It really is an odd feeling, putting one’s house on the market. You have to keep the house perfect at all times, as agents want to show prospective buyers houses when it’s most convenient for the buyer. Fine, I have no real issue with it, but when one’s office is at home it can be more than a little difficult. For example, this week I have gotten very little real work done because of the prospects visiting. No real problem, but it isn’t the most convenient way to work. At least I have voice and email while I’m out cruising.
Other thoughts on showing one’s home:
My bride thinks, correctly, that the trash cans and recycling bins need to be empty whenever somebody comes to visit. We’ve never gone through as many trash can liners as we do now. The good news is that taking out the trash and recycling on Monday nights has never been easier.
We’ve had to stock up on light bulbs, too. It now takes me fewer than 5 minutes to run around and turn on all the lights so the house shows its best, but having them on for an hour or two at a time means that several bulbs burn out each week. It’s not doing much for the electric bill, either.
People are odd about other people’s houses. When I look at a house I’m trying to visualize how our stuff will look, and how we’ll use the space. For example, I do look in closets, but I feel a little like a voyeur when I do. I really don’t want to look at the owner’s stuff, I’m just trying to see how big the closet is. In other words, I’m not looking at how the owner lives, I’m looking at where he lives.
Not so everyone, it seems. People track in dirt, throw stuff out in our trash cans and open vanity drawers in the bathroom. For all I know they’ve opened dresser and nightstand drawers, too. During open houses people bring their little kids who invariably find Alex’s aquarium an irresistible canvas for their greasy little fingerprints. I imagine the fish are growing a bit weary of all the tapping on the glass, too.
But by far my two pet peeves are the folks who come in and sit down, and the folks who just have to use our bathrooms. On the former topic, it is not at all uncommon for people to come in and plop it down in a chair or sofa, and just sit there. One imagines that they are trying to picture themselves living here, but still. One guy even decided to put his feet up on one of our tables, at least that’s what it looked like to me. Hey pal, get your butt outta my chair! Buy the house and put your own damn chair in there, how ’bout it?
Now about this bathroom thing. I am not such a curmudgeon that I’d deny the use of the facilities to those in need, but it seems as though either a lot of people have bladder problems or don’t plan ahead or are leaving from here for a long car ride. I haven’t kept track, but it seems to me that somebody uses a bathroom on about two thirds of the scheduled visits to the house, and also during nearly every open house. I’ve talked to several agents about this phenomenon, which I’m tempted to liken to dogs marking territory; one agent laughed and said it happens all the time. She called it the “informal pre-settlement plumbing inspection.” Personally I find it merely rude.
RANT MODE OFF 
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.