Don't Let Cigarette Odors Cause Your Home Sale to Go up in Smoke

If you smoke cigarettes in your home, the odors this habit leaves behind could cause your home sale to go up in smoke. Thankfully, there are three cleaning tips that can help alleviate this issue.

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If you’re a cigarette smoker, you may have become smell-blind to the odors this habit can leave behind in your home. This can pose a big problem when it comes time to sell because non-smoking buyers are sure to notice this residual aroma.

To make sure cigarette odors don’t cause your home sale to go up in smoke, there are three key tips you should follow when you list:

1. Have a full professional cleaning of your heating and cooling system. Cigarette smoke will get trapped in your home’s HVAC unit itself, so simply changing out the air filter won’t be enough if you hope to rid your house of odors. Having a professional clean the ductwork, and the unit itself, will be your ticket to fresh-smelling air.
2. Seal and repaint your walls and ceilings. Your homes walls and ceilings can trap unpleasant-smelling nicotine particles, and painting alone won’t be enough to undo this effect. Instead, seal your walls first with a primer (like Kilz) and then add your fresh coat of paint after that.
3. Launder or steam-clean cloth items, carpet, and furniture in your home. Your drapes, chairs, couches, carpet, and more will all absorb the smell of cigarette smoke over time. Giving each of these items a thorough, professional cleaning will give a huge boost to your home’s overall freshness. 

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Trapped odors from cigarette smoke can pose a big problem when it comes time to sell, because non-smoking buyers are sure to notice this residual aroma.

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As a bonus tip: Wipe down flat surfaces, knick-knacks, and light bulbs in your home. You may be surprised to learn that these items can contribute to how your home smells, but the difference that cleaning these things can make will speak for itself.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving From the Donovans

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At this time of year, we think about how much we have to be grateful for. Thanksgiving is a time to give, a time to love, and a time to reflect on things that mean the most in your life. This Thanksgiving, we are especially treasuring the weeks, hours, and minutes of time that we are able to spend with those that we care about. To all of our family, friends, neighbors, clients, and co-workers: We wish you a truly beautiful and bountiful Thanksgiving. We wrote a song called “You Are” that we think fits perfectly this time of year.

Keeping In Tune With The Market: Inside the Mind of a FSBO Seller

How can you, as an agent, convince a For Sale By Owner seller to work with you? It starts by jumping inside the mind of a FSBO seller.

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Welcome back to another episode of “Keeping In Tune With The Market.” Today, we’re going to get inside the mind of a homeowner who wants to list their home as For Sale By Owner (FSBO).

Would you like to get a listing this month? Sure, the market is tight and there’s not very much inventory, so what is the best way for you to get a new listing where you could help a homeowner sell their house?

Many agents shy away from FSBO listings because they think that when they go to those homeowners, they’ll get their heads bitten off. That’s actually not the case. By getting inside the head of a FSBO seller, we can understand that they might be a little less scary than you think.

Why would a person consider selling their home on their own instead of turning it over to a Realtor?

The first reason is to save on commission. A lot of them are just confident that they could sell on their own because, perhaps, they’ve sold cars or homes before. They might not know a good agent, or they might have had a bad experience with one. Many FSBO sellers feel as though they have a bottom line to reach and that they can’t afford to pay an agent. In that case, we have to show the owner how we can make them even more money than they could get on their own.

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Many agents shy away from FSBO listings because they think that when they go to those homeowners, they’ll get their heads bitten off.

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They might also think that if they can’t sell it on their own, then they can just turn it over to an agent. They might give it a few weeks to a couple months to try to sell on their own. In this case, find out what their motivation is. How soon do they need to move? Where are they going. Get an idea of how long they want to try it on their own.

Lastly, they feel like they want to get a particular bottom line. You will really be helpful to them if you can put them in touch with a mortgage broker or a financial expert so they can see how much money they really need from the sale of their house.

FSBO sellers aren’t as scary as you think. If you try to get on the other side of the able, get into their heads, and think about what their thought processes are, it might be a little easier for you to approach them.

If you’d like more information about working with FSBO sellers, I have a couple of trainers who have great plans. Just reach out to me, and I’ll be glad to send you that information. If you’d like to set up a strategy meeting to plan out your business for this year, we can set that up over coffee. I’d love to speak with you.