AGENT ETIQUETTE 102 : THE MAD SNACKER

Not cool to let buyers take/eat food from the kitchen in house they are touring. I once had a buyer do this. Upon entering the house he made a bee line to the kitchen and quickly grabbed a snack from a cabinet and downed it right in front of me. His actions were stealth (I was too shocked to speak) and while eating he told me that the particular flavor snack he scarfed down was only available at bulk/big box stores and it was hard to find...like that made it OK...seriously? THEN HE TOOK ANOTHER. I refer to him as the Mad Snacker and quite frankly he still scares me a bit.

SNOW QUEEN

My mom always calls on my birthday (the first day of Spring) to remind me that on the morning I was born over a foot of snow fell prior to my delivery.  Apparently this was a sign to her that I would be a different child but she just didn't know HOW different.  Mom tells me that my Dad was quite nervous about the snow and travel to the hospital  but that she wasn't worried at all, which for some reason I find hilarious. I have visions of her dressed for the hospital and I do mean dressed as in "I'm ready for the photographers",  puffing away on a Kent sitting on the front bench seat of the blue Ford wagon as Dad shoveled the driveway minutes before their journey to the hospital.  Every time we get snow -- a little or a lot -- I flash to this image.  I hope I am mostly like her with that ability to take life's hurdles not in my control in stride.

SMELL-O-RAMA

Scented candles, plug-in/solid/spray air fresheners don't ever really help...they always just combine with and accentuate dirty house/cooking/pet odors. My friend Miki always says that a clean house never smells...and she's right.  My partner Michael is quite the cook but I usually hate the odors afterwards...sometimes a glass bowl of white vinegar set on the kitchen counter left overnight does the trick and sometimes it doesn't. Ventilation/airing out is key for bath, kitchen, basement, attic, closets, laundry room. Don't forget the epicenter of stink...the carpeting and the dog's favorite couch.  Have them professionally cleaned prior to marketing the property.  A quick shot of  fresh air from an open window does a lot even in a small amount of time before a showing.  Move gym clothes and those classic sneakers you can't part with from your closet to the basement or garage (mine go in the car trunk) before a showing.  If you smoke, do it outside while your house is on the market, sorry. Buyers have a visceral reaction to odors and they don't care if you have granite counters if your house stinks.

WIRE HANGERS ARE OK...

Long before HGTV, way before it was called Staging, I have always advised sellers on the importance of market perception/buyer attraction regarding premarketing repairs and decor face lifts so their property looks great for the first appt. You only get one chance for that first impression!  Many times a seller has the inclination to remove all signs of normalcy or everyday behavior from the property.  Not such a great idea.   The inviting but slightly tattered chair in a bedroom, a worn but clean vibrant runner in a dull hall, the funky art you made in Provincetown, these all evoke normalcy, comfort, everyday life...and a soul.  My friend and interior designer Rebecca Paul says a little patina is a good thing! I never forget that.  Not many buyers warm up to a house that screams Mommie Dearest. 

SELLERS SHOULD ENTICE FROM THE CURB...

SELLERS SHOULD ENTICE FROM THE CURB...

WHAT BUYERS LOOK FOR...