that wanted to she the house, but over time, I noticed my client was becoming more and more irritable, and less and less cooperative. I never found out what was wrong with her (I suspect a form of bi-polar influence), but she would agree to let the house be shown, but at the last minute cancel for really stupid reasons. And I do mean stupid – such as, “I don’t want to leave the house right now,” or “I just don’t want to show it today.”
The fourth time she canceled a showing, she lost her sale. A relocation buyer was looking in the neighborhood and wanted to see her house and the similar home. I knew my client’s house was in better condition for the same price, and she would likely get an offer if the buyers were serious about the area. I told her about the buyer, and that there was a chance this would be “the one.” But at the last minute, she canceled anyway. Naturally, she was mad at me when the house down the street went under contract, and still didn’t seem to “get it” when I told her the buyers for that house wanted to see her house too, but she turned them away.
I was still new to the business, so I really didn’t know how to put my foot down with her. Needless to say, I never sold her house. Her buyers bought the house down the street because she was too lazy to let someone see her house.
So the moral: If your house is on the market and someone wants to see it, consider it a blessing and let them see it! It might be a far fetched idea, but they could be looking for something to buy! Just a thought!
