What Sellers Should
NEVER Say to Buyers
By Judi Wolfson and Elaine
Shreiber
"OPEN
MOUTH, INSERT FOOT ..."
The door bell rings, you grasp the
knob, and throw one last glance around. As your
daughter quickly puts the vacuum cleaner away,
you open the door with a big smile. There stands
an agent and prospective buyers.
" Hi! ... How are you?... Come In."
You say.
Those are probably the last three unsolicited
comments that should pass your lips for the remainder
of the visit. The real estate field is littered
with stories of potential sales that were killed
by sellers who inadvertently uttered the wrong
thing.
Before continuing, you should understand that
the types of 'better left unsaid' things discussed
here have nothing to do with the Seller's Disclosure
Addendum, or hiding anything from a potential
buyer. To the contrary, all of the suggested "DON'T
SAY IT!" topics presented here are based
on personal preferences. Being human, sellers
often find it difficult, if not impossible, to
keep from offering opinions or information that
they think makes them appear credible to the buyer.
Without knowing the life's experiences and propensities
of each buyer you see, how can you keep from opening
your mouth and inserting your foot?
Please don't talk about:
- How many kids are or are not in the area.
Even if the buyer has children, you have no
way of knowing whether or not they want gangs
of them banging down their door on Halloween.
- The huge stone birdbath in the backyard that
is visited by HUNDREDS of birds each year. How
could you know the wife is deathly afraid of
birds?
- How great your church is. They might be of
different faith.
- How quiet the neighborhood is. They may want
a more social atmosphere, and look forward to
making new friends.
- The 'newness' of items in the home. New is
most definitely a relative term! What you consider
'new' , may be old to others. For example, an
item that is two years-old may be 'new' to someone
who has lived in the house for 15 years, but
may be old to a buyer who thinks of new as anything
in place for less than less 6 months.
- Information on existing warranties. They may
expire before the new owners close on the house,
or they may not be non- transferable.
- How many 'showings' you've had. Buyers could
interpret this as "No one else wanted the
home, why do I ?" or "I wonder what's
wrong with this house?"
Please don't OFFER the following statements as
the reason you are selling:
- The death of a family member. Some people
have a phobia about moving into a home where
someone died.
- How you've outgrown the house. If buyers
has the same number in their family, they may
have second thoughts about their need for such
a large home.
- How the home is too small for you. The buyer
might feel that your home is 'plenty big', until
you tell them how small it is for you. Your
comment may give them the push to look for more
expensive (bigger) homes.
- Your recent divorce. Potential buyers may
be having marital problems. This could easily
turn them off.
- That you bought another home. If a buyer
knows there is urgency, this can be used against
you in negotiating.
If you get the distinct impression that everything
you say to a potential buyer could get you into
trouble down the road then you have correctly
interpreted this article. Since you are under
contract with a real estate agency, the best course
is to make yourself scarce after the greeting.
In fact, a good course of action might be to say:
"Please take your time viewing my home. And
if I do not see you before you leave, thank you
for coming. You'll have to excuse me, but : important
phone call, helping kids with project, deadline
at work, etc."
This extricates you from a potential "foot-in-mouth"
encounter later, and does not make you appear
to be avoiding the buyers questions.
The Realty Times
Published: July 24, 1998
www.RealtyTimes.com
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