Arachnids Be Gone AKA How to Win in Today’s Market: Seller Edition
The house had promise. There was a bit of deferred maintenance on the exterior, but that was expected at this price point. Then we descended the stairs into the basement and things took a turn for the worse. Thick cobwebs hung from the rafters and I cursed my decision to wear heels as the top of my head came dangerously close to a spiderweb inches away. This itself was not immediately jarring, cobwebs are a thing in basements. The spiders suspended in the webs were what got me. I stopped cold. “What the heck is that?” I took a photo so I could look up what kind of crazy life form I had just encountered and then I took a step back. “I think we're done here”. I spoke for the group but my words were unnecessary as we were all headed for the exit. Sidenote: I Google lensed that photo when I got home and learned that the spiders were zombie spiders. Infected with a fungus called Cordyceps (yes, the same fungus that decimated the population in The HBO series The Last Of Us).
One misstep by a seller is enough to plant the seed of doubt in a buyer's mind. The rationale is that if the people who own the place can't be bothered to address the presence of zombie spiders inches from where they do laundry day after day, what else have they neglected? This is logical thinking on the part of a buyer and sometimes it does signal other deferred maintenance or questionable things. Sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with the level of care that a seller has taken with their home but that one thing will still give a buyer pause. Perception is reality as a buyer tours your home. The little things that might cost nothing more than your time get blown up ten fold when a buyer walks through your home and discounts the value of your biggest asset. In my experience this is an unconscious process. Beyond obvious flaws like disgusting spiders in the rafters, buyers are rarely able to articulate why a particular home is more desirable than a similar property. How a home is photographed, marketed and presented will dictate the critical first impression for the buyer. The difference between a record breaking sale price and an okay return is in the details. While buyers may not be able to articulate what makes the difference, I can. I have spent more than a decade honing this ability and I can pinpoint exactly what you need to focus on to achieve the greatest return on your investment. My experience is the culmination of vision, planning and execution and it is all about the details from the moment a potential buyer first views your home online. The difference is in the details and I notice them all. Just ask my husband, he’ll tell you. I drive him crazy with this, but that level of detail is what sets me apart. The realtor who represented the seller of the spider house did a huge disservice to her clients by not advising them to vacuum up the cobwebs and find the arachnids a new home before listing.
The biggest mistake sellers make is believing that the little things don’t matter. The truth is that the little things add up to real dollars and if your goal is to get as many of them in your pocket as possible, you need to work with an agent who pays attention. The difference is in the details. Need help? Call me!