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Realtors are AFRAID of what your reaction would be when they say these words to you…

1.Your House DOES NOT show well!

Home is your most personal space- it reflects your family, your style, and is a source of pride for most homeowners. It can be hard to imagine that not everyone will appreciate your choice of wall colours or porcelain doll display. This emotional investment in a space makes it even harder for a realtor to tell sellers that their home just doesn’t show well.

Certainly, if a house is messy, dirty or cluttered it can directly affect your sale price. Besides being an eyesore to potential buyers, clutter is a big distraction that takes the buyer’s attention away from the features your home has to offer. Most of the time all a home needs is to be “De-cluttered”! When I list homes for sale, people often ask me what they can do to improve their home for showings and this is, by far, the most important! Think about a Model Home from a builder. Model Homes have furniture and small amounts of decor, but what makes them “Shine” is the fact that you can envision yourself in the home as you walk through. It is basically a blank canvas for you to paint while giving you an idea of what it “could look like” if you moved in. Model Homes are also free flowing from room to room; you won’t find a room with too much furniture or gadgets and misplaced items in your way as you move around the home. This is what you should try to achieve when getting your home ready for sale.

2. You aren't REALISTIC with your price!

Realtors are afraid to tell you that the price you want is too high. Why? Because they feel you may not list your home with them if they tell you otherwise. For example, if you have 3 Realtors give you a price on your home of what they think it should sell for, and all 3 are different, you would be most inclined to list your house for sale with the Realtor that gives you the highest price. But often times Realtors will give you a higher price just to get your house listed for sale. After a while when your home doesn't sell, they will suggest you reduce it down again and again until it starts to become realistic in the current market. (We as Realtors call this “Buying a Listing”)

The important thing you need to understand is Realtors DON”T dictate what your house is worth. Your local market tells you what your home is worth. Your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Sellers often say: “well, why can’t we start a little higher and negotiate with a buyer?” This strategy may have worked years ago, but with today’s technology, buyers have more than enough information at their fingertips. If a buyer does a web search and finds 10 homes, and yours is priced $5,000-$10,000 more than other similar houses, most buyers will just disregard your home right away because they feel they are saving $5,000-$10,000 on the other homes.

3. How much is the home you want to buy really worth 

Your house is Sold and your Realtor takes you out to see some houses to purchase. Some you like, some you never want to ever go back into (especially the one with the barking guard dog) and some you love! You decide this is the house for you and you want to make an offer to purchase the home of your dreams. When a buyer says that to a Realtor they get excited (at least I do!). To a Realtor this is the equivalent of a baseball player hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to win the game, or scoring the game winning goal in an Olympic Gold medal game. Okay, I may be a little heavy on the sports analogies, but we Realtors only get paid when a deal closes. So, an offer is always exciting.

If your Realtor hasn’t told you already, one thing you should always ask is “what do you think the home is worth”? The last thing a Realtor wants to do is lose a sale, and if a house is overpriced, some Realtors are afraid to tell you. If it is worth much less than the asking price you may decide not purchase it.

Buying a house is similar to selling a house, your Realtor should always inform you of what comparable homes are currently being offered for sale and comparable homes that have sold in that area. This will give you an approximate market value of the home and assists you in deciding what price you should offer on the house. If a house is overpriced does it mean you can’t buy it? Absolutely not! You should just know and come to terms with the fact that if you ever had to sell in the near future, you may have to take a loss to do so. Or preferably, you could offer what you feel is market value and hope the seller agrees!