Gift Shop (Flickr credit: beautifulcataya)
Ugh, their house looks like a gift shop!
You can’t imagine how many times I have heard that observation from home buyers in a hushed tone so that the home sellers couldn’t hear. Hey, that comment really needs to be taken to heart by anyone planning to sell their home anytime in the future.
The reality is that your stuff is a turn-off, is distracting, and making your house look smaller than it really is… are you following?
Honestly, that collection of art things reflects your taste, and you should do everything to preserve that collection before you put your home on the market.
Tip: Avoid looking like a gift shop
When your Realtors give me a call asking for feedback on homes that my client got the gift-shop-vibe from, I constructively give them ways of giving their client useful and helpful advice.
For example, the way I do that is by allowing them to say “that guy from RE/MAX said that your hand-blown glass collection…” you can fill in the rest.
In reality, by not wanting to hurt your feelings, your agent is not helping you. Understand that today’s home buyers are glued to HGTV’s programming and maybe it’s about time for you to tune in too. Please?
Over this past weekend I told an agent who was holding an open house that she honestly needed to tell the home sellers that they needed to thin out their stuff by 30% because we could barely walk around the house. And that my clients were looking at the stuff, not the house.
Hence, the gift shop syndrome!
Getting that perfect accent piece at Pier 1 Imports or Target is fine – do it.
But if your house looks like you have walked into HomeGoods, …well, then you are off the mark by a mile.
I give my home seller clients a checklist for getting their home ready to sell in 30 days. The goal is to make a mental shift from being an owner to being a competitive seller. You want positive attention, not come across as another yard sale.
So get to work, get a truthful opinion of your home, and think to yourself, “does my home look like a gift shop?”
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A few years ago I noticed that real estate sites seem to show the same MLS listings, so I decided to create a distinct real estate blog to share my local insight - if you already live here or are relocating. There are topics based on recent client experiences, buying custom homes, and more learned over the past twenty years. Take a few minutes and read a blog post or two to see if my approach matches your goals. I am a real estate agent with RE/MAX, have lived in Oakton and McLean, and live in Vienna Virginia. My goal is to provide you with intel into today's market, candor, practical advice, ideas to get you moving, some humor, geeky stats, the best coffee shop, some video, and a cool way to search for homes. Helping you understanding the process of making an offer, the sales contract and more will come when we meet. Yes, I live here. It is easy to reach me: 
As the Broker of Record for Milestone Silver Realty Ltd. ; I am always interested in what other Real Estate practitioners have to say and what they are doing with their blogs and websites. Just thought I’d let you know that I came across your blog and really appreciated the content and time that you have put into it. It was very informative. As we all can appreciate: Real Estate continues to be “High Paying Hard Work and Low Paying Easy Work” Thanks for posting. Keep up the fine work.