From the category archives:

Preparing Your Home for Sale

Paint fumes are a great way to drive away home buyers

September 24, 2009

I showed several houses in Naperville on Tuesday evening. My buyers quickly ruled out the first home which as shown left clearly wasn’t ready for market. Not only did it not show well, the drying paint fumes were horrible!
Can you imagine car dealers selling cars that smell like exhaust fumes inside?
A fresh coat of paint [...]

Read the full article →

Basement says “water problem” not “quality & care”

June 27, 2009

This morning I showed houses in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. The remarks in the listing for one of the homes included “quality & care”. Shown below is the “quality & care” we found in the basement. Several floor tiles were missing and the cord in the photo was for a large fan running in the [...]

Read the full article →

Bathroom Ranks Among the Worst

June 4, 2009

A house in the west suburbs sure looked nice online. Priced in the $300Ks it even featured a private tennis court. My buyers and I were intrigued, so I scheduled the showing first on our list of homes to see that morning. The basement bathroom (shown below) left us speechless. Yes, that’s pieces of wood [...]

Read the full article →

Fix Water Leaks Before Putting Your Home on the Market

June 16, 2007

This week I met with a gentleman who will be listing his home for sale in Glenview. As he showed me around the basement, he mentioned that there was a leak in a corner about twice a year when it rains hard for a couple of days. He wasn’t getting it fixed.
I advised him to [...]

Read the full article →

How NOT to Stage Your Home: Disgusting Shower Floor

May 5, 2007

I showed a house in Glenview today that had great curb appeal and showed well until my buyer and I reached the master bath. The photo shown left is a close-up of one of the corners of the shower floor. ICK!!!
The mass of hair is bad enough, but the accumulation of crud between the [...]

Read the full article →

Pre-Listing Home Inspections

April 17, 2007

David Ousley, president of Building Specs of Illinois spoke at my office yesterday about pre-listing home inspections. Typically, home buyers hire a home inspector after their offer has been accepted on a home. With a pre-listing home inspection, home sellers hire a home inspector before putting their home on the market.
According to David, homes for [...]

Read the full article →

Paint Wall Repairs

January 25, 2007

On Monday I showed 2 bedroom 2 bath condos in Oak Park and Forest Park.
One of the kitchens is shown left. It’s a very nice kitchen for a condo with granite countertops and 42″ cabinets. Unfortunately, the seller is either too cheap or too lazy to paint a wall repair above the cabinets. Does [...]

Read the full article →

And They Wonder Why the House Isn’t Selling

November 27, 2006

Yesterday I showed houses in Roselle and Bartlett. The air vent shown right greeted my buyers and me in one of the houses. It’s located in the foyer. You can’t miss it when you walk in the front door.
The house was so dirty my buyers didn’t even bother going upstairs.
It’s a shame the owners didn’t [...]

Read the full article →

Don’t Let Peeling Paint Cost You Thousands of Dollars

May 20, 2006

While on the brokers tour in Schaumburg yesterday I came a across a very nice 2 bedroom townhome priced at $334,000. It’s been on the market 3 months now. In my opinion, one of the reasons it hasn’t sold yet, is that the obvious peeling paint at the entrance (shown right) makes a poor impression. [...]

Read the full article →

Shoddy Doesn’t Sell

May 6, 2006

Today I showed 3 bedroom houses in Evanston. One of the houses was advertised as renovated with a new kitchen (shown right). It was one of the poorest renovation jobs I’ve seen.

1. When you tell home buyers that a home has a new kitchen, they expect the appliances to match at least in color. [...]

Read the full article →

3 Phases of Preparing a Home for Sale

May 2, 2006

Today I developed my Home Sale Preparation Report for a seller. It details room-by-room my suggestions for preparing a home to go on the market. I organize home sale preparation into 3 phases.

1. Repair & Clean – This phase involves making any repairs so that all parts of the home function correctly and appear unblemished. [...]

Read the full article →

Don’t Risk a Lawsuit. Disclose!

April 15, 2006

Clients I helped buy a house in Arlington Heights in January called me yesterday with am interesting story!
Back when they had the home inspected, the inspector, Kevin Fulara, recommended that the furnace and air conditioner be replaced. For the price they were paying, the buyers weren’t expecting a heating and cooling system that might [...]

Read the full article →

Home Sellers, Can Your Windows Pass the Test?

January 30, 2006

On Saturday I showed a house in Mount Prospect listed at $665,000 (shown left). During the showing my buyer did what I often see buyers do, she opened a window. I should say, she tried to open a window. Then I tried to open a window, and another and another. None of them would budge [...]

Read the full article →