As I do on many Saturday afternoons I like to visit open houses and show homes. This gives me an opportunity to get to know the local realtors and, at the same time, each home I enter becomes a new learning experience.
The other day I came into a home and the first things that met my eyes were dirty stained carpets, scuffed up walls and, to put it nicely, unpleasant odours.
I already expected it to be a home which required maintenance because as I walked up the driveway I noticed that some of the stone work had fallen off and was never repaired.
On walking through the house I came across other areas of disrepair such as the bathroom linoleum letting loose along the tub, the silicone along the tile work had been neglected and the toilet was long overdue for a new wax seal. In the utility room there was also a state of neglect as the furnace had never been cleaned and I noticed mould in the condensing discharge lines which is a good indication of mould growth in the HVAC system.
In short, for a home that was less than ten years old it was in a high state of disrepair and really should not have gone on the market until fixed, cleaned and deodorized.
A professional pre-listing inspection performed on the home would have supplied the owners with a comprehensive report of areas of concern. They would also have had more time on their hands to ensure a proper deal for repairs and cleaning, showing pride of ownership.
I would definitely, as a realtor be proud to show a home properly inspected and staged instead of trying to make excuses for the state of disrepair let alone the unfavourable odours plus the extra time required to sell it. I do hope this home sells, but something tells me that at the end of the day the owner will likely pay double down the road when the repair negotiations begin.
It would have been a win-win-win situation to all parties concerned to have properly prepared this home before selling!