do open houses help sell a house

Neutral or Character for Resale?

by John Rice

I had a chance to catch up with an old friend recently. This guy makes fine furniture and cabinets for a living. He was showing me all the things he has done to his house. It was pretty sweet. Not something you see everyday. Loads of character. Then he says to me that he doesn’t get this going neutral for resale thing. He just does what he likes. He then went on to say that the last house he had, he sold to the first person that saw it for top dollar. I’m usually the one saying go neutral and play it safe, but like so much in life, there are exceptions.

I think what my friend didn’t realize is that not everybody has such great taste. His house really rocked because all the work he did was so excellent and the house was full of hand-made furniture. Not everybody can pull that off……I know I couldn’t!

Most buyers are happy to have some common updates when they go looking for a house. It is safe to go neutral because that has the broadest appeal. But, I will say from experience that when a buyer walks into a house that has enough character to be remembered after they leave, they really like it or they really don’t. 

I sold a place recently that had a lot of character. Hardwood floors, unique lighting, a sunroom, a koi pond, a heavily landscaped backyard. Those sellers had great taste too. Their house really stood out as a winner. I’ve also seen several houses that the seller went with their own sense of style, and that is what made their house difficult to sell. 

So, if you are going to throw caution to the wind and go with something out of the ordinary, here is my advice: Make the whole house work together. Don’t do one room at a time without regard to how it relates to the rest of the house. No 4 different types of flooring or anything way random like that. The house will come across like you just went to Lowe’s and bought what was on clearance. Remember that a buyer is walking through your whole house and in their mind, they don’t separate the rooms mentally like we all do once we actually live in a house. 

Well, I hope I’m not contradicting myself too much here. I guess the bottom line is that playing it safe is fine….maybe a little boring, but fine. Character is a gamble. If you are planning on being in your current place for only a few years, go safe. If you want a house with character & will be there for a longer time, go for it. Chances are what you pick will be outdated/worn out by the time you sell, and you’ll get to enjoy it while you live there.

What’s the #1 thing you need from a Realtor?

by John Rice

Most people think what a realtor does is open doors for buyers until they find the house they want, make the offer, then wait until the closing to get their check. (Truthfully, some realtors think this too!)

It is really about protecting people as you lead them through the process of buying or selling.

You’ve gotta know what a house is worth to make sure your client doesn’t pay too much if they are the buyer or sell too low if they are the seller.

You’ve gotta know enough about houses to help them decide what to do after a home inspection.

You’ve gotta make sure they don’t agree to anything that would be bad for them or come back later and bite them in their rear end.

I am in a deal right now where I am really, REALLY working hard at doing all this.

The home of my Seller’s was just inspected. Their Buyer asked for over $13,000 in repairs. There were issues with mold, plumbing, hvac and the roof. Doesn’t all that sound terrible? I asked the Buyer’s agent to send me pictures from the inspection report. As I read over clips from the report that pertained to the requested items, it became clear to me that most of these issues were very minor. We either had a skiddish first time buyer or somebody who viewed this as an opportunity to squeeze some money out of my people. I remembered that the contract the Buyer’s realtor used had their address on it. I looked them up on the PVA. Our Buyers have owned their current home for a long time. That told me they were not skiddish first time buyers.

My Sellers told me the most they would credit the Buyers for repairs. I said let’s offer a little less so that if they come back for more, we can go to your max and then they will feel like they won. As I often say, the person who won the last battle feels like they won the entire war. We reached an agreement for a fraction of what they requested.

But wait! This is not over yet. Normally for realtors in my area, the repairs are requested on a specific form. That form is a binding document between the Buyer and Seller. We write whatever agreement is struck on that form. Then if there is a price change that the Buyer’s lender needs to know about, we write an addendum reflecting the change.

This out-of-area agent used a somewhat generic contract that does not have a supporting document for the repair list. She simply emailed me the request and we negotiated it. Now we need to write an addendum for the Buyer’s lender. No big deal right? Well, we don’t have anything documented that says that this price concession is in exchange for performing the repairs. While it is implied in my communication with the Buyer’s agent, I really want it to be crystal clear so I am going to have to make something that states that. My dad is retired now but he was a brilliant lawyer. He always told me when I started in this business to write things so that a 3rd party (like a judge or mediator) can clearly see what was agreed upon and what each party needed to do.

#1 thing I do not care about

by John Rice

There was a time in my career where this would have been a big deal. It is not now.

I got a letter in the mail recently from one of the bigger real estate brokerages in town. It was to congratulate me on being in the top 5% of all realtors in all of the Bluegrass in 2024. I think the intent was really to get me to consider coming over to their firm, which isn’t happening. Thank you for the letter though!

I had no idea I was in the top 5%. I used to track that kind of stuff a long time ago. Many years ago I was in the top 1.5%. I guess that was quite an achievement but I only have one memory of that year. I remember being on the edge of a nervous breakdown from working every hour I was awake for every day of the week for every week of that year. I definitely did not feel I was at my best nor did I feel my best. I remember making eye contact with myself in the mirror one day that year while I was shaving. I saw a robot who had figured out how to sell houses. I was just a machine. I remember trying to convince myself back then that this somehow was the fulfillment of my dreams. I have always been good at seeing through lies, even when I am telling them to myself.

So much has changed since I used to care about where I stood compared to other realtors in Central Kentucky. The biggest one I guess is that I am now back to where I started. Not in a sales production sense, but in my mindset.

When I started in real estate, my goal was just to be my best. I felt like if I was always trying to do my best for people, if I was always trying to learn something new from every experience, if I truly cared for my clients, that success would follow. I did not need to focus on trying to be successful. I often think of things in an agricultural sense. If you want the fruit of a plant, you focus on taking care of the plant. The plant takes care of producing the fruit in response to you taking care of the plant.

Here are some examples of what I now consider success:

A client who bought a house with me and then I sold their old one told me how great I was at communicating with them. They said every time they thought of a question, I would let them know the answer before they asked. They also said they appreciated my wisdom and experience in negotiating the sale and inspection repair lists for both houses.

Another client who is moving back to the area from out of state told me that they have worked with 3 other realtors over the past few years and I was by far the best one they have worked with.

There are other examples like this of course.

So now when I’m shaving and make eye contact with myself, I see a guy who is making things just a little bit better for those around me.

Did you pick the right house?

by John Rice

How do you know if you’ve picked THE right house? What IF a better ones comes on the market after you make a decision? How do you know you WON’T regret your decision?

There is no way that you or I can really answer those questions, so I am not going to try. What I can offer are some tips based on my experience that might prevent you from feeling this way. 

How do you know if it is THE house? I think any house you are afraid somebody else will buy out from under you shows it is pretty high on your list. If you can just totally see yourself  living in the house, it may be the one. Same thing with comparing other houses to it. If you are doing that, it means that one is at the top of your list.

How can you prevent regretting your decision? I think the best thing you can do is to take your time in reaching your decision. Granted, sometimes when everybody else wants the house too, you don’t have that luxury. I like it when people get to see a house for the second time. You always notice more of the bad stuff on the second visit. It is even better if you come back at a different time of day. Rooms will look different with the sun on the opposite side of the house. Something that I’ve always told buyers to do, and not many actually have done it, is to drive around the neighborhood on a nice warm Friday or Saturday night. That will bring out anybody that will be annoying, so you won’t have any surprises later. Tough luck if it is winter.

There are a couple other things that bring on regret: Having a tight timeline and getting so tired of looking that you just want it over with. If you have a tight timeline, preparation is the key. I have done a lot of work for people moving form out of town. They’ll only be in town for a few days and have to pick a house. I try to work with them as soon as I know they will be coming here. It all usually happens by e-mail or text, but we chat about neighborhoods, parts of town I think they’ll like, etc. Then I’ll start previewing houses for them. At this point it is all about eliminating houses. You’re not really looking for the right one, you’re trying to whittle down the list to a manageable amount for them to see when they get here. 

Now, about getting tired of looking. If you find yourself here and can do it, just take a break. It is a really scary place to be. It sneaks up on you like a sunburn. Ignore your Zillow app. Maybe have your agent preview houses. By the time you get to this point, your agent should really know what will work for you and what won’t. 

Okay. One more question left?  How will you know a better house won’t come on the market as soon as you sign a contract? Simple answer. You won’t. I tell people to quit looking at houses online once you get past the inspections. If you don’t look, you’ll never know. And if you are the type that won’t take this advice, remember that sometimes houses look better online than they do in person. You are comparing your house in reality to the select pictures that the listing agents wants you to see……So that other house probably isn’t as good in reality as you are picturing it in your head. You got a good house, now just enjoy it.

Is your yard fenced?

by John Rice

If your yard is fenced, do you know who owns it? Like 100% sure? If you are like most people with a fenced in yard, there was fencing on 3 side when you bought your house. Maybe you were told from the previous owner that all or part of it was your’s. But is it?

As a realtor, I advise my sellers NOT to make claim to a fence unless they are the ones who installed it or have some sort of documentation that they own it. I do not claim the fence as part of the property that conveys when listing a home. I simply state in the marketing remarks whether it is fenced or not. Absolutely zero claim of ownership, just that fencing exists.

WHY?

I bought my first house directly from a seller long before I became The LEXpert. I was a 20 something first time buyer who knew nothing. I was told by the seller, Will was his name, that the fencing belonged to him and would be mine with the sale of the home. I never thought about that statement from him again until I came home one day to find not only my dog missing but a large section of white picket fencing gone between my yard and the neighbor on the right. The owner of the home next door was a sweet little old lady who had lived there for 50+ years. When I asked why she removed my fence, she nicely told me that her deceased husband had put that fence up many years ago and she didn’t want it any more. (BTW, we soon found our little mutt named Edwina……which is not used anywhere as a password so no need for hackers to harvest this info.)

If I had any type of documentation that Will had told me the fencing was mine, I could have taken him to court to fill in the fencing void left when the rightful owner removed the fencing.

While I have never again had a similar issue in my 20 year career, I do not want my sellers to possibly be on the hook for buying the next owner a fence. Often being a good realtor is as much about what you prevent from happening as it is about what you make happen.