Every time I work with a seller to prepare their home for the market, we create an action plan with my recommendations for what to do before the big day.
Fix damage, remove clutter, lighten and brighten, all the usual stuff that helps “product-ize” a home for the market and helps create that #1 most important buyer emotion, the one that makes the buyer say out loud, “I want to live this way!”
But there are caveats in some situations. And one of those is when the house is in a hot, desirable neighborhood with very little inventory.
Yes, those areas still exist, even now, even in this market.
And what often happens is that word gets out that there’s going to be a sale, so would-be buyers start calling, knocking, and finding a way to get in the door ahead of the crowd.
It’s great, right!? Creates a frenzy of sorts. Social proof — others wanting something so we want it to. All good things for sellers.
But BEWARE, when there are real work orders to be done on the house. I mean carpentry, painting… skilled repairs, upgrades, etc.
The ambitious, industrious seller will share with prospective buyers the plans for attacking those things and buttoning them up before closing.
And it’s only human nature that the buyer hears, “So, since we’ll be doing this work anyway, why don’t you pick out the colors, the materials, the finishes. Heck, why don’t you design the entire job, and we’ll do it to your specs?!”
The unwary seller is happy to have a buyer, so they agree, and get under contract. What a joyous day!
But guess what’s just happened? Your pre-listing action plan just turned into a custom remodel, and the buyer is your new foreman.
Suddenly that $20/gallon paint you were planning on using isn’t even remotely good enough, and you’re buying Ralph Lauren’s Private Reserve, at the Buyer’s insistence.
The few pieces of fir flooring you were going to replace in the corner simply MUST be tone-and-grain matched as if you were hand-crafting a violin.
You’re getting the idea? Laugh if you must. I’ve seen it happen, and I’ve personally been in the seller’s position on this situation.
Sellers: Stand your ground. You’ve got a lot on your plate in getting ready to move without delving into the nuances and pathology of becoming a custom remodel contractor.
My advice: Deliver to the buyer a written list of specs for the upgrades you planned, with “in lieu of” dollar figures — or a lump sum for the entire project, and give them that ONE choice. Take the fixes, or take the $$$.
But avoid that work-load time-and-expense multiplier: the buyer-driven custom remodel!
