Ten Ways to Turn off a Potential Home Buyer

Well, even though the jobs report wasn’t as bad as expected that still doesn’t mean our country is out of the quagmire yet. Especially when it comes to housing. Some figures estimate 1 in every 400 homes is being foreclosed on, and there is expected to be as many as 10 million short sales over the next 5 years.

What does this mean for you as a seller? Losing a buyer for something not related to a serious disagreement over price is careless. So here are the 10 things you need to be careful of when trying to sell your home.

Below are the most common things that will make buyers turn their nose up at a home for sale in Charleston SC, especially when the market is cooling off and becoming a buyer’s market. In a recent article by MoneyWise, “We’re seeing nightmare scenarios where deals are getting canceled at the last minute for the most minute reasons,” said Rafael Corrales, an agent in Miami, where about 2,500 home purchases were canceled in June (or 17.6% of homes that went under contract). Buyers often back out during the inspection period because they find something they don’t like, but affordability is really the underlying issue.”

  • About 56,000 home purchases were canceled, equal to 15% of homes that went under contract—the highest percentage of any June on record. Buyers are skittish due to elevated mortgage rates and record-high home prices.

 

  1. Dirt -Hands down, our panel agrees: Nothing turns off a buyer quicker than a dirty house.
  2. Odors – Buyers, it’s said, buy with their noses. Make sure your home smells fresh and inviting.
  3. Old fixtures – Want buyers to roll their eyes? Leave old fixtures on your doors and cabinets. Faded, worn, broken, outdated, and ugly fixtures will surely turn away buyers. Sure you can replace them, but people want to move right into a house without having to do work.
  4. Wallpaper – Your grandmother may have had it in every bedroom. Your mom may have loved it as a room accent. But today’s buyer wants no part of wallpaper.
  5. Popcorn / acoustic ceilings – Times change, and with them home decor styles. Acoustic popcorn ceilings, once the must-have for fashionable homes in the ’60s and ’70s, now badly date your space.
  6. Too many personal items – Psychologically, when buyers tour a home, they’re trying it on to see how it fits, just as they would a skirt or a pair of pants. If your house is cluttered with too many personal items, it’s like the buyer is trying on those clothes with you still in them. A fit is unlikely.
  7. Snoopy sellers – Its best not to be at the home when there is a showing. Buyers want to walk and analyze at their own leisure without the sellers 2 cents every few minutes. Its perceived as a hard sell. If you must be there, only be there to answer questions about the home and nothing else. Pretend to be invisible.
  8. Misrepresenting your home – Misrepresenting your house online in the Multiple Listing Service is a sure way to really upset buyers and their Realtors. If I show up with my buyers and the house is NOT what the sellers agent says it was on MLS I am going to be upset and so is the buyer for wasting our time and gas to go see it. Too many seller’s agents in an effort to get more feet through the door will “embellish” the home or property. For example, one that bothers me the most as a Realtor is when a home is labeled “waterfront” when really the home is just next to a small rain run-off retention pond.
  9. Poor curb appeal – Much is made of curb appeal, and for good reason: It’s your home’s handshake, the critical first impression that lasts with most buyers. This one is HUGE deal. People want to come home to a beautiful home when they drive up, and the first impression people get of you is your home from the outside.
  10. Clutter – Whether inside or out, less is more when it comes to clutter.

 

IF you’re considering listing your home in South Carolina for sale, please feel free to reach out to the James Schiller Team, of Brand Name Real Estate and we’ll be happy to give you an honest market analysis of your home free of charge so you can avoid picky buyers leaving too soon.