Dealbreakers or Distractions?

So, let’s dive in, guys. Today I’m going to touch on a very sensitive topic. We’ve been with a lot of buyers throughout the years, and the buyer’s brain is a little wild. So, let’s talk about some things. Sometimes they focus on things that they absolutely shouldn’t, and sometimes they don’t focus on things that they should. Let’s break things down. There are definitely red flags that are not red flags. So, for example, wall color, light fixtures, messy houses, old carpet, and weird decor. Those things should not panic your buyers. But we’ve seen more often than not that they put a lot more weight on those issues than what they do with structural items, which we’ll get to in a second. 

Now, sometimes it’s really difficult for a buyer to have a little vision. If there are any realtors out there, I’m going to give you a hint. This is where AI is going to be your best friend. Now, I wouldn’t recommend doing this with every single house, but let’s say you’ve seen 20 different homes and the buyers finally found the one, except they can’t get past the 90s kitchen. You know what kind I’m talking about. It’s like then you have the. The tile backsplash with, like painted grapes on it. And there’s inevitably going to be a clock in that kitchen that says something like wine time. You’ve been in one of those kitchens for sure. So, what are we talking about? We’re talking about a little paint and some peel and stick backsplash, and then a quick run to the home goods store. You can see it, but your buyer just can’t. So, here’s what I’d recommend. I would tell them to go home and sleep on it and say that you’re going to do a little bit of digging on the house. 

 Now, hopefully you would be able to tap into some of your resources, for example, I have a contractor friend of mine who is extremely helpful. I bring her and her company in when we need a little bit of upgrading on the. On the listing side of things before we list a home. So, she is more than happy to help me when I have these oddball situations. I take some pictures and some video of the kitchen, send it over to her, and I said, hey, what would it cost to do, like, two different levels of a renovation? And the first level would be something to the effect of, you know, painting the kitchen. And I know red is hard to paint over, but paint the kitchen, revamp the backsplash, maybe upgrade the light fixtures and the hardware. Obviously, the decor is going to be different. What kind of cost are we talking about? And then the next level would be something like a complete gut job and completely go to town. Then I would spend a little bit of time uploading those pictures up to AI and feeding it prompts to give it a good before and after picture. So, for example, the prompt that I would typically feed into AI would be something like this, without changing anything else in this room, revise the paint, color, backsplash, and decor so that it’s light and bright and up to today’s standards. You can get a little more detail than that. You can tell it exactly what type of style. If you know the type of style that your buyers are kind of looking for, what they’ve been attracted to, you could feed that into it. Then take those pictures and create a little before and after photo shoot with the information that you got from your contractor on approximately how much it would cost to upgrade that room. So, with that, you can send those pictures and that information to show your clients that this is a kitchen worth cooking in. Take $1,000 off the price or ask for, you know, $1,000 in seller assist. So that way the money is there to make that kitchen their reality. And if they have the vision and if you’ve shown them these things, then hopefully they’ll be able to move past them. The wall color and move into the home. 

 Now let’s talk about some things that when a buyer is going through a home, they’re sometimes focusing on these cosmetic things, and they’re not focused on what I would be concerned about if I were purchasing a home. And that would basically be centered around the foundation or anything structural and anything that has anything to do with water. So, for example, your roof, that’s going to be your first defense against water. So that is super important. Another thing is the foundation. So, I would recommend spending A little bit of time in that creepy basement looking for shifting walls, looking for intrusion of water in the corners especially. And that’s another thing, is that sometimes buyers are like, oh my gosh, there’s this puddle of water, or this corner absolutely gets damp. The very next thing you should be doing is going right outside to that corner to look where the downspout is. Sometimes it’s just a couple of dollars to extend that drainage away from the house, away from the foundation. And sometimes that perceived issue is a non-issue. Now, of course, just so you know, I am not an inspector, I’m not a contractor. I do not deal with wall anchors. I have very little knowledge about those things. But in my experience, if you can point out those things and then make sure that they reference those to their inspector, then that would help determine whether this house should be taken out of consideration.  

Now keep in mind that the sellers are sometimes willing to negotiate as well. So don’t wipe it out completely if it’s otherwise still on the table. But if it has anything to do with water or drainage issues or water flow, that is going to be definitely a red flag that you need to make sure is repaired. And then you got to think, how long has this water damage been going on? Reference the disclosures, see what the sellers have to say about it, if they say anything at all. Because even if a water issue is corrected; you don’t know what’s going on behind those walls. And that’s when you get into mold and all that fun stuff. So water would be my first kind of major area of concern. Secondly would have to do with foundation and structural issues. If there’s any shifting of the walls, that’s really important to investigate further. A lot of times here in Western Pennsylvania, we will see wall anchors in a basement. And that to me may be a red flag or alarming for a buyer to see, especially if they’ve never seen anything like that before. But to me, I’ve seen enough of them to know that they are usually done by an extremely reputable company who offers a 100 year transferable warranty. So, getting a little information on that is definitely helpful if you as well. If you’re seeing daylight in your basement though, anywhere going outside, you know, cracks and walls that are that big, we may be talking about some pretty expensive fixes. So, anything that has to do with water is a big deal. Anything that has to do with the structural integrity of the home is a big deal. And keep in mind that even sometimes these things are hard to detect. 

 So, who should be your first line of defense? Your home inspector. Not great Uncle Jeb who came along and built a shed once and he’s an alarmist trying to tell you all these bad things about things that are going get an inspector now.  

There are some things though, that I also wanted to point out that would be a red flag to me that kind of sometimes have nothing to do with the house itself. Things that are out of your control. What do I mean by that? Location, location, location. If you have a house that is perfectly positioned, it’s beautiful, it’s perfect, ready to go, but you’re looking around, and the neighbor is a hoarder and has several vehicles in the backyard in different levels of collapse. If there is a vicious dog next door and you have little kids, or even if you don’t, you know, all of those little things, those are not going to be easy to fix, if fixable at all. So, a lot of times if a buyer is looking at a property at night, I really recommend that we go back during the daytime. Let’s give it a peek. And let’s also take a second to stand at the house and look out the windows and what are you seeing? Because those are the things that you’re not going to easily be able to fix. And you can’t put a price on good neighbors. Trust me.  

Now, for my buyers out there, don’t worry. I know I throw a lot of information out at you, and especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer, this absolutely can sound a little bit overwhelming. This is where having a good realtor is really going to help you. You want somebody who’s going to give you a little bit of guidance but not force their opinions onto you. If there is a home that you absolutely love and your realtor is the one who’s hung up on the kitchen may not be a good fit. I have a quote that I always tell my teammates and it’s called “Report then Support” So, what this means is if I’m showing a house to a buyer, I’m going to report what I’m seeing. And I’m also going to be very clear; I’m not a home inspector. So, if this is of concern to you, and this is the house for you, I’d recommend that you bring this item up to your home inspector so that they can talk you through it and give you a little better advice. So, I report what I’m seeing. But then if my clients want to proceed with the home, I support their decision. If I feel that I have given my buyers everything there is to know that I can see. And I think it’s a great house. And we’ve seen 20 homes and this one is just the best of the best that we’ve seen and they want to walk. My job is to support their decision. Now that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t educate along the way. That’s also extremely important. 

Now if the buyers have this HGTV non reality outlook when we’re house hunting, that’s definitely something that we need to take into consideration and that is a problem. Guys, please keep in mind that anything on HGTV is not real. I actually joke with my buyers that while we’re house hunting and until they close on their house, they’re not allowed to watch anything on HGTV. So it’s very important that you keep focused on reality and that you are focusing on the right things and a good Realtor is going to be able to help you do that. 

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