Things Ottawa Buyers Will Notice #16 – Items For Sale in the House

Posted on August 1, 2008 
Filed Under Listing and Selling Your Home, Things Buyers May Notice

THINGS FOR SALE IN THE HOUSE

As I go out with Buyers looking at houses and host Open Houses on Sundays, there are things buyers seem to repeatedly notice.  This series looks at the good and the not-so-good things that buyers have noticed.

Several years ago I was a buyer looking for a new home.  At one location, the huge basement had been converted into an artist’s studio.  It was a home in Alta Vista, a rambling bungalow with a basement the same size as the ground floor.  After touring the first floor (a disappointment as no renovations had been made to keep the home current), we 2562180598_ed16d82463_m.jpgdescended to the basement.  Not only was there studio space but each and every wall was hung with paintings with price tags attached.  There must have been six or seven rooms with paintings on the walls.  I can only assume that 1) the owner was running a full time gallery from the basement; or 2) having the house for sale meant visitors so the owner hung the pictures with prices to market the paintings to visiting home buyers.  In any case, it was confusing, distracting and almost all of our time in the house was spent evaluating the painter’s skills.  (The photo is from the 2008 Ottawa annual Art in the Park event.  This is a fantastic opportunity to see the work of local artists and not in their homes.)

Years later, I was hosting an Open House.  Strategically situated by the front door was a price list of all of the furniture available for sale in the home.  One piece was spectacular and, almost without fail, visitors were drawn to look at, touch and discuss this piece of furniture.  I am sure that, like the paintings, buyers were unable to focus purely on the house. 

If you are selling your home and need to sell some of the contents, make sure that you separate the one sale from the other.    Buyers can be easily distracted.  It is easier to make decisions on items under a couple of hundred dollars than a home for several hundred thousand dollars.  

Photo credit:  Arts in the Park 2008 @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ming2046/2562180598/

Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Ontario ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca

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