When you open up your home to potential buyers it’s an important event and we understand how apprehensive some sellers may feel about this important process. We all feel the same – it feels a bit like a nervy audition for an important role in a play. It’s perfectly natural to worry about what people will think of the home you’ve lived in and loved as well as what they might think of the improvements you’ve made or have left for the new owners to put their own personal style into your home.
The importance of “letting go”
All the team at Crane & Co have moved home ourselves and so we completely understand how urgently we want to know the viewers thoughts and feelings about our most important asset – our family home.
It can be quite a tough thing hearing other people’s thoughts. I remember in my last house, we had lovingly landscaped the garden which had taken many hours, weeks and months of hard work and a fair amount of cost. We put in lots of curves into a standard rectangle shaped garden and planted feature architectural plants, some of the feedback was that people found that the garden was not child friendly with no lawn. We found this feedback quite hard to take, as in our opinion the garden was one of the best parts of the property.
But at the end of the day you are selling your house for a reason and you do need to emotionally detach yourselves from it.
Getting meaningful and useful feedback is a top priority!
At the viewing event appointment, we’ve already started gathering feedback and this is clarified further in subsequent calls and conversations with the viewers. During these calls we find out your viewers thoughts and feelings about your home and if the applicant wishes to view your property again, offer on the property or if they have decided against the property.
It surprises me how many people wait for the feedback call to make their offer, so agents that don’t do this must lose out on some offers!
If the applicant wishes to view the property again, that is great news, as it indicates that they are very interested in the property and may go on to offer.
When someone has decided against the property for any reason, then we open up the conversation and get a good discussion going; for instance, on a recent feedback call the applicant said that they were concerned about a stud wall that was in place, meaning that the layout did not work for them; the vendor said that they were happy to remove the stud wall and make good, meaning that the applicant was then able to seriously consider the property. If that feedback call had not taken place, then they might have missed out on that potential sale!
How to interpret feedback
It depends on what the feedback comments are, as we always ask for feedback, sometimes people have to give a “reason” why the property is not for them, so people will often mention things like: location, lack of parking, the garden is overlooked etc., which they would have known about before they viewed and also it is hard or almost impossible to change these things.
Feedback like this is usually given by viewers as they understandably feel compelled to justify their decision. You cannot do too much about these types of things.
When someone is full of praise for your property but does not choose to make an offer, then it can sometimes be confusing to the seller, usually this would be someone who is in the early stages of their property search and may want to view more properties before making a decision.
Should I make changes as a result of feedback comments?
We look for themes when obtaining feedback and if we find that there is a recurring theme to the comments then we will proactively discuss this with you and try to find options to resolve any points that can be alleviated with some changes made.
Some feedback needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as people tend to come up with a reason for not offering when we ask that question. We can guide you through the feedback comments and let you know our opinion on which feedback comments require changes and those that don’t. For instance, someone deciding against the property due to an out-of-date kitchen, would normally be something not worth changing, as a lot of buyers would like to choose their own kitchen and put their own stamp on the property. If someone is saying that the property is too small a bit of de-cluttering can make rooms feel a lot larger.
We quite often get the comment “it just didn’t feel right”, this could be for a number of reasons, but this could be a time to reflect on your property: Is it warm? is it inviting? Is it homely? Think about smells (one of our most important senses), if you have pets or you smoke is there anything that you could do to counteract these things (ventilation, air freshener, carpet cleaning etc.)?
I remember showing a couple a lovely detached home in a quiet cul-de-sac. They loved the house but the neighbours had a very large van parked in their driveway which cast a shadow over the living room window. At the viewing appointment the buyers didn’t mention the van but in subsequent conversations it was this fact that stopped them taking it any further. With this feedback we contacted the sellers to discuss ‘the van’. What we quickly discovered was that the neighbour’s brother was an international delivery driver from Scotland stopping overnight on his way to Newhaven Ferry Port - an unusual and totally unique occurrence. The viewers learned of the real reason the van was there (on average once every 10 years!!!) they immediately put forward their first offer and after a few days of negotiations - the deal was sealed.
Without feedback these buyers and sellers would have missed out on a perfect sale / purchase. This reinforces value of getting to the real feelings and observations of buyers - something we’ve become quite successful at.
What if no-one likes my home or puts in an offer?
Sometimes our vendors will get lots of viewings when the property is released to the market and the feedback that follows can be that no one is interested in making an offer, for various reasons. Try not to feel too disheartened about this, sometimes a property that we thought would sell really quickly just takes a little bit longer and remember, that you only need one family to fall in love with your home to have a sale agreed.
If there is a re-occurring theme to the feedback then the property may require some changes and new photos to be taken accordingly.
Our advice to buyers and sellers is always the same – tell us what’s really on your mind. The more we know and understand the more we can help.