Sure Fire Ways NOT to Sell a House

1.      Odors

•        Pets
•     Cigarette smell
•       Mildew

2.      Dirty Bathrooms

•    Grime 
•   Dirty shower curtain
•   Mildew 
•    Rust

3.      Dogs meeting buyers at front door

•  Most people are scared of unfamiliar dogs, especially large ones

4.      Crazy wallpaper

• Busy prints
• Personalized patterns

5.      Damp Basements

•  Leaky foundation
• Mildew smell
•  Clogged drains 
•  No rain gutters
• Downspouts turned in wrong direction

6.      Dimly lit rooms

• Heavy drape
• Dark paint on walls
• Dirty windows
• Shadowing tree limbs outside

7.      Unpleasant curb appeal

• Unkempt yard
• Peeling paint
• Broken shutters

8.      Bugs/Rodents

• Spider webs
• Moth ball scent
• Roaches
• Rodent traps

9.      Plant holding gutters

• An unkempt outside means an unkempt inside

10.  Sellers (or seller’s personal belongings) being present during open house

• Awkward to inspect house with the seller watching
• Hard to imagine a house as one’s own when there is pictures of a different family all over