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The Foundation of Successful Sales...

Over at Bloodhoundblog Cathleen tells of a great experience around the importance of cleanliness in the sale-abilty of a home and the dismay over agents who fail to realize this simple fact.

Even if the sellers insist on shooting themselves in the foot, why would a listing agent join them in self-destruction? Taking a listing takes time and money. Why do something with half the effort when you know that anything less than full effort is doomed to failure?


Great question Cathleen...penetrating, really...and some of the best advice conducive to listing and selling real estate that I've heard. And because I work in a market where many of the homes I sell are 60 to 80 years old, plagued with "paint-can" renovations and hack-job remodels, often times a clean home is the least of my worries. Inspections are notorious "deal killers" in this neck of the woods and it's not uncommon to see thousands of dollars in seller paid concessions to make a bad inspection disappear after days of agonizing negotiation over inadequately supported floor sytems, failing foundations, galvanized plumbing lines and electrical safety hazards. This can be a painful process for all parties, not the least of which is the Listing Agent who counseled their client on a fair market value only to find that the house needs $10,000 in renovations before it's considered safe to live in. I require "mandantory" pre-list Professional Home Inspections on all homes built more than 20 years ago and Pre-list Show Quality Audits (performed by a professional staging consultant) for every home I list to ensure that no hairline crack goes unnoticed. I just wish more agents would do the same...in the last three months my team has been forced to counsel four buyers to walk away from their home of choice due to failed inspections. Even in transactions that do settle, we negotiate, on average, $6000 in repair allowances for our Buyer clients. Even worse is that the same Listing Agent who is unknowingly representing the failing foundation and rotted floor joists will happily spend $1000's of dollars in useless lead generation strategies and antiquated marketing tactics to produce buyers for their overpriced listings and will complain when a deal falls through due to a bad inspection?
A professional home inspection: $350
Underpinning and/or Shoring a foundation: $8,000
A smooth, flawless transaction where all details are handled up front to ensure a happy selling/buying experience for all parties involved: priceless.

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