1. Cooking smells, including: tuna fish (blech!), bacon, garlic, deep fry oil, etc. If you can still smell it after you've cleaned up, you shouldn't be making it while the house is on the market. Coffee and cinnamon buns? Good. Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut? Baaaaaad.
2. Giving Buyers a "tour" of your home. Buyers HATE (I mean really HATE) having the homeowner following them around telling them about the house. They really want to check out your closet and cabinet space, and feel rude doing it in front of you. Besides, it always comes across as a little...desperate on the Seller's part.
3. This is a touchy one...anything really personal that would make someone else uncomfortable. A picture of you and your significant other gazing lovingly in each others eyes, hung above your bed, shrines to deceased loved ones, self-help books, etc. If it's private, remove it.
4. Animals freely roaming the house. I'm desperately afraid of birds. I once ran out of a house crying because some large parroty type thing squawked and dive bombed me. Once your animal scares someone, they spend the rest of the tour worrying about when BooBoo is going to eat them alive, rather than looking at your house.
5. Not wiping down the kitchen and baths. Your house should be spotless while showing (har har) but at the very least, make sure that the kitchen and bathrooms have been wiped down before a showing. A kitchen counter with crumbs or a bathroom with toothpaste on the sink or (ahem!) on the toilet seat gives the impression that the house isn't just "lived in" but "gross."
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Two of the most "yuck" showings I did recently were a property that distinctly smelled like vomit in the kitchen - there was a dog crate there and an elderly cat in a basket but I don't think it was from either of them.
The other instance was a house with a man cave overflowing with hunting trophies, heads, skins, stylized feathers, but the REALLY creepy part was the framed photo in the master bedroom of the husband (I think) at his shirtless, hairy-chested best.
We should have a gross off - hmmm, another blog post in the making! Suzanne - the overflowing trash with ladies personal items - gr-oss
Joan, I work with investors, so I see a LOT of homes like that. Gives me an appreciation that no matter how messy my house is - I ain't got nothin on these homes!
I vote for smells...if it has any odor...forget it.
A close second is all red carpet and green wallpaper in the entire house. My wife and I once saw a townhouse in Newtown like that....pretty funny. Probably still for sale 5 years later.
Talk about being late to the party! I finally made it, but I am sure glad I found it. Great Post Heather! Have some wonderful hints for sellers that are very well written with a good touch of humor...
all the best...