When I began my career as a real estate agent, I set a goal of buying at least one house a year for my personal investment portfolio. And one of my requirements was that the house must be in a good neighborhood, with good schools nearby, and be cheap enough that I could finance the purchase and still expect the rent to cover all the expenses monthly.
One of the things I discovered rather quickly was that most homes for sale did not fit my requirements. In fact, the better the condition of the interior of the house, the less likely it was that I could expect a positive cash flow at the end of the month.
The good news was that I eventually figured out that the reverse must also be true.
The more cluttered and run-down the house was, the more likely it was I could get a good price on the purchase. And that price advantage was critical to my investment plan.
At first, I failed to make the connection between condition and price advantage in nicer homes that my buyers were purchasing because most agents will almost require their sellers to spruce up before a home is listed. But not all.
It finally dawned on me that a buyers preference for a clean house in good condition is so powerful that a seller can command a substantially higher price for that particular house. I also noticed that the more clean & uncluttered I could make any house that I listed, the faster it would sell.
This phenomenon is based on the fact that buyers invariably buy real estate emotionally, then justify it logically. And there is apparently a lot of emotion involved with cleanliness and neatness.
Over the years, I compiled a list that I give to sellers that helps them put their home in selling mode. The requirements are sometimes so strenuous that a seller will complain. They say that if they do what I want done, they won’t be able to live there.
My response: “Do you want to live in this house or get it sold?”
Here for your review is my list:
* In the kitchen, remove almost everything from the countertops. If you own every small appliance ever sold on the Home Shopping channel, that’s fine. But get it off the counters.
The purpose here is to create the illusion of more space than you need or even can use. Remove all the clutter and clean, clean, clean!
And never leave dirty dishes or pots and pans in the sink after a meal. I don’t care if you have to eat out at every meal from now until the house is sold. The kitchen must remain immaculate and pristine for selling purposes.
* In the bathroom, consider replacing the mirror over the sink with a wall sized mirror. It’s an inexpensive way of making your bathroom look much larger. Likewise, consider replacing the light fixture above the mirror with a multi-bulb fixture. The additional brightness highlights the clean (or not so clean) surfaces.
Whatever it takes, make your bathrooms spotless.
Remove all hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, shavers and any other electric appliances from horizontal surfaces. Get everything out of sight no matter how inconvenient that may be for you.
And never leave damp towels or washcloths hanging on racks or rods. Banish them from sight.
Never forget that our goal is to create the vision of a perfect house where pots and pans scrub themselves before flying magically to their proper storage place, and laundry and towels wash & dry each other effortlessly then stack themselves neatly until their next use.
If you think I’m kidding, I dare you to go visit a builder’s model home in an upscale subdivision. There is a reason that the bed in the master is always turned down with a rose and a chocolate on the pillow - and it’s not because the builder likes chocolates.
* One final command for banishing clutter: empty your closets. There should be nothing on the floor of any closet. Nothing. Almost nothing on the shelf - maybe a shoebox. And almost nothing on the hanging rod. I know, you are saying you can’t live in a house with no clothes. OK, then move out!
Again, the goal here is make it look as if this house has so much closet space that a normal person could not fill it in three lifetimes, much less three days.
The bottom line here is that you are selling a dream of the good life. If you find these suggestions shallow or somehow less than straightforward, then welcome to the world of sales and marketing.
Native Atlantan John Adams is a real estate broker, investor, and author. He answers real estate questions every Sunday at 3 pm on WGKA-am(920). He welcomes your comments at Money99.com, where you will find an expanded version of this column.
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