Re-jected!

By in Sellers with 0 Comments

I love the commercial where the guy is making a move on a girl and she blows him off and the play-by-play guys at the other end of the bar see it and say, “Re-jected!”  When buyers I am working with write an offer that doesn’t fly, or sellers say no to an offer, I always think, “Re-jected!”  Of course, I don’t say it to the clients, regardless of how close I am to them.  No one likes a wise acre realtor!

But, what they do like, and what ensures lack of re-jection! is a nicely staged home.  I showed a house this weekend to a couple from out of town.  The downstairs was great, the backyard was phenomenal!  Upstairs we trekked, hoping that the upper level would live up to the promise of the lower level.  Alas, it was not to be. The master bedroom closet was somewhat small, and was made smaller-looking by the messy tangle of sweaters and items on the built-in shelves.  I peeked in, and thought, “That might be a problem,” but kept my opinion to myself.

The buyers took a look and said nothing, either positive or negative.  We walked into an auxiliary bedroom and saw that it was being used as a closet.  The closet of the room, and then the room itself was being used as a closet.  I couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across my face.  Then the wife said, “Now I have to go back and look at the master closet,” which she did.  Of course, the house took a nose dive in perceived value when the buyers saw there was not much closet space.  But here’s the thing…there is a lot of closet space, but the current owners’ set up makes it appear as if there isn’t. 

 AND, I spoke with the listing agent later in the day.  Her seller’s have it set up that way because when they bought the house, the wife felt there was too little closet space, and so she took over the extra bedroom.  The people who live in a house know its secrets…the good and the bad.  Duh!  What’s rule number one when selling ANYTHING!!??  Show it in its best light.  Why tip off a potential buyer to what’s negative on their very first visit!? You ensure there won’t be a second visit with that kind of game plan.

Stage your home, please. Or at the very least, think about what you don’t like about your house, and hide it.  Don’t be re-jected! when it is so easy to be accepted!

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About The Author
Cari McGee

My husband and I came to the Tri-Cities in 1994, and we thought it would be a temporary stop on our way to larger cities. He was a television sports anchor at the time, and we planned to go wherever the "next step up" took us. Twenty-plus years later, we're still here and we've loved every minute of it! We have two children now, and we've found the Tri-Cities area is a wonderful place to raise a family. It's a great place to do outdoorsy things -- I like to hike Badger Mountain or run along the river path. I also love reading ... by a cozy fire in the winter or a beautiful picture window in the summer (with the A/C on!). I've been a licensed Realtor since 2004. I earned my managing broker's license in 2016, which means I can run my own brokerage, or create a team of real estate agents and supervise them, which is exactly what I did when I formed the Cari McGee Real Estate Team in 2018! We have administrative and marketing personnel, as well as additional agents to serve you. I became a director of the Tri-Cities Association of Realtors Board of Directors in 2016, became Secretary/Treasurer of the organization, and was elected to Vice President in 2019. Want to talk about real estate? Click here to schedule a meeting with me!

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