Are you selling a home? Avoid these Home Buyer Turnoffs
10. Smells
House odors are number one on the home selling “ew!” list. Top three offenders?
- cigarette smoke
- pet odors
- mildew
If you smoke indoors, your house probably smells like an ashtray. That’s not an attack on you or your character – it’s just a fact. If you have pets, the house might smell bad.
Chances are that you don’t even notice the odor.
Ask someone who doesn't live there to take a sniff, and don't get angry when they tell you the truth.
Eliminate the odors so that you can present potential buyers with a clean, fresh atmosphere.
Tips to remove odor, from a former smoker:
- The moment that you think you might like to get rid of that odor, stop smoking indoors
- Wash EVERYTHING – walls, furniture, fixtures like cabinets and sinks, walls, floors, clothing, shoes, etc.
- OPEN the windows (if possible) or flip on exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom. Little trick – if you open a small window (say it’s just too hot or too cold to open all of them) and place a portable fan in the opening backwards, it will actually draw the air out of your arm and serve as an additional makeshift vent.
- You may want to consider replacing the carpets, flooring, wall paper and, depending on the severity of the odor, you may even want to replace dry wall.
- You can buy odor blocking paints and primers – no really! Just check out some of these products on the Home Depot website.
- The duct work in the house may need to be replaced as well, as tar can build up on the walls of ducts that carry the air that circulates in the home.
- Finally, don’t just use smell good sprays – the whole place will smell of freshly washed cigarettes
9. Pets
Your pets are part of your family, I know. But some people are frightened by animals, some have horrible allergies, and others are simply irritated. The latter is in conceivable to a pet lover, but it happens.
You say you plan to put them in a bedroom or garage and then ask people not to open the door to that area? Bad idea. Would you buy a house you can't inspect? Of course not.
Remove pets during showings if possible. If you can't, contain them in crates for their own safety and to show respect for the feelings of potential buyers.
8. Dirt and Grime
Grimy bathrooms are an instant turnoff. Scrub them, paint them, buy a new shower curtain, rugs and towels--do what it takes to make them shine. If you're serious about selling the home, the extra work is a must. This goes for the kitchen, the dining room, pretty much the whole house.
7. Dimly Lit Rooms
- Dark homes are a turnoff to most home buyers, so try to brighten them up:
- Replace dim light fixtures
- Install additional light fixtures
- Install (quality) sun tunnels or skylights
- Remove heavy drapes to let the light stream through windows
- Repaint some rooms with colors that reflect light
- Trim tree limbs that shadow the house
Dirty and fogged windows are another buyer turnoff. Clean them inside and out to bring in more light. If possible, replace any double-pane windows with broken seals. You can find them by looking for a foggy residue that cannot be removed.
6. Busy Wallpaper
You spent days picking our just the right wall paper that reflects the character of you and your family. It just hurts your heart to imagine taking it down! But, just like pets, other people are rarely going to love the wallpaper you’ve chosen. It's a personal decorative touch that they want to select themselves, if they even want wallpaper at all.
So take a hard look at your wallpaper and decide if it should be removed and replaced with paint.
Don't paint over it, because it is a
nightmare to fix.
5. Damp Basements
Dampness or damp smells in the basement throw up a red flag to buyers that the foundation leaks!
Most problems we see are not caused by faulty foundations. They occur because rainwater is being diverted towards the foundation instead of away from it. Possible culprits?
- Clogged underground drains
- No rain gutters along roofline
- Downspouts aimed the wrong way
Go outside the next time it rains and determine where runoff water is going and get it fixed. You’ll also want to dry out the basement if it is damp. You can use dehumidifiers, and makeshift vents as mentioned in the “Smells” section.
4. Bugs and Other Pests
Roaches, spiders, mice, any living thing that shouldn't be in the house. Get rid of them.
3. Poor Curb Appeal
You can’t judge a book by its cover, but we all do anyhow. You must grab a buyer's interest from the curb if you want to sell the home for top dollar. Home buyers often refuse to go into a house with an unkempt yard, sagging doors or peeling paint. You say you can't afford to paint? Okay, but get that yard in tip-top shape and grab a screwdriver to fix those doors.
2. Gutters with Plants Growing in Them
I'm serious. Some people never clean their gutters, and it always makes buyers wonder what else hasn't been maintained.
Remember the drainage issue in #5? Cleaning packed gutters might help.
1. YOU!
Yes, you... leave the house during showings. Home buyers feel awkward about opening closet doors and lingering for a really good look at the house if the seller is home.
If you're selling by owner, give them some space, don't hover.
Recap
Most of the Top 10 problems are home selling issues you can correct without spending a lot of money. Do it now, before you put the house on the market, because if your house develops a reputation among agents as the house that smells, the house with the huge barking dog or the house where the owner won't leave people alone, it will be too late. Your house will be last on their list to show potential buyers.
