What Are You Thinking! Mistakes Home Sellers Make

This is the first post in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to the mistakes that sellers make when they sell their home.  These mistakes are real and come from visiting homes that I have seen on our local broker tours.  Each of the homes described herein are located within the cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hill, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino.   Lastly, the mistakes are not ranked in order of importance, it’s just when I see them.

Mistake #1 – If it smells like %#@&, it will sell for %#@&

I went through a house on today’s Sunnyvale’s broker’s tour that smelled like a cross between an ashtray and a litter-box.  I’m not sure if the cat smoked, but it didn’t matter.  Relocate the cat, replace the carpets and paint the interior. 

It is very difficult to get the odor of cigarette smoke out of a house, but to do nothing is akin to giving money directly to the buyer.  FYI, other offending smells might include mildew, sweat, bleach and even curry or soy.