Why do I care what people think of my house?

[Erva]

We have to move (it stinks) and we had a real estate agent(recommended by the agent in the town we are moving to) over yesterday to see the house. She walked into the mudroom and looked ready to faint. When the dog and cat came over to greet her she visibly flinched and we had to keep the whining dog outside and hold the cats the whole time she was here. Our house is anything but neat and it is worse now that we have started trying to box things and get rid of clutter, but this woman made me feel like she thought we were gross. She is the top sales agent in our area and very knowledgeable though. She gave us an estimate 10 grand less than we hoped for and our number was pretty low. We had another agent come through who loved the house, saw it's 'charm'(it's a victorian) and told us we should list it right around the price we thought (before we told them what we thought). I don't want to go with someone who tells me what I want to hear even if the truth is different, but I don't want an agent who really doesn't care for my house (or me for that matter). Any advice? This is so hard we hate having to move. I have 2 kids, one is 13 and this is hard for them. Thanks in advance from a lurker.

[siligut]

1. Moving does stink.

In this economy, people are looking for a deal, more than ever. Maybe her attitude allows her to be the top, but that doesn’t mean she is the best for you. People who manipulate without words are more successful, but most certainly not better.

The market is tough, depending upon where you live, i.e. tough and tougher. However, a nice Victorian, with a mudroom? Come on, you have a beautiful house. Don’t let miss nose in the air sell you short. Just don’t. Good luck.

[lost-in-nj]

2. She sounds like a snob real estate agent

that wants the million dollar homes...

you should price it a little higher then you want so you can "negotiate"
good luck, its a tough selling market....
but I like victorians!!!


lost

[laylah]

16. I agree with linj; however,

I would never want that snobbish of a person selling my house. Just saying. You said you had a realtor over that loved the place. Is there any reason you are not using her/him? :hug: Good luck!

[riderinthestorm]

3. Okay, can you answer me honestly?

I'm also moving - in 4 weeks. I've been in this house for 23 years, my husband for 25 years. The house is a wreck. I haven't "cleaned" in weeks - I'm packing right? I mean, every single closet is stuffed with 25 years of "stuff", and even contemplating cleaning out the garage, basement and attic is giving me nightmares.

So my mother comes over yesterday and she's appalled that I haven't scrubbed the showers! And (gasp!) there's toothpaste spots on the mirror! And the foyer floor is a wreck (it's been raining and everything is muddy)!

I mean, WHAT THE FUCK!!?? I'm packing! I'm moving! At least I'm getting the dishes and litterbox done every day and I think that's a fucking miracle.

I hate the mean-spirited contempt but damn if it doesn't get to me. I'll scrub everything to perfection when we're out but for now?!

Grr!! (to the mean people). Hugs to you! Good luck on your move.

[Raven]

4. Here's the thing. Brokers' primary goal in life is to make their lives easier,

not to make your life easier. They want you to spend a lot of $ "staging" your house and erasing any evidence that anyone but Martha Stewart lives there. Having said that, there are some things that you need to do in this difficult market. Try to keep the place reasonably clean and maybe get the critters out of there when you are showing the house. Box up your personal stuff and keep the kitchen and the bathrooms clean.

As for the agent, screw that agent...hire one that you're comfortable with. In my view, a good many of these "top selling"agents have low balled the house prices of the houses they sell.

[applegrove]

5. Next time do a big clean-up.

[Erva]

6. Thanks for the support!

Seriously, I really appreciate it.
Siligut and Lost, thanks, I needed that.
Rider - cheers sister, I know exactly what you mean. Good luck to you as well.
Raven - I hadn't thought about it that way. You are right. The whole thing makes a lot more sense from that point of view.
Apple - I agree on the clean before they get here. We just didn't have a lot of time and like Rider, we are trying to do it all at once with two kids, two cats, two parents and a dog all trying to live here at the same time.

[riderinthestorm]

7. And you're not on the market yet if I read your post correctly?

This visit was just so the real estate agent could get you the initial ball park figure?

There's a world of difference between the visit by the real estate agent who is sussing out your place in order to figure out how they would market it, and actually showing it.

For now (if you are still interviewing real estate agents), you ARE in the cleaning up stage. I say screw her and get someone you can feel comfortable with.

[Erva]

8. Yes

We are interviewing agents. We are in that clean-up and figure out what needs to be repaired and what should be left alone stage. I really hate this!!

[LiberalEsto]

9. Get another broker's estimate

The standard practice for home sellers was always to get price estimates from three brokers, and generally go for the middle one.

Since you are going to be handing over about 6 percent of the price of your house to your broker, you owe it to yourself to find one that's going to work with you.

If I were you, I would check out a couple more brokers. Ask friends and co-workers if they can recommend someone.

[Erva]

10. I think so too

We should find a couple more. I have never done this and it is learn on the fly. It could be an expensive mistake if we choose the wrong one.

[China_cat]

11. Follow the money

the person telling you 'what you want to hear' depends on that sale for a paycheck so she's more likely to work harder to sell it for you than the one who doesn't like it (or you). The first agent is more than likely to relegate your house to a 'whenever I get around to it', the second is going to be 'wait till you see this one!'.

[Erva]

12. Too true

I bet you are right on the money(puns are bad, slapping hand). That sounds like the impression we got.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. My neighborhood is pretty transient, so I have had a lot of friends

where you are.

Before you even call a broker, get the house absolutely spic and span. Get a storage unit or a 'pod' and place one piece of furniture from each room in it.

You will be amazed at the difference. The first realtor probably felt that if you hadn't gone to the trouble of cleaning the house up for her, you would be difficult to work with, (ie not following her advice) and not keep it immaculate for lookers.

Trust me on this. If the house is immaculate, it screams *I have been well cared for* to potential buyers.

Good luck.

We just refi'd our house down to 5 years and we got the appraisal and amazing interest rate because it was immaculate. The broker told me so.

[NMDemDist2]

15. 'xactly! see my post below n/t

[NMDemDist2]

14. I didn't let a real estate agent anywhere near my house til 2/3 of my chit

was either sold or boxed into the storage units out back. I painted and cleaned and staged like mad before I let him set foot inside.

yes, it was a ton of work, but we got $20 a square foot higher than any other property in the area

here's the pics of the house ready to go, and no, we didn't 'live' there, we camped there for the month it took to sell. we had a big tupperware that all the toothbrushes, paste, hairbrushes etc lived in and there was a towel next to every sink expressly to wipe water spots off the sink and mirrors.

a pain in the ass?? you bet, but we sold FAST and for top dollar.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/AZDemDist6/36

good luck! :hi:

edit to add, here's the ready to sell kitche



here was my 'real' kitchen

[latebloomer]

17. huh, I like your real kitchen much better

Beautiful, with much more character, yet neat and uncluttered.

Glad you sold it so fast and at a good price.

How do you like your new home?

[NMDemDist2]

19. love it except days like today when it took half the day

to clean the dust from the spring winds around here :rofl:

got an acre out of the profits from AZ and this cute mobile home

[latebloomer]

23. That's a mobile home?

Unbelievable! It's gorgeous.

[NMDemDist2]

24. mobile homes have come a long way in the last 20 years

this is an old 1994 unit, the new ones are really beautiful!

[latebloomer]

27. I want to sell my crumbling 100-year-old house

and buy one of those!!

[Erva]

20. Wow

That is one beautiful kitchen. We were hoping the RE agents would help us decide what if any, remodeling we should do before the sale. We didn't want to heavy duty clean before any possible demolition. I guess we just needed advice. I should have asked here!
She may have thought just as you suggest, that we were not going to clean. It never ocurred to us that she would think that we thought the house was ready to show. Man, I know NOTHING about the RE biz.

[NMDemDist2]

22. we had to put in new laminate counters, the old pink would have cost us thousands

but the new counters only ran us about $650 installed and added THOUSANDS to the price.

I'm happy to help, I'm a "Designed to Sell" junkie and am happy to give my thoughts if you want to send me pics, PM for my email

We really did take 2/3 of the furniture out and stored it in the shed, we were moving so actually it was great to be packed almost completely when the house sold.

:hi:

[nam78_two]

18. No advice(have not owned a home so far) but I have sympathy to offer

I just got out of grad school and my fiance decided to go back to grad school. So we are still in the changing apartments every two years phase-and I HATE moving so I know how you are feeling right now. Ugh- I hate, hate, hate moving-the few weeks when you are in limbo, the time it takes to get settled down, then finding everything you packed-UGH.

It has to be all the worse when you have really sort of "taken root" somewhere, with kids, dogs etc. Best of luck-hope you get all the stuff with the agents worked out. It might be worth it to choke down your irritation and go with the more competent agent imho (if she is really the moe competent one that is). Hope it all works out for you :hi:.

[Erva]

21. Thanks a bunch

The sympathy goes a long way. My 10 and 13 year old children are very active and we live a loud messy life here. It is going to be a miracle if we can keep this place clean enough to show. Thanks for the nice thoughts and the wave :)

[Skittles]

25. just letting you know your kids will be fine, Erva

I was a military brat and at age 13 I had already moved eleven times....I survived and so will they :D

[fight4my3sons]

26. when we sold our house

we packed up most of our stuff and took a lot of the stuff off of the walls. The agent also told us to paint the bathroom white and re-caulk the tub. We kept the house tidy and clean and I was available for all showings (my son was 4 months old at the time and once some woman insisted on walking into his room while he was napping!). It sucked, but our house sold within 4 months. This was in 2002. Good luck with everything and I hope your home sells quickly!

[triguy46]

28. You're hiring them to sell your house. Its how they make a living.

And it appears to be a buyers market, and a slow one at that. Get over your anger, and do the things that make a house sell: Clean. Paint. Declutter. Find a temp home for pets. Shampoo rugs. Charm only goes so far. Of course if you don't like the realtor, go elsewhere, that is very easy.