When a property we have listed is shown by an agent who is not the listing agent we often get feedback following the showing. Feedback can be useful to us as the listing agent in getting the property sold (we can relay the feedback to the seller and make adjustments if needed) or completely useless to us when it restates the obvious.
This has become more prevalent as the amount of short sales on the market has increased and the interests of the lender and the seller have diverged. In order to leave their home, most sellers who are in negotiations with their lender because they are financially compromised, must also psychologically vacate their home so that they can move on and find alternative housing arrangements; often this means uprooting a family from familiar surroundings and schools. Once this occurs and their home is not “theirs” and their pride of ownership has been traded for a deficiency debt forgiveness, the maintenance starts to slide.
Marketing some of these homes is a painful and protracted process as the former reverence of one’s castle is reduced to a pile of dog poop greeting you at the front door. Yes, the condition of some of these short sale and pre-foreclosure homes impacts the sales price and the marketing. We always instruct our sellers to view our video on the HST website to “Prepare & Price Your Home for Sale” or we provide a stager. The sellers have been approved to short sale their home which means their ability to pay for repairs and maintenance and their assets have likely been been eviscerated.
Here’s some recent showing feedback I’ve seen on short sale listings:
- Smoky inside, dog poop everywhere outside.
- House doesn’t seem in ready to show shape; yard definitely wasn’t.
- Upon entering the house smelled of smoke. The smell combined with the clutter made for a bad impression.
- Disgusting, had to leave. Shows terrible.
Advice to real estate agents showing short sales:
- Check the MLS and see if the short sale field is checked (optional field) and check the agent to agent remarks.
- Assist your clients as best you can to visualize the property as they would inhabit it, not as it is now.
- If you know the home is priced below market value emphasize this with your buyer clients, especially when the repairs are minor and some largely aesthetic. A substantial price reduction can go a long way at Home Depot and in resale down the road.
- If a short sale is indicated please explain to your buyer clients before the showing that this property may not be in tip top shape and to anticipate some ugliness going forward if they choose to make an offer, including out of pocket expenses and in some cases a protracted battle to close.
