Listening to Buyer Feedback About Your Home

How Collecting and Evaluating Buyer Feedback Can be Used to Your Advantage

A second pair of eyes on an important document often helps spot mistakes or awkward phrasing we might miss on our own. Therapists help guide countless people through difficult situations with an outsider’s viewpoint. The same is true with selling a home: Buyers can see what’s holding your house back.

Naturally, some buyers believe complaints will help them lower the price when negotiation time comes around, but more often than not buyer feedback offers valuable insight. As the owner, you are frequently too familiar with your home to see it (and smell it!) with a buyer’s point of view.

Common buyer complaints include:

- Foul or off-putting odors from animals, cigarette smoke, mildew, or a “closed up” house.

- Poor lighting or a “dark” feel to the rooms

- Worn flooring, dirty walls, or nasty wallpaper

Almost all of these complaints are easy fixes and involve cleaning, paint, or some floor replacement. Though a buyer could easily undertake these projects after buying the home, the initial negative impression is enough to put them off the house for good.

If you’re not living in your home while it’s on the market, you might also discover unexpected reasons why buyers were dissuaded from making an offer. If you have renters who make access to the home difficult or refuse to remove their aggressive pets from the premises, you won’t know without some feedback from buyers. “Stagnant house syndrome” is another potential problem, so it’s good to know if buyers feel like a home is airless and gloomy. Finally, buyer feedback can alert you if there have been any vandals or pest infestations.

I always follow-up with buyers to find out what they thought of the house… good and bad. It’s crucial to get this feedback. If, for instance, buyers consistently complain about things which can’t be changed (such as major floor plan issues or proximity to a busy road), it may be necessary to adjust the listing price on the house. On the other hand, if they are relatively simple cosmetic fixes, it’s possible to consider inexpensive upgrades.

It helps to think of your relationship to sellers as a collaborative one. They like your home enough to consider buying it, and you can learn from why they passed.

Perfect pricing and preparation are keys to a quick sale. Let me help you with both!

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.