I thought I’d start St. Augustine’s Real Estate Blog with something upbeat, you know “five things that will make your home sell faster” or “what you can do to sell your home in this down market,” but…nahhh!
Look, everyone loves a good train wreck, and I’ve seen a few properties that had train wreck all over them. Here are five things that will just kill a sale, and they’re not what you’d expect.
- The color orange. Look, I know you love the Gators but leave that color off the side of your house. Everyone knows that a hunter orange house won’t sell, but a pastel is just as likely to kill a sale. A guy I know had an orange garage door (don’t ask) and tried to sell his home in 2005…feedback was buyers hated the orange, but he left it. He tried to sell it again in 2008…feedback was that buyers hated the color, but he left it. He still owns the house and it’s worth about $50,000 less than it was when he started. Congratulations.
- The murphy bed. Sellers absolutely love the murphy bed they had installed at great cost. Buyers come in and ask “what the hell is that thing on the wall.” GROI…Get Rid Of It. Buyer’s need to see the space they’re buying and they don’t want your bed or anyone else’s. The exception is a furnished condo.
- Industrial carpet. You would think that folks just love industrial gray berber. But they don’t. A buyer shouldn’t notice the flooring except to ooh and aah over it.
- A converted garage. This will take money from your bottom line more than it will kill a sale. Sellers think they’ve created extra space. Buyer’s walk in and say, “Wonderful, they’ve converted the garage…now where am I going to put my car, and my stuff.” Buyers always got lots of stuff.
- The price. Okay, this is obvious and NOT at all unexpected. But the truth is Sellers fret the most over the only thing they have absolute control over. If you list it high it’s just going to provide a Buyer leverage to sell your neighbors house.
Tags: St. Augustine Real Estate, Things that will kill a real estate sale.