Santa Cruz Real Estate
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elling a Home? Avoid these Home Buyer Turnoffs

Are you selling a home? Did you know that even though home buyers are all looking for something different, the majority of them will turn around and walk back out of your door if they notice one or more of these Top 10 problems.

1. Odors

House odors are number one on the home selling uh-oh list. And narrowing it down, odors from cigarette smoke and pets take top billing, with mildew not far behind.

If you smoke indoors–the house smells like cigarettes. If you have pets, the house might smell bad–even if you don’t notice it. Ask someone who doesn’t live there to take a sniff, and don’t get angry when they tell you the truth.

Eradicate the odors so that you can present potential buyers with a clean, fresh atmosphere–not a house that’s full of perfumes to cover up the odors.

2. Dogs that Meet You at the Door or in the Driveway

Dogs frighten some people and irritate others. You’ll have a much better response from showings if you control your pets–dogs, cats, whatever.

You say you plan to put them in a bedroom or garage and then ask people not to open the door to that area? Bad idea. Would you buy a house you can’t inspect? Of course not.

Remove pets during showings if possible. If you can’t, contain them in crates for their own safety and to show respect for the feelings of potential buyers.

3. Dirty Bathrooms

Grimy bathrooms are an instant turnoff. Scrub them, paint them, buy a new shower curtain, rugs and towels–do what it takes to make them shine. If you’re serious about selling the home, the extra work is a must.

4. Dimly Lit Rooms

Dark homes are a turnoff to most home buyers, so try to brighten them up:

• Replace dim light fixtures
• Install additional light fixtures
• Install (quality) sun tunnels or skylights
• Remove heavy drapes to let the light stream through windows
• Repaint some rooms with colors that reflect light
• Trim tree limbs that shadow the house

Dirty and fogged windows are another buyer turnoff. Clean them inside and out to bring in more light. If possible, replace any double-pane windows with broken seals. You can find them by looking for a foggy residue that cannot be removed.

5. A House Full of Busy Wallpaper

Busy wallpaper in every room turns off most buyers, and even people who love wallpaper rarely like what you’ve chosen. It’s a personal decorative touch that they want to select themselves.

It’s the masses you must appeal to when you’re selling a home, so take a hard look at your wallpaper and decide if it should be removed and replaced with paint. Don’t paint over it, because it will be obvious that you did–and buyers know that makes removing it even more difficult.

6. Damp Basements

Dampness or damp smells in the basement throw up a red flag to buyers that the foundation leaks!

Most problems we see are not caused by faulty foundations. They occur because rainwater is being diverted towards the foundation instead of away from it.

• Clogged underground drains
• No rain gutters along roofline
• Downspouts aimed the wrong way

Go outside the next time it rains and determine where runoff water is going.

7. Bugs

Roaches, spiders, any insect that shouldn’t be in the house. Get rid of them.

8. Poor Curb Appeal

You must grab a buyer’s interest from the curb if you want to sell the home for top dollar. Home buyers often refuse to go into a house with an unkempt yard, sagging doors or peeling paint. You say you can’t afford to paint? Okay, but get that yard in tip-top shape and grab a screwdriver to fix those doors.

9. Gutters with Plants Growing in Them

I’m serious. Some people never clean their gutters, and it always makes buyers wonder what else hasn’t been maintained.

Remember the drainage issue in #6? Cleaning packed gutters might help.

10. Sellers Who Hang Around for Showings

Yes, you… leave the house during showings. Home buyers feel awkward about opening closet doors and lingering for a really good look at the house if the seller is home.

If you’re selling by owner, give them some space, don’t hover.

Parting Words

Most of the Top 10 problems are home selling issues you can correct without spending a lot of money. Do it now, before you put the house on the market, because if your house develops a reputation among agents as the house that smells, the house with the huge barking dog or the house where the owner won’t leave people alone, it will be too late. Your house will be last on their list to show potential buyers.

The subprime rate freeze plan announced by the Bush administration last week was clearly designed to win votes. I just wonder whose.

The number of people who will meet all the complicated criteria necessary to qualify for a five-year rate freeze on their subprime adjustable-rate mortgage is relatively small. Estimates range from fewer than 100,000 to 600,000 nationwide. To put that in perspective, Oakland has about 400,000 people.

The percentage of people opposed to the plan appears to be high, based on informal polls.

Business news site CNBC.com asked visitors, "Is the Bush administration’s idea to freeze mortgage rates necessary to insulate the economy from the subprime crisis?" Only 13 percent said "Yes - The danger to home values and the economy warrants government intervention," while 81 percent said "No - the marketplace should be left to resolve the issues on its own." That’s not surprising coming from a business audience. The rest said it’s not yet clear.

The Chronicle’s Web site, SFGate.com, asked, "What do you think of the mortgage-rate freeze plan?" Of the 1,758 responses, 8 percent said it’s good because it keeps people in their houses, and 89 percent said it’s bad because it bails out reckless banks and borrowers. The rest said, "Only a fraction qualify, why not me?"

Some people believe the government should not be meddling in contracts between borrowers and lenders. Some say the housing and mortgage markets should be set free to correct themselves as quickly as possible, the same way a forest fire, while devastating, clears out excess and sets the stage for new growth.

George Topor of Corte Madera wrote, "I have yet to hear a homeowner state that it is their fault they are in this mess. Yes, there are definitely hardship situations. But what about personal responsibility for your actions? I have been scammed, a fairly small amount, and I have lost money on investments. My fault. I paid."

What many find irksome is that the freeze seems to help those who gambled the most.

Conceptually, the plan aims to help only subprime borrowers who are mostly current on their adjustable subprime mortgage today, but could not afford it when their interest rate adjusts and could not refinance into another loan.

It does not aim to help subprime borrowers who are making their payments today and could afford them after the reset, or who could refinance into a more-affordable loan. It will not help people who already behind in their payments. It does not try to help borrowers with good credit scores or who have substantial equity in their homes.

To qualify for the rate freeze, you must have taken out a subprime adjustable-rate mortgage between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31, 2007. You must be facing your first interest-rate adjustment between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010, and the payment increase must be at least 10 percent. Your mortgage must have been sold into a securitized pool of loans. You must be living in the home.

Your FICO credit score must be less than 660 and less than 10 percent higher than it was when you took out the loan. That puts you in the bottom 30 percent of Americans based on your credit score.

Also, your first mortgage alone must be for more than 97 percent of your home’s value, meaning you put less than 3 percent down, or the value of your house has fallen significantly.

People who meet these criteria will be eligible for an automatic or "fast-track" five-year freeze. People who meet some but not all might be eligible for a freeze on a case-by-case basis.

"It strikes me as more of a rhetorical or political device than a financial device. It provides some type of cover for servicers that want to take that step but need some source of authority," Cole says.

But it also sends the wrong message, Cole says. Two of them, actually.

"It gives a sense that the government ought to be engaged in rescuing borrowers in this particular category. It also conveys the message that foreclosures are a bad thing or unhealthy. Foreclosures are a natural part of market discipline. If you take out the impact of foreclosures you have reduced the stick that stands behind the commitment to pay on the mortgage. I would think this would make the markets nervous. This is very interventionist, even to the extent it’s voluntary."