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(614) 570-2853
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Facebook House?

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Paul George,

Last year, I starting hosting a show called The American Dream TV: Selling Columbus.  It’s a national, Emmy nominated show that typically airs on the CW locally and on streaming services like ROKU, Apple TV and others. I film video segments about once a month highlighting Columbus neighborhoods and lifestyle, and after some pretty “creative” editing, I must say, the final product comes out pretty slick.

The real Paul George sucks on camera.  My shirts out, my hair is messed up, and I can’t tell you how many times I screw up my script. I don’t cuss much but blowing your lines time and time again humbles you pretty quickly.  It brings out the unvarnished true self.  At the end of the day, the real Paul George is not the one you see on camera, but the “frumpy” guy you see walking along the bike path.

I bring this up because selling a house is kind of the same way.  When I get the first call to sell a house, I get to see the “real” house and just as importantly, how it is kept. Our goal is to make the house look the best it possibly can.  We paint, freshen up the landscaping, hire a stager and take professional pictures to present the house in the best possible light.  When we look at Facebook and Instagram, we see our best self.  When buyers see the house online, they see it at its best.

Buyers want to know, what the “real” house is like?  What is the “real” neighborhood like? What is the “real” seller like?

Luckily, I have many sellers with great character.  The true test of character when selling a house is its “real” condition at the time the seller surrenders possession.  Since I represent both buyers and sellers, I’ve seen the best and the worst of the “real” houses and the character of many owners.  Most owners leave a house in “broom clean” condition. The problem is that the buyer and the seller have different definitions of what they consider “broom clean”.   I always suggest that my sellers leave their house as they would present it on Facebook.  Go over and above what a buyer might expect.

Once you move and see only floors and walls, you see all the warts.  Character sellers will fix or credit things they did not know until they moved (stains on carpet, no paint behind furniture, etc.).  They apologize and make it right.  As an aside, we are in a low inventory market so many buyers are purchasing homes “as is” to make the offer more attractive to sellers.  They still do inspections for their information, but my character sellers ask what they found and usually repair items anyway.  Again, most times they didn’t know of some of the issues found on an inspection or after the furniture was moved out.

What kind of seller are you going to be?  We want you to be the Facebook house to sell, BUT we also want you to be the same when the buyer takes possession of the “real” house.

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