Advice needed when selling a home...

[FrugalMomof3]

Ok DH and I fianlly put our house on the market and already had 1 viewing today from 2pm-3pm which has already passed.

Ok here's the story... I got my DD ready, myself and the 2 dogs ready for a trip to the dog park while we had the viewing.... we leave at like 1:40pm and get back at like 2:40..... I go up to the house to check the lockbox and open it and find the key is still there so.... we all just drive down the street find a parking spot and sit and wait (thinking they haven't come yet).

15 minutes pass and they come..... they get in the house and 4 minutes later they leave... I am like "Holy crap that was fast!"

I am thinking:

1. They didnt like the house they got out as fast as they could.
2. They knew they were late and did a quick walk-through thinking we would be home any minute.
3. Dummy me forgot to turn on some lights they couldn't see (it's a gloomy day)
4. They liked it right off the bat and thought I am good, I like it.
5. They are allergic to dogs (I put on the sellers disclosure I have 2 small dogs).

I am just a bit upset, I worked so hard to get the house spic-n-span, declutter, fix little things, paint things here and there and they someone comes to view the house and 4 minutes later they are out the door...

What did I do wrong?

[Moor]

It may not have been anything wrong.
There are so many times that I have taken a client through a house and they have just done a quick walk through to get a feel for the house.
I used to do that myself. LOL
I know that I had some clients that had 15 house appointments in one day. They just wanted to do a quick walk through and then the house's that spoke to them, they went back and looked at better. (does that make sense?)
When they went back they were there for well over an hour at each house. Looking at each room from different angles, making notes on closet sizes, cabinets, if the house was empty, then taking pics so that they could look at them when they got home, those sort of things.

Don't beat yourself up over this. This is the first showing. There will be more and soon you will want to tell people, I HAVE LIFE, GET OUT! lol

[Greebo]

Ditto what moor said. Sometimes you just don't like a house. Sometimes you just take a quick look.

I looked at close to 20 houses when picking my current one. I didn't spend much time at quite a lot of them.

[TexasPeanut]

Who says you did anything wrong? Banish that thought from your mind. I watched my parents attempt to sell their home years ago while still living in it and I seen people come and go in like 5 seconds flat and some that would stay an hour and never put in an offer. People are funky about buying a home. Some can know in an instant that it's a "for sure" house, a "add it to the list of possibles" or a "no go". Some need a long walk through. Doesn't mean the seller has done anything wrong.

Keep the home clean and decluttered to the max and smelling like a comfortable and inviting home, that's the most important thing. Try not to think too much on how long a looker stays around, believe me there will be many more and some will stay longer and some won't. You are doing your best, that's all you can do. But by all means if you do have a realtor ask them to come around or anyone you may know that can offer and give you any advice on what else can be done to make sure you get some offers on the table. Most of all, even though it's a stressful time for your family to have strangers coming around to roam through your home, try not to stress too much. Hopefully you'll have a quick sale!

[Dancing Lotus]

I agree with everyone else. Don't give it a second thought.
When I was looking I didn't stay long until my second visit. I'm kind of weird I feel like I'm in a strangers home and should just get out fast.
I don't open closets, or cabinets unless I'm serious about the house.

Besides they were probably running late and had to hurry.

[cab54]

Nothing. You didn't do anything. People just do a quick-through the first time and then after they've seen a few, they go back through their favs.

One piece of advis I can give you. Put your most wonderful smelling crockpot meal on when people are coming though. I did this (not to sell, just cause I was busy with two little kids and cleaning!) and the realtor told me that my meal made have sold the house easier, they were ALL saying it smelled so good, they wanted to stay and eat with us. LOL!

[FrugalMomof3]

I just find it hard to believe they even did a quick walkthrough with 3 floors to look at.

I personally think it's because I forgot to turn on some lights and since it rainy/gloomy outside they couldnt see or find some of the light switches to turn them on and just left without giving it another thought.

IDK I just know for the next viewing to turn on ALL lights, lol

As for cleaning the home and decluttering, DONE! I have gotten rid of so much stuff that I am amazed at what we CAN live without

[frugalfriend]

I remember well when we went through this (remember when I was asking these questions?! LOL) Don't take it personally at all. You'll know it when the right buyer comes along! Oh . . . and I agree, turn on all the lights! I remember doing this constantly. The kids and I had a routine whenever there was a showing. Clean and pick up like mad, turn on all the lights, and run out the door, LOL! I hope it sells quickly! Good luck!!

P.S. The washing machine and dryer make great quickie hiding places for stuff sitting around you don't know what to do with on a moment's notice!

[FrugalMomof3]

Thanks! I am just glad I realized about the lights after only the 1st showing... I will remember from now on... I was just a bit nervous with trying to get the dogs out the door (they are barkers) and having my DD get ready as well.

Weird thing, since we remodeled the kitchen, we also moved the entrance to the basement which means we moved the light switch to the basement as well, I was more worried about that and I figure that's the reason they left so fast (couldn't find the switch - basement is dark... spooky) so I will remember from now on about the lights!

[monkeywrangler71]

I don't think anyone would turn around and walk out just because the lights were off, unless it was pitch dark and your switches are really hidden.

When we were looking there were several houses that we just turned around and walked right out of. You can't tell from a listing what a house is really like, so you might go to see a place that is completely inappropriate and then realize as soon as you get there that you don't want it. It doesn't mean that someone else won't love it, it just isn't what your looking for.

Just for an example, here are the reasons we didn't bother completely walking through some places:
-creepy people sitting in the livingroom
-electric heat (wasn't mentioned in the listing)
-gigantic power lines running behind the house (the huge ones that come from the power company)
-pet and/or cigarette smells
-didn't like the neighbourhood
-yard to small
-too close to the highway
-bedrooms too small for two beds
-too far from the train

We had 2 days to buy a house in a city we'd never been to before, so we asked to be shown places without really having a concept of what the location was like. We had about 25 showings in two days, so we didn't bother looking at places we knew we weren't going to take.

The house we were selling, the first people in were only there for a few minutes. I'd had the carpets cleaned a couple days before and the basement was not dry yet. It smelled gross and I'm sure that's what turned them off. Smell is a huge deal in a house. Smelling great might not sell it, but smelling bad will keep it from being sold (and I am in no way implying that your house smells bad).

[Lady_V]

I have to say... the reason I bought 'the cave' was because the owner had spaghetti sauce in a crock pot. Smelled like 'home' to me. It made me overlook the awful paint job done with NEON pink (master) and NEON blue (2nd) and the original kitchen and floors (built 1978).

It wasn't until we went to sign the papers that I met them... she was from Laos. When we were making small talk, we were talking about going out to dinner to celebrate. When I told her we were going out for Italian... she said 'Oh, I don't eat Italian, I'm allergic to tomatoes'

I don't doubt for a minute that the Realtor suggested to have the crock pot going... who would have known a .99 cent can of tomato sauce had such power!

I don't think it was 'anything you did' either. A showing... with the housing market the way it is right now, is awesome!

[FrugalMomof3]

My house doesnt smell and YES I smoke but haven't inside the house for weeks now with getting the house ready to put on the market. With that being said I have air wicks going throughout the house so I know my house doesn't smell (atleast I hope it doesnt).

Anyway, lesson learned about turning the lights on and no it's wasn't pitch dark outside, I did notice however, that my coffee table was pushed a bit back from the sofa so I assume they sat down on the couch, no biggy.... maybe they were just trying to get a "feel" for the house.

[monkeywrangler71]

My house doesnt smell and YES I smoke but haven't inside the house for weeks now with getting the house ready to put on the market. With that being said I have air wicks going throughout the house so I know my house doesn't smell (atleast I hope it doesnt).

Make sure your airwicks smell like food and not flowers. Cinnamon seems to give most people the warm fuzzies. You can boil it on the stove also (but dump it before they come so it isn't so obvious). Or if you have a bread machine, run that during a showing to make them feel homey.

[Squirt]

I know you feel bad because you worked really hard to clean the house. I might get frustrating because you could show the place 50 times before finding a buyer. This spring my good friend and coworker was getting sick of cleaning and taking her dog from the house during the workday so people who weren't going to buy the house could come and see it (or not show up at all.) One day, a woman who had canceled before wanted another showing. My friend had dishes in the sink and didn't want to leave work and take the dog AGAIN. I asked her if she wanted to sell the danged house or not- the people are buying the house, not your sink full of dishes- who cares? That lady bought the house.

Don't give up- you could just be getting started! Someone will fall in love with your home.

Good luck!

[cmdarlin]

Can't you contact the realtor and ask what the impressions were? I know when we looked at our house, the first walk thru was quick. We told the people we were very interested and wanted a few days to talk about it.

Debbie