Trends in home showings and sales

Foot traffic in the form of home showings, as tracked by use of SentriLock lock boxes, has a high correlation with home sales. After a dip in the winter, you can see by the trend that this summer is going to be a good time for buying and selling homes!

The trend in foot traffic matches what the real estate site Trulia.com reports: the site had a record number of unique visitors in April, nearly 50 million. For more about that, read on: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30026-trulias-traffic-spikes-in-april

To Stage or Not to Stage?

I have always wondered if staging a property was a good idea or not. Sometimes I have a house for sale and as the listing agent I want it to look good when buyers come see it. I try to take photos of the inside with furniture while the sellers are still living there. If there are good photos on the Internet, it increases the chance of a buyer wanting to see the inside of the house. However, sometimes the sellers have needed to move before the house is sold. Then I have wondered if it was better to keep the house vacant or to rent or borrow furniture to have it look "lived in." From this article, it sounds like the house won't sell for more money, but it didn't answer the question of whether the house would sell sooner. If I have some furniture or the seller has some furniture that can stay in the house, I like to have it there. However, I have yet to spend money to have someone professionally stage the house. I would rather spend my money on advertising!

Here's a REALTOR Mag article on this topic: Study: Staging Doesn't Influence Selling Price

What do you think?

Home Showing Mistakes

Now that we've looked at all ten of the common home showing mistakes highlighted in REALTOR Mag's article, what can we conclude? Let's briefly review the mistakes.

The first type of mistake is having the owners lingering in the home during a showing. Mistake number two is related, but this time it's the pets who need to relocate during showings. Bad smells in a home are the third kind of mistake, and they might come from pets or from people. The fourth type of mistake is wild critters on the property, and the fifth is oddities, from unusual room arrangements to partially successful remodels, that don't show your home to its best advantage. Dirt and clutter are mistake number six: remember that showing your home off means making it shine, literally! The seventh kind of mistake is leaving out personal information like bank statements. A home needs to be reasonably well-lit to be viewed by prospective buyers, which is why the eighth mistake is poor lighting. Number nine is straightforward: your realtor needs to have a key to access your home for showings. And the tenth mistake is leaving revealing or even nude photos and portraits on display - remember to take those down and temporarily hang landscapes or something else neutral in their place during showings.

A showing is an opportunity for a buyer to imagine your home becoming their home, which is exactly what happens after a completed sales process. The theme that runs through all these mistakes is that they disrupt this imagination and distract buyers from seeing all the appealing things about your home. It can be challenging to make your presence fade into the background in a place that's still your home, but remember that you are trying to help it become someone else's home. Disappear when you need to, and make sure you've put away the most obvious signs of your presence before you do. You'll be glad when all your work pays off and your home successfully changes owners!

Home Showing Mistakes, Items Eight and Nine: Logistics

Curb appeal is great, but buyers want to
see inside! (Image from Front Door Design)

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

The eighth mistake is a home that's too dark to be seen well during a showing, and the ninth mistake is not providing a key for your realtor. Both of these are mistakes that can be prevented through teamwork and communication with your realtor!

A home may be too dark because it takes time for compact fluorescent bulbs to warm up, or because a lamp needs to be moved. Make sure you or your realtor check lighting and turn on energy efficient bulbs ten minutes or so before a showing.

And of course, check with your realtor, or in the lock box on your door, to make sure there's a key available for showings. Buyers need to be able to see your home!

Home Showing Mistakes, Items Seven and Ten: Too Personal!

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

I'm grouping mistakes seven and ten together, because one is a more extreme form of the other. Mistake seven is about owners leaving out personal information during showings - things like bank statements and bills left on the counter. And mistake ten is the over the top version of that - owners who have revealing or nude photos of themselves on display and don't put them away before showings!

It's easy to forget to clean up piles of financial statements or other parts of your daily life. You might not realize that your mail isn't invisible on your kitchen counter because it's not something you notice. So try to take a walk through your house as though you're seeing it for the first time. Or better yet, ask family or friends to do a walk-through with you!

When it comes to pictures and portraits, you'll want to remember not only to put away the private ones but also to put something in their place. This doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. You can replace pictures on side tables with fresh flowers, and get low-cost art prints to hang on walls.

Showings are a chance for buyers to get to know your house, not you. Keep the personal stuff private during showings!

Home Showing Mistakes: Item Six, Dirt and Clutter

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

Image from This Lady's House:
How to Clean Your House Like a Professional

The sixth mistake is one that seems obvious but can be hard to keep up with: your home should be clean and orderly for showings. It's extra work to keep your home ready to be seen, and it requires you to pay attention to big and small things. Make sure there aren't any piles of laundry sitting around, or muddy tracks on the floor near the doors. Take out the trash and make all the beds. And make time to clean thoroughly on a regular basis: wash windows, clean the sinks, vacuum carpets and put out fresh towels.

To start you off, here's a blog post about how to clean your house like a professional, written by a woman who's worked in the hotel industry: http://thisladyshouse.com/content/how-clean-your-house-professional. For more ideas and cleaning tips, check out some of the pins on my "real estate help" board on Pinterest. Don't forget about odors, too - item three on the mistakes list, bad smells, still applies.

Home Showing Mistakes: Item Four and Five, Critters and Oddities

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

The fourth mistake is critters, specifically wild animals and pests like insects. This sounds pretty obvious, but remember: you might be accustomed to something and think of it as "no big deal," while that same thing might be an unpleasant surprise to a potential buyer. Whether it's raccoons in the backyard or boxelder bugs that are only around for a week (but during that week, they're EVERYWHERE), imagine you're seeing your home for the first time. Try to control or remove those uninvited wild guests.

Door painting tips from
DIY Home Staging Tips

The fifth mistake is "oddities," as in "oddities from home make-overs." Again, you might be accustomed to using that former home office as a bedroom, despite its lack of closet. And you might not notice any more that a door opens "backwards" or that some paint got on the light switch plate when you repainted a room. But potential buyers are much more likely to notice these things and get a negative impression of your home from them. Again, imagine you're seeing your home for the first time. Clean up any details like awkward paint, and restage rooms to help them look more like buyers would expect.

To get you started, here are a few resources: tips for painting your door and your kitchen cabinets. You can find more painting, cleaning and staging tips on my Pinterest board for "real estate help".

Home Showing Mistakes: Item Three, Bad Smells

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

The third mistake is bad smells in the home. They could be from pets, or from something you use often when cooking, like garlic, or cigarette smoke. You may not notice the smell since you're around it all the time. Consider asking a friend or relative to come have a sniff and alert you to any strong odors.

Simmer pot picture from Yahoo! Shine

What can you do about them? REALTOR magazine suggests painting walls and cleaning your carpet to deal with long-term, established smells. You may even need to replace the carpet to deal with pet odors or cigarette smoke. Furniture can also harbor odors, so consider moving upholstered furniture that's particularly smelly out of the way, even to a storage unit. And don't forget the power of opening windows and getting some air circulation working for you, weather permitting.

Using scents and air fresheners to cover up bad smells rarely works, but once you've dealt with the source of the smell by cleaning carpets, moving furniture, and circulating air, you can add pleasant odors to the air. You can do this by baking bread or making applesauce, or you can use a simmer pot intended just to create a nice scent. Here are five suggestions for simmer pot combinations from Yahoo! Shine: http://shine.yahoo.com/haven/5-awesomely-autumnal-simmer-pot-recipes-to-get-you-in-the-mood-for-fall-2402046.html

Home Showing Mistakes: Item Two, Pets!

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

The second mistake dealt with pets in the home during showings. Many agents pointed out that unfriendly cats and dogs in a home make showings difficult, if not impossible. Even when pets are crated, they may be protesting noisily during the showing and prevent a potential buyer from entering a room.

Moving is a stressful time for pets, and having strange people viewing the home only adds to that. If possible, take your pet with you when you're out during showings. If that's not possible, whether because you're at work or because your cat doesn't walk on a leash, investigate other places for your pet to be. Maybe your cat can spend the day at your friend's house. Maybe your dog can go to "doggie daycare." Help your showings go more smoothly and make your pet's day a little easier, too.

Home Showing Mistakes: Item One, "Leftover Home Owners"

I read an article in REALTOR Mag last month about the top 10 "worst home-showing offenses" - in other words, major mistakes people make when showing their homes. I'd like to share them with you, along with tips for avoiding them.

The first mistake is being around during a showing. The REALTOR Mag article mentions owners being asleep in bed, in the shower, and even following potential buyers through the home! To avoid being caught sleeping, showering, or doing other things when your home is being shown, make sure your realtor has good contact information for you: your cell phone number, the email address you check most frequently. And when you know there's going to be a showing, put it in your calendar and maybe even set an alarm for yourself.

As far as following prospective buyers through the home: don't. Even if you are curious about their reactions, remember that your goal in listing your home is to sell it. Part of selling your home is letting buyers explore it in private and imagine it as their own.

More next time!

Being a Mentor, Days 4 & 5

My mentee and I finished out last week with two more busy days. Here's what they looked like.

Day 4 of Mentoring
We started out the day having coffee with one of the lenders. He & I had planned to meet the previous Friday & it hadn’t turned out. It was great to have my mentee meet another lender. The more people she meets as she goes along, the better. If a buyer is already working with a certain lender, it is easier for the real estate agent if they have met in person. If the buyer doesn’t have a lender yet, it is easier for the real estate agent to create for the buyer a list of possible lenders he or she has met if the buyer wants it.

In the afternoon, we showed property in Orchard Mesa & Glade Park. Properties that are more rural can have wells and septic systems. Also we were lucky because the properties we saw had views of the surrounding cliffs and mesas. Glade Park is actually above the Colorado National Monument. Here’s a link to the CNM webcam. http://www.nps.gov/colm/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm You can imagine the views!

Day 5 of Mentoring

Here's what a buyer packet looks like.

I had floor scheduled for 9-11 this morning. When Bray is open, we have someone always available to answer questions about Bray properties. We also answer general questions about buying & selling homes. We can help people if they call or come in, & they want to get started in the process of buying a home or selling their current one. My mentee came in & shadowed me for that. I created a packet in case a buyer came in.

I ended up getting a call from someone who wanted to sell their house. I will be going over there later this week to see everything. This has basically finished our first week together. It was a good week. My mentee is scheduling her calendar & learning lots. So ... I told her to take tomorrow off from real estate & get her family life caught up.

Inside Real Estate: Home Atmosphere for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them. Previously, we talked about curb appeal, interior maintenance, exterior maintenance, kitchen and bathrooms, and garages, carports and sheds.

The last aspect we'll talk about is atmosphere. Rather than being a specific area of your home or kind of work, creating atmosphere is about making a prospective buyer's first experience of your home pleasant. These added touches help your home shine.

Suggestions:

• Turn on lights and open drapes
• Light candles or put out fresh flowers
• Play quiet background music
• Turn on air conditioner or heater as appropriate
• Be absent during showings and keep pets outside or confined

Inside Real Estate: Preparing Garages, Carports and Sheds for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them. Previously, we talked about curb appeal, interior maintenance, exterior maintenance, and kitchen and bathrooms.

Another area for special attention is garages, carports, and sheds. These outside spaces are still an important part of your property, and making sure they are clean and organized is part of your home's presentation.

Suggestions:

• Clean and declutter the garage, carport and/or shed
• Replace burned out bulbs in exterior and interior lights
• Clean up cobwebs
• Remove oil stains from floors
• Lubricate, adjust and repair garage door(s)
• Organize and put away tools, gardening equipment, and lawn mower

Inside Real Estate: Kitchen and Bathroom Prep for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them. Previously, we talked about curb appeal, interior maintenance and exterior maintenance.

Now we'll talk about a few specific areas of your home. Kitchens and bathrooms can have a great influence on a potential buyer and should ideally be spotless before a showing. It's important that they be organized, both on counters and in cabinets, and free of mold, mildew and unpleasant odors.

Suggestions:

• Clean all kitchen appliances, inside and out
• Replace all burned out or old light bulbs
• Clean floors and light fixtures
• Deodorize and clean disposal, dishwasher and refrigerator
• Fix leaky faucets
• Clean shower door or replace shower curtain
• Put out fresh towels on towel racks
• Remove soap residue and lime deposits from sink, shower and bathtub
• Make sure toilet flushes properly and is clean

Inside Real Estate: Exterior Maintenance for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them. Previously, we talked about curb appeal and interior maintenance.

Today, we'll talk about exterior maintenance. This is similar to the work you've done on curb appeal, but it includes things that a buyer might not notice from across the street. This up-close impression is still important: like your interior maintenance, taking care of your home's outside tells the buyer that it's been well taken care of, inside and out.

Suggestions:

• Paint or varnish doors and polish hardware like doorknobs and door knockers
• Paint or replace the street numbers on the house
• Clean or wash siding, windows and screens, A/C unit, gutters
• Clean pool and patio or porch
• Repair or paint siding, trim, gutters, shutters, glazing, and window frames
• Clean oil stains off driveway and garage floor
• Make sure all exterior lighting is working
• Repair leaky faucets
• Deodorize septic tank
• Straighten wood pile
• Clean around trash cans

Inside Real Estate: Interior Maintenance for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them. Previously, we talked about curb appeal.

Today, we'll talk about interior maintenance. This is fairly straightforward: cleaning and organizing the inside of your home so prospective buyers see it at its best. Remove as much clutter as possible, and consider hiring professionals to do a deep and thorough cleaning. A clean and orderly home will help buyers see that your home has been well cared for.

Suggestions:

• Clean and vacuum carpets
• Replace worn carpet
• Place area rugs where needed
• Apply a fresh coat of paint to walls
• Wash curtains and drapes
• Lubricate window slides and door hinges, and check door frames to make sure doors close smoothly and properly
• Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures
• Clean and organize closets and cabinets
• Clean corners of rooms and other out-of-the-way areas, and check for cobwebs

Inside Real Estate: Curb Appeal for Selling

When selling your house, there are a variety of things you can do to maximize your home's appeal and value. Remember that many buyers are looking at multiple houses, so it's important to help your house make a good impression. We'll talk about six major aspects of your home and what you can do to improve them.

Today, let's go over a few tips for increasing your home's curb appeal. "Curb appeal" refers to how attractive your house is to someone looking at it from the outside. Try to imagine how your home looks from the perspective of a buyer parked at the curb. You can also go stand across the street to take in the big picture.

Some ideas for increasing curb appeal:

• Yard care: mow and water your lawn
• Lawn maintenance: seed bare spots, deal with weeds
• Pavement: sweep walkways, repair cracks in your driveway
• Yard maintenance: prune bushes and shrubs, weed flower beds, or rake leaves depending on the season
• Structure maintenance: repair broken fences, planters, trellises or walls
• View maintenance: plant shrubs or install fencing to block unpleasant or unattractive views

A Typical Showing Process

Let’s say that I have a buyer who wants to look at houses with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 1500 square feet, 2-car garage, and a one-quarter acre yard. The house addresses could have come from a list that I sent to the buyer from which the buyer has now chosen several properties. The list could come from a sample of different types that I put together to give the buyer an idea of what’s available, such as 1-story or 2-story, stucco or brick, older or newer. The list could be all the houses available in a specific price range and/or neighborhood or school area.

For the first appointment, I call the agency’s main number & I get transferred to someone who looks at the showing information that the seller put down. This turns out to be a house with small children & they need some time to tidy up. They are in luck because I am scheduling this showing appointment for tomorrow at 10:00 am. Also this house has a lockbox that I can use my keypad on. The seller has time to clean up & think of somewhere fun to go with the children tomorrow morning while I show the house to a potential buyer. Maybe the children will go the Mesa County Public Library.

This buyer is taking time from work or other activities to see these houses. I want the time to be well-spent for the buyer, so we actually schedule several showings from 10:00 to Noon. I will probably schedule 3 from 10-11:00 am, 3 from 10:30-11:30 am, & 2 from 11:00-Noon. I will also schedule them in a continuous path from House A to House B to House C, etc., based on how they are on the map. With the time overlap, the buyer doesn’t have to wait to see any houses & can move right along. With only 1 hour time slots, it is less inconvenient for the seller to be gone from their property.

I email the buyer the house order & the map. When I meet the buyer the next morning at 10:00 am at the first house on the list, I give him or her a clipboard with a photo & short description of the property from the Navica system & a pen to write down their impressions. This is for their use, not mine, because things can get forgotten. Then as we see each house, it goes on one of 3 lists: “yes,” “maybe,” or “no.” The buyer is only deciding whether or not to see the house again, not whether or not to buy. Sometimes as we go along, a “yes” becomes a “maybe,” a “maybe” becomes a “no.” After the buyer is done seeing the houses & has time to make decisions, the buyer sends me a shorter list for houses that deserve a second showing & a longer time spent at the property.

Sometimes there is no shorter list & the buyer chooses to have a new list in a different area. Sometimes new properties become available because they are new to the market or there has been a price drop. Sometimes previously viewed houses are combined with unseen houses on a list. Each time there is a house to be seen, a showing appointment is made. Then the buyer chooses houses for a very small list, maybe only 1 or 2, for a third showing. Eventually after enough showings, the buyer chooses the property he or she wants to buy.

Planning for Showings

When a buyer wants to see a property, the buyer’s agent makes an appointment with the seller’s agent. This is done by calling the agent’s company or the agent himself or herself and asking for a “showing” appointment. When I first started at Bray Real Estate, I would hear “showing appointment” on the overhead system & I wondered what that meant. At Bray there are people who set showing appointments for Bray properties & they answer the phone for showings. They talk to the buyer’s agent & find out what time the buyer would like to see the property. They also let the buyer’s agent know if there are specific instructions about when & how to get into the house.

When I am working with a seller, someone who wants to sell their property, I gather lots of information from them. One item we need to discuss is how people will make an appointment to look at the property. After all, you have to see the property first to know if you like it enough to buy it. Will the owner need to be there to open the door for the buyer & then leave? Will there be a lockbox on the door with a door key inside? Will there be a combination lock, letters or numbers, on the door with a door key inside? Will there be a special set of keys, like HUD keys, needed to get inside? Once we’ve decided about how to enter the property, we need to think about how much notice should be given & when is a good time. Does the homeowner need time, such as 2-hours notice, to get pets out of the house? Does the homeowner need time to tidy up before someone comes in? If there are tenants in the house, they legally get 24 hours notice before someone can enter, but sometimes tenants will let showings be scheduled with less notice. Are there times that are “off-limits,” such as a day sleeper allowing showings only after 4:00 PM? Are there religious times that the family does not want to be away from the house, such as Sabbath dinners? How will the seller be contacted? Can a message be left on a cell phone? Does the showing desk have to actually talk with the seller & get an okay for the showing appointment to happen? All these considerations are worked out when the property goes on sale, so that showing desk people know how to make the best appointments.

In my next post, we'll walk through a typical showing.

Leaving Cards

Someone once asked me, after I had shown him at least 15 properties, why I left a business card at each house.

I have a business card. Most realtors have business cards. We give them to people; we include them in hand-written notes; we include them with presentations. When we show a property to a potential buyer, we leave a business card in a prominent place. Sometimes it's on the kitchen counter or the dining room table. We do this as a courtesy to let the seller & the seller's agent know that we stopped by. The seller doesn't have to wonder if we are running late & we are still coming. The seller also knows who is responsible if something is "different" when they come back. The seller's agent knows that, since we have shown the property, he or she can find out what the buyer thought.

Sometimes, when a house is vacant, there will be lots of business cards on the kitchen counter. Like a dozen. Then it is interesting for the buyer's agent to see who has shown the property. Or how many people have looked at the property. Although seller's agents try to pick up cards & check vacant properties weekly, that isn't always possible. So a dozen cards in a week may be a lot, but a dozen cards over 3 months is not a lot.

To summarize: I put out a business card when I show a property to a buyer to let the seller & seller's agent know that I really came into the house & showed the property, & when the seller comes back to the house, I'm done. I also put out a business card to let other realtors know that I have shown this property to a potential buyer. And I notice whose cards are there.