The Listing Fixes That Get You Offers Fast

Your home is on the market, the photos look fine, and yet… no offers. That’s not “bad luck” when buyers are out there paying $50,000 over asking. We get real about the uncomfortable truth: if a listing isn’t moving in a competitive real estate market, something in the listing strategy is working against you.

We walk through the biggest reasons a house doesn’t sell, starting with the one nobody wants to hear: price. Even a near-perfect home can need a pricing adjustment when it backs up to a busy road or has a nearby eyesore that buyers can’t unsee. We also share a practical way to use showings as data, including a simple benchmark for when to stop waiting and start changing the plan.

Then we hit the silent deal killers that can ruin a showing in seconds: pet odors, cat urine, cigarette smoke, and even strong cooking smells that linger in cabinets and ventilation. We also explain why sellers being present during showings, inspections, and walkthroughs can create tension and cost you money, even when you’re just trying to be helpful.

Along the way we cover neighborhood factors, “too much work” fatigue for first-time buyers, and the basics that still matter most: decluttering, deep cleaning, depersonalizing, and curb appeal. If you’re selling a home in Minnesota, Sioux Falls, or anywhere that feels like a seller’s market, this is a straightforward checklist you can use right now. Subscribe for weekly real estate and mortgage advice, share this with a friend who’s listing soon, and leave a review if these tips help you win your next offer.

You can always find U. S. Home Talk and connect with the hosts and the community at their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/U.S.HomeTalk/ or at our website, USHomeTalk.com

Transcript

Welcome And Ways To Reach Us

Mike Ouverson 0:31

Hey folks, welcome to US Home Talk. We are your premier real estate and mortgage podcast coming to you every Wednesday at noon. I'm your host, Mike Overson, also known as Mortgage Mike from Luminate Bank. With me on the show is Jason Walgrave with Remax Vanish Plus, the Walgrave Real Estate Group, and Marcus Walgrave, South Dakota home team powered by Heg Realtors. We are going to talk about your listing. We're going to talk about your home listing today. But before we get into that, uh, in order to engage with us during the week, go to our website, ushometalk.com. You can connect with us at any point during the week. You can get access to our past shows. Um what else can they do? They can get free reports on buying and selling, uh, just a bunch of information on there. So check us out at ushometalk.com. Uh and then uh watch our show. Any uh any podcast service that you have, uh Wednesdays at noon, we have a show running and we talk about current events, real estate mortgage, and we answer your questions uh as well. So feel free to um submit your questions to us. If you're watching us uh on Facebook, you can uh type in the comments and stuff there as well uh and to get to us. Okay, for our topic today. Um, if your house isn't selling in this market, you got something wrong with your listing. Okay, and here's why I bring this up. Uh just just last week, right? Two buyers. Um one of my buyers made an offer on a house listed at$519,000. They went in at$570,000 to get it.$519 went in at$570,000.

Jason Walgrave 2:08

Did they get it?

Mike Ouverson 2:09

Okay, they got it.

Jason Walgrave 2:10

Yep.

Busy Roads And Pricing Reality

Mike Ouverson 2:10

They ended up getting it, right? And another buyer, the question that came up to me was how high it was a$330,000 listing. The question to me was, how high can I go and still qualify for this house? Right? Which tells me, right? Which tells me there's a lot of buyer competition out there. There's there's gonna be multiple offers on there, which means that if your listing is not selling, you got something wrong. So I'm gonna talk about what could be wrong with your listing. We're gonna make a list today, okay? So we got two big brains in the studio with us, real estate brains here. They could barely fit on your screen, right? So let's go, let's start making our list. Okay, number one, I don't care, you guys can just rapid fire, you know, whatever, right?

Jason Walgrave 2:58

Um what do you think what the no what's the number one thing while you're listening isn't so um I I mean busy road is it I have one right now where that's the case. That the the house is it is mint. I mean it it's a 10 out of a 10. It's um only a couple years old. The owners, I mean it is it feels like a a high-end model, and it's the nicest home in the cul-de-sac, um, but it backs up to a busy road, and it's that is the only that is the only objection um that we've had. Um but it's uh you know it's it's interesting because that the the the busy road uh challenge is is real again. Um five years ago, it it wasn't, it didn't matter. I mean you're talking 2020, 2021, 2022. Uh the the busy road was like not an issue at all for a number of years. Um but but it's it's a big deal again, and so you know a busy road's gonna be a problem.

Mike Ouverson 3:54

Okay, busy road. Marcus, what do you got? What's the first thing that comes to your mind?

Marcus Walgrave 4:00

It's price. Okay. It's just price. I I I think you know, you kind of talk about that busy road, right? Um and and when you have such a beautiful home, uh it's tough to because you find the comps for it. And you might just be three lots, not like three blocks, but like three lots away from that uh uh you know, backing up to that busy road, and that home may sell 10% higher. And that's just a hard pill to swallow, you know, when when when you're in that position of a of a homeowner and and um you you know that there's these bidding wars, like you talked to Mike 520 that that that got a 570 offer plus 50 grand, almost 10% over list price, you know, a 330 buyer saying, How high can I go to still qualify for a home loan? Um those stories are being told and they're they're being told in our market in the Sioux Falls, anything at less than 700, it's a seller's market. And and so, you know, when you're in that, but but it it's easy to be even in a seller's market, right, Jason? In a seller's market, if you just uh uh uh have it overpriced by five percent, that can be enough to where it's not not that it's not gonna sell, it's just like you know, people say, you know what, let's let's look for another week or two.

unknown 5:21

Right.

Marcus Walgrave 5:21

You know, they're they're probably gonna come back to your home in in 30 days and still buy your home because you got the best home for the best price out there. Um but the buyer's just like, you know, let's let's just look for a little bit longer. So you know, price is price is a you know, price is a bugger right now.

Jason Walgrave 5:37

Yeah, I I think you're right, Marcus. I think the number one is is gonna be price, you know, and and then price, you know, and then the you know, well why? Why is the price too high? And then you look at okay, well, in this case it's the the road, or this case it's you know, you got a neighbor that looks like they you know are running a salvage yard, you know, and I mean there's you know there's things like that, right? And and so but ultimately every home will sell at the right price. Period, it will. Every period, every single house in the United States will sell at the right price. You know, and and so um, but that that gets tough and and you know, especially if it's your house, right? I mean, it that's that's a tough one to to accept.

Marcus Walgrave 6:18

In some cases it's not doable. Yes, you know, I mean, there's there's there's so many factors out there that that's that's out there and and and uh um on on on how you what price you choose to list your home at and and and ask. And so, you know, it's it's not like uh it's definitely not a dig for anybody out there who maybe be overpriced. Sure. Um, you know, it just might just be the position that they're in and and uh you know hopefully hopefully they're able to still achieve their goals.

How Many Showings Before You Adjust

Jason Walgrave 6:46

All right, I got another one for you. Mike, you got a thought?

Mike Ouverson 6:49

Yep. Well, I was gonna say, so uh my my side question to price was how many how many showings do you need to go through before you should have an offer on the house?

Marcus Walgrave 6:59

I like that question. That's a great question. It's definitely because you should, right?

Mike Ouverson 7:03

I mean, there should be a set number of showings. Like if we get 15 showings on this house, we should have an offer on the table. Or whatever that number is. I mean, markets are gonna be different, right? Back in COVID, it was like, I mean, we're gonna have our this thing listed for 24 hours, you're gonna have 30 offers to choose from, right?

Marcus Walgrave 7:19

If people think about your house 10 times, you're gonna get a full offer, right?

Mike Ouverson 7:23

So, how many? So, if you guys say today, and uh obviously Marcus's market might be a little different from us, he's in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We're up in the metro area of of Minnesota here, but what would you guys say if you had to put a number on it?

Jason Walgrave 7:35

10. I I I'd say if you if you've had 10 showings, you don't have an offer, you got to do something different.

Mike Ouverson 7:40

Okay. What do you think, Marcus?

Marcus Walgrave 7:42

You know, I I've always uh said like 12 to 15, but but I've always added uh uh to that statement, an acceptable offer. You know, and and I think that that's you know, I think you could definitely get you know that that that buyer out there who's like aggressive, just maybe looking to pick it up for 5% less than market value. But you know what? They showed up right away, they submitted an offer within 24 hours, you know, and they're they're like, hey, uh we're ready to rock and roll, you can be done with this in 30 days. Um, you know, we definitely see that buyer out there, but I I agree, 10 to 15, you should have an acceptable offer in in on your table.

Odors That Kill Buyer Interest

Jason Walgrave 8:22

Yeah, agree. Uh another big problem pet smells. Um if if you've if you have uh especially a pet cat urine smell, that is a that's an absolute deal deal killer for most people. You know, and and and dogs can be smelly too, but I but pet smells, you know, pet you know, urine smells are those are really, really bad. Um can they be fixed most of the time? Um but it can be it could be a really big process. I mean I'm talking about to not just rip up all the carpet and flooring and pad, but you know, treating the you know the the floor, you know, the floorboards. And sometimes sometimes you gotta rip them up, you gotta replace them. You know, I mean I I've I've been in homes where it it felt like the cats used the living room as a litter box for the last ten years. I know I know it soaked all the way through the the subfloor. Just you know, and that one is it's so that one and then I'm gonna throw in another one, cigarette smoke.

Marcus Walgrave 9:33

I was just gonna say I mean that's like the pet thing is like you're you're gonna run into it. If you're a buyer out there and you're house hunting, you're going into a house that's gonna have a pet smell, almost guaranteed, especially in the Midwest. I mean, I'm sure throughout the whole US, but like I can't remember last time I went through a home where I smelt smoke in the house. Garage, sure. Yeah, but it's been a while since I've been in a house where the house there was a house smoker.

Jason Walgrave 10:00

I I I was in one yesterday and um and uh he he answered the door with a with a you know marble light in and it was a marble red. Don't don't don't doubt he was not smoking lights all white and and I'm like he well he didn't have it lit, so I appreciated that. Um but but he was and he wasn't smoking in the house, he was smoking in the garage. Um but he had the garage door open from the garage to the house, and I'm like, okay, now thankfully he's having the whole thing painted, walls, ceilings, and all new carpet, and and so it's gonna be fine. Um, but I've also been in homes where you know pretty certain they smoked like two packs a day for 40 years in the house, you know, with all the windows closed, you know, and you can go up to the window and go, yellow tar and you can run it. Yeah, yellow tar.

Marcus Walgrave 10:53

Interesting.

Jason Walgrave 10:54

That one is very difficult to fix. I mean, you're really the only way to do it, you gotta rip out the flooring, you gotta rip out the doors, the trim, the cabinets, and then you gotta, I mean, you gotta kill everything floors, walls, ceilings, everything, and you gotta put it all back together. I mean, you can you can do it, but it's expensive.

Marcus Walgrave 11:14

Or you sell it to a smoker. Or you sell it to a smoker. Mike, no, you don't burn the house fire. Oh, you don't burn it down to a cigarette.

Mike Ouverson 11:21

Oh. I don't know. That's sounds to me like it might be easier to just like accidentally have one of your lit cigarettes turn the house on fire and burn it down and get rebuilt.

Jason Walgrave 11:31

Oh well, what happened?

Mike Ouverson 11:32

That seems um how about Go ahead. Go no, go ahead.

Jason Walgrave 11:37

And that's a tough one, right? I mean, you you know, it's people it's their house, you know, they do whatever they want in their house, you know. And so it's like you you don't I you don't want to be cr too critical about it, but it's like you you gotta bring it up because it's a real thing. You know, and most buyers, even buyers that smoke, don't want their house to smell like smoke, right? And so that one can be a big challenge.

Mike Ouverson 11:59

How about weed smoke? You run into that much? Do you run into it? You guys do all these showings, you guys.

Jason Walgrave 12:06

Not really. Not really. I mean, I mean, honestly, I smell more weed when I'm at the stop light, and there's some guy in front of me serious, it's it's every day. I got I got I my kids know what what it smells like. It's hemp. It's not weed. Yeah, it's hemp, right? And so they're you know, they would be like, Oh, what's that smell? And I used to say, Oh, just a skunk, you know, who must have ran over. And then they're old enough and I'm like, guys, that's what that's what weed smells like. That's a you know, that's a marijuana. But it's now they know, and so we're driving around. Yep, looks like that guy's smoking weed, dad. So I I don't honestly I don't think I don't think uh marijuana scent is as bad as cigarette. I think you can I think it's easier to get rid of it. Um but the the cigarette smoke is that's brutal to to fit.

Marcus Walgrave 12:56

I think like you said though, Jason, I mean, uh we all know this story, right? The two-pack a day smoker. And and I think that that's probably what you're seeing the difference between the two. You know, one one individual is is going through, I mean, I what what's there, 20 20 cigarettes in a pack or something like you know, 40 cigarettes in one day. Yeah, it's like, man, if somebody's smoking 40 joints in one day, like, whoa, I'm sure that house would smell like they're not in their house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So maybe that's the difference on why one is, but I mean, you know, it it's like uh you go to an old bowling alley that that has banned smoking for 20 years, you leave that bowling alley and you smell like smoke. Yeah. You know, still, yeah, still. So it's a weird, you know, it's it's in the vents kind of a deal.

Jason Walgrave 13:46

White ceiling tiles are yellow. Yep.

Mike Ouverson 13:49

How about uh how about cooking smells?

Jason Walgrave 13:51

Oh yeah, cooking smells are I mean, I mean, yes. Pro or con? Cookies that well comes up. You know, I think strong smells, Cajun smells, um, you know, uh Indian spice, you know, um Indian food and some you know some you know Asian cuisines, you know, those carries.

Marcus Walgrave 14:11

Pork roast.

Jason Walgrave 14:12

Pork roast, or you know, that's a real strong. Like the blackened, you know, blacken their steaks and stuff, and you know, those things are any real strong cooking smells are are not good. Um they're not good. And you know, and sometimes those are almost as hard to get out as is cigarette smoke, depending on how often they cook and what type of spices they're using. But yeah, that's another great one, Mike. And that that's a challenge.

Mike Ouverson 14:37

You guys see that very often though?

Jason Walgrave 14:39

Not as much.

Mike Ouverson 14:39

I mean, because usually cooking smells, I mean, if you're gonna cook it, yeah, it might last for a few hours in there, but yeah, you know what I mean? Like it seems to like it doesn't like hang around like a cigarette type of smoke would hang around.

Marcus Walgrave 14:50

Yeah. I I I would say it's a cultural thing. Um the the individuals who do make uh uh big flavored meals, they're likely making every meal at home.

unknown 15:04

Right.

Marcus Walgrave 15:04

You know, every meal is so so there there's cooking happening continuously throughout the day. Yeah. Um and I think to your point, you know, yes, once that cellar has moved out, you probably do a deep clean of the kitchen and you're gonna remove all the oils that maybe had evaporated onto the you know the cabinets or or whatever, and then it's gone. You know, you it's not going to be like a cigarette smoker where five years down the road you're like, I could tell somebody smoked in this house, you know, five years. I you know, I haven't smoked. I bought this five years ago, and it was the previous owner, you know. You you're probably not gonna have that. Uh yeah, five years ago, you know, it was a family that that you know made big, big flavored uh meals. Nobody I've never heard anybody say that. So I think it it's more of a temporary but a cultural thing where they're probably cooking all day.

Jason Walgrave 15:55

Yeah, yeah. You know, that just reminds me. Um my my exhaust hood in in our kitchen has like a drip tray. It's like it comes off. You know, it comes off. Yeah. That just reminded me that I need to. It's been a couple years since I've cleaned that thing. Last time I cleaned it, it was yellow, right? I mean, it it picks up some of those oils. Yeah, grease. Yep.

Legal Minute On Homestead Protection

Mike Ouverson 16:17

So for sure, for sure. All right, we're gonna pause for legal minute. I got a couple other good ones here I want to get your guys' opinion on, but we're gonna pause for a legal minute here and then we'll come back.

Jeff O'Brien 16:28

This is Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hush Blackwell with a U.S. Home Talk legal minute. Minnesota law goes a long way to protect a person's interest in his or her home. One of these protections is the homestead exemption from judgments. This law presently provides that up to$390,000 of equity in a home is exempt from any judgment creditor. How does this work? Let's say you are sued and the other party gets a judgment against you for$300,000. If you own a home worth$590,000 and have a mortgage of$200,000, your entire equity is exempt from collection. In addition, if you're a married couple and own your home as joint tenants, a 2004 Minnesota Supreme Court case holds that the joint tenancy cannot be severed in order to satisfy a judgment against only one of the joint tenants. These exemptions are very important for business people who often have high-value homes with significant equity and are concerned about protecting their home against business liabilities and personal guarantees. This is Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hush Blackwell with a U.S. Home Talk legal med.

Mike Ouverson 17:20

Thank you, Jeff. Always great info from Jeff. One of the smartest guys I know.

Jason Walgrave 17:25

Yep.

Why Sellers Should Leave Showings

Mike Ouverson 17:27

Okay. Um, this is an interesting one. I want to get you guys' feedback on this, okay? Seller is present during showings.

Jason Walgrave 17:35

Not good. Not good.

Mike Ouverson 17:39

Have you guys seen this lately?

Jason Walgrave 17:40

Uh yeah. Yeah. You have? I mean, it it's um I just I mean I just had one where my clients bought a house. Well, the one that Clovis and his wife bought. They were they were present during the showing. They were present during the inspection, they were present during the final walkthrough, and and I can tell you that it irritated the crap out of my buyers that they were there. Yeah. You know, and and it created more um uh uh hostility uh for for things that probably wouldn't have been a big deal um if they weren't there. But it was just you know, so yeah, that's a terrible idea. Now now the exception would be um you get the deal done and you get through inspection, you're moving towards closing, and the seller says, Hey, um I I'm willing to be here for the final walkthrough just to show the buyer all these mechanicals and sprinkler and you know and and whatever. And so that I think is is is super helpful, but not during the showing or during the open house or the walkthrough or the inspection. It's not it's not helpful. I've never seen that be helpful.

Mike Ouverson 18:48

Marcus?

Marcus Walgrave 18:49

No, I have I haven't seen like an uptick of sellers hanging around doing this. Yeah, right. Um, you know, and and I I don't see any value in it. Um I definitely I understand like the you know the the Midwest nice and a seller saying, hey, I just want there's a lot of little things I just if if I just let tell them it's gonna they're gonna be able to you know learn quicker. And it's like I I I get that. Um if they insist in in being there, sure. It's like you know, throw it down on a on a word doc. Yeah. Um show up to closing. You know, don't pre-sign the day before if you really and and maybe share some information. Um it's it's nice to it's just it's just nice to kind of keep the parties separate until the deal's done. Um and and you because the the the people may not uh uh they they they may not mix well, right? They just might have different personalities. Right. And all of a sudden it what was should have been an amazing experience on the purchase of a home or a sale of a home, it is now being influenced because some personalities didn't didn't mix well. And that that just shouldn't that shouldn't be part of a real estate transaction, in my opinion.

Jason Walgrave 20:05

Yep, I agree. And we don't do Marcus, we don't do buyers and sellers don't close together anymore in Minnesota. Ever.

Marcus Walgrave 20:12

Yeah, interesting. We we still do buyers are at nine and sellers at nine thirty.

Jason Walgrave 20:17

Nope. No, we haven't ever since COVID. Um buyers and sellers, they don't often buyers and sellers never meet anymore, ever. Yeah, you know, which is fine. I I don't think there's anything with that.

Marcus Walgrave 20:27

So no, no.

Mike Ouverson 20:29

Have you guys recently had any of your listings where the seller wants to be there and you had to talk them out of it for showings and stuff?

Jason Walgrave 20:35

I I get that question often. You know, you know, should you know, should I be here for this? Or you know, and I would say it's better better if you're not.

Mike Ouverson 20:42

Okay. Interesting. Yeah, so there's a lot of things.

Marcus Walgrave 20:46

My comment is is is I wouldn't recommend it. If you want somebody there, let me know and I'll be there. If that if that's how you want to structure it. So above and beyond right there.

Mike Ouverson 20:55

Yeah. Nice. Good job, Marcus.

Marcus Walgrave 20:58

Just trying to just trying to get stuff done here.

Mike Ouverson 21:00

It's making deals happen, making dreams happen. I'll do whatever I need to do to make a dream happen. Okay, what else you guys got? What else is killing your listing? If your listing isn't selling this market, when we got buyers willing to offer 10% over list price, yeah, your listing should be selling. What else? We had with so busy road, we've had busy road, we've had your price. Your price is wrong, it's too high. We've had smells, smoking cigarettes, uh, weed smell, cooking smells, seller uh present during showings.

Repairs And Neighborhood Red Flags

Jason Walgrave 21:26

Yeah. It could be that the house just needs too much work. You know, it could be that that it um and you know, you this is tied into price, of course, but it it could be that you know, it's just if you're in an entry-level home price range, um, you know, and and you're you're priced aggressive, it it's just it's hard for a new, you know, a first time home buyer to come in and and have to then, you know, put in all these repairs or replace all these items. And you know, it is and it's tough because you maybe you got a house that you've got a furnace AC. Water heater, water softener, and they're all in working condition. You just had them service, but they're 25 years old. You know, and it's like, well, they work, but I mean everybody knows they're at the end of their life, you know, and so um it could be just it's just too much, too much work for the buyer.

Marcus Walgrave 22:18

Jason, you mentioned about like the the neighbor who has like, you know, it seems like a salvage yard. I mean, those are gonna be nothing you can really do about it. But sometimes you just have uh an in an individual who uh you know maybe their their lawn equipment broke down. And and I mean there's some fine lines where you can maybe say, hey, go over to a neighbor and say, Hey, I'm gonna be selling, you know, would you mind if I you know hired somebody to come out here and and just clean up the the front yard, you know, just once help to try to help out. It's gonna help me with the sale. Um, you know, I'll pay for it. And and you know, so there's there's some there's some ways about getting around things like that, but um overall neighborhood condition is definitely a factor on on why a a property is not selling. Yep.

Mike Ouverson 23:00

You just go to your neighbor and be like, look, dude, your yard is ugly. And I need to do something about it if I want to sell my house.

Jason Walgrave 23:06

Yeah. We got a I got a listing coming up in the next couple weeks, and when I met with him last week, we were looking out the backyard and into the neighbor's backyard, and you know, it's nice, nice homes, nice neighborhood, but he's got he just got like stuff back there, and he's like, Oh, he's like, Yeah, so and so I'm gonna tell him to go, you know, put that blah blah blah away, and you know, and and so I think because he knows him, and so you know, but I think most of the time, I think most of the time your neighbors are gonna help you out, right? And especially if you're offering to pay for it, like Marcus said, like, hey, do you mind if I just have it cleaned up or you know, I'll I'll take care of it? And um you know, it people have different um definitions of what's neat and clean, you know, right? So you might have one neighbor and he's like, Well, my yard looks good. What do you talk about? You know, and it's like, well, we got we gotta think about the masses. What what do the masses think is is neat and clean because we're trying to sell a house.

Marcus Walgrave 24:00

So and the seller can always throw the realtor under the bus, like, hey, my realtor said that it would be great if if maybe that's you know, and and so they don't have to be like a bad guy, they can often offer to be bad cop in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

There's there's a there's a different way to look at this, which is the pro tip is if you really need you know your backyard cleaned up, try and get your neighbor to sell their house. They're gonna come over and be like, Man, your friends is fucking like junk, and you got that stuff back there, and you'd be like, Man, I I just don't have the energy to take care of it.

Marcus Walgrave 24:35

But if someone wants to help me out, or just call that listing agent and be like, hey, I'm the backyard neighbor, and uh I don't know if you saw, but my yard chair could get a nice little cleanup.

Mike Ouverson 24:48

I like it. Have you guys ever had to go to the neighbor? Like at your buyer, your seller's like, that neighbor needs to do something, but he he won't listen to me. And then so your seller sends you over there to talk to the neighbor.

Jason Walgrave 25:00

I I've offered it uh probably half a dozen or a dozen times, but I've never had to do it.

Mike Ouverson 25:05

Okay. You Marcus?

Marcus Walgrave 25:07

No, I haven't had anybody ask me to uh to go over and talk to the neighbor. Usually it's kind of like a uh point of pride, like they they don't want to send their realtor over there and kind of uh uh you know awkward situation.

Cleanliness, Clutter, And Curb Appeal

Mike Ouverson 25:22

All right, I got one more for us. House is dirty. It's dirty.

Jason Walgrave 25:27

Oh yeah, that makes a or cluttered.

Mike Ouverson 25:29

It's cluttered, but it's too busy.

Jason Walgrave 25:32

Clutter doesn't allow a buyer to imagine that being their house because they're distracted by all the stuff. You know, um dirty um sends a message I you haven't taken care of the house. So if it's not clean, you probably have when's the last time you you changed the furnace filter, when's the last time you had the furnace racy serviced? I mean, it just it it sends a bad message, it certainly leaves a bad you know taste in your mouth after you look at a house that's dirty, you're like, oof, they didn't take care of this house. And maybe they did, maybe they're just maybe the house is dirty, it's not so yeah, declutter, deep clean, these are all things we recommend to almost every buyer or uh every seller that we work with.

Marcus Walgrave 26:07

Yeah, that declutter, depersonalize to your guys' point, you know, a buyer wants to go in there and they want to see, they want to be able to envision their life and their family or or their you know their situation in that house. You know, they don't want to uh see your memories, um, nothing against that. Uh uh, but you know, you definitely want to declutter, depersonalize, and first impressions totally exist in real estate. You know, if you pull up to the house and you know the half of the sidewalk is grown with grass, um, weeds coming out of the driveway, right there, they're gonna be like, hmm, you know, I wonder, I wonder what's gonna look like inside. Not in a positive thought process, but possi most likely a negative. And and so they're gonna go in there and they're gonna be a little bit more judgmental. So, you know, taking care of that front elevation, first impression, um, whether it it's you know, like you said, might being dirty or if it's uh uh landscaping, you know, do do clean up the shrubs and and uh do some of the trimming and edging and and get that that that first impression, knock it out of the park.

Jason Walgrave 27:10

That that's definitely a trigger for me. Weeds, weeds in the landscaping, you know, weeds in the rocks or the mulch, or you know, I mean it's just I mean, I I've seen them where they're four feet tall, you know, these thistles four feet tall, and I'm like a little more effort, folks. You know, I mean I just that that one is that one is just send such a bad message. I really couldn't even pull the weeds in the front elevation. So um it's just look, it look, it's work to sell your house, right? It's work for the seller, it's work for for the agent and the team. Um, sellers and agents, you're a team getting this thing done together. Um, it's supposed to be work. Just just embrace it. Everybody do the best they can to show your house in the best possible light uh that we can, and then you're gonna have the best results.

Marcus Walgrave 27:57

You're talking about big dollars. Yeah, when you're selling real estate sales. It makes sense to uh anticipate that you gotta put a good amount of work to it to achieve you know the best results.

Jason Walgrave 28:08

Agree.

Get Help With Your Listing

Mike Ouverson 28:09

Great point, fellas. Great point. So that's our show for today. Uh, if you need some help with your listing, reach out to us. Ushometalk.com, reach out to us, send us some pictures, we'll help you out, we'll give you our opinion. Uh, maybe you want to hire one of these two fine gentlemen to sell your house uh as well. So, on behalf of Marcus Walgrave and Jason Walgrave, I'm Mike Overson. We'll see you next week.