Words that sell, and those that dont

[Dj]

We had a listing a little while ago where the couple was going thru a divorce, the wife was ill, and the kids were out of control. My husband said he never saw anything like it. They moved out but left everything behind and hired a professional organizer and cleaning crew. (Bob and I also did a lot of work painting and power washing the pool screen.) I think the bill was only $2K and the home actually sold because of it. Any chance you could suggest something to them to clean it up?

[axemedia]

Be honest with them. Tell them its needs to be cleaned or it may sit for a long time before a sale. Tell them the longer it sits on the market the more money they are loosing. Prices are declining in most parts of the country. In order to be the house that sells, in that price range, it needs to be the most attractive one available thats comparable.

Pay $2000 to have it cleaned and painted, or loose $10,000 when you need to lower your price to attract a buyer.

Give them the straight goods. Be nice about it so as not to offend them but don't sugar coat it.

Like I said, Clean should be a given. lol

But I'm sure there are some people who are too lazy or apathetic and would take the $10k hit over exerting the effort and spending the money to clean it up.

[Sam Dodd]

I told them it needs to be cleaned and they half assed it. So then just to drive the point home I put the listing on my office tour and handed out surveys to the agents. I had them all put there thoughts down and they all basically came back the same. 1. Dirty 2. Move Cars from Back Yard 3. Clean out Garage.

I took those results over to the owners and they picked up the house but it is still far from what my wife would consider clean.