Buyer Beware: Skeletons in the Closet

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) recently conducted an online survey of their members to rate the items they found most annoying when searching for a new home with buyers.  Since these real estate companies are always looking out for the buyer's best interest they don't pull any punches.  The results of the survey are revealing, surprising, and sometimes downright weird.

Here are the top five things exclusive buyer's agents find most annoying when previewing a home:

1. Broken door locks preventing access to the house.
2. Pet deposits in the back yard or dirty cat boxes.
3. Missing light bulbs in the basement.
4. Sellers that ask you to remove shoes and then have wet carpet or dirty floors.
5. Having loose stairs on a stairway or missing banisters. 

Other reported annoyances include:

6. Low hanging dining room light fixtures in a vacant home.
7. Closet doors that fall off or are not adjusted properly.
8. Going into a vacant home and hearing animals in the walls.
9. Halloween decorations that are left out.
10. Dangerous children's toys left out.
11. Dead cars in the driveway or yard.
12. Homes on large lots without a survey or description of the lot boundaries.
13. Political signs.
14. Graffiti on a home for sale.
15. Dead birds or animals in or around the home.

It seems that many home sellers are not overly-endowed with common sense.  Closet doors falling off?  Dead animals in the front yard?  The pitter-patter of mousy feet in the walls?  Scary Halloween decorations all over the house?  These should all be no-brainers.  Sending buyers away disgusted or frightened out of their wits is probably not the best of business decisions.  Neither is killing or maiming them with dangerous children's toys left as booby traps.

Jon Boyd, President of NAEBA, points out an important lesson for home sellers.  "In all these cases the buyer's attention is diverted from evaluating the home to something mildly disgusting or frustrating.  If sellers have a dead pigeon lying on the deck it will just help buyers negotiate a better price because of less competition.  But try to leave the skeletons and coffins for the Halloween party!"

NAEBA is a nonprofit organization with over 500 members nationwide.  NAEBA offers industry standard certifications, ongoing education, client referral service, technology and information sharing.