Finding Your First Home

Posted on: 25 October 2019

You have a showing scheduled and you want to sell your lakefront house fast, and you are most nervous you will say something that will scare a buyer away. Here is a short list of four things you never should say to a buyer.   

You've not had any interested buyers in a while.   

Telling a prospect that you have not had interested buyers sends them the wrong message. They may assume there is some unseen flaw about the house that they may have missed on their own but others spotted. Even if you haven't had anyone interested in quite some time, this is not something you should really tell a buyer. They should be left to expect that your home has ample interest and could be off the market at any time, and this kind of statement will squash any of those perceptions. 

The last owner told you the house was haunted.   

You bought the lakefront house in spite of being told it was haunted, and the whole idea never really bothered you. However, other prospects may not be so happy to hear that a house could potentially be haunted. In some states, you have no choice but to disclose this information to a prospect. Nevertheless, there are ways you can share without making it sound so intimidating. For example, you could say that the house was rumored to have paranormal activity, but you've had no experience. 

You don't remember the last time you had the (insert implement) serviced.   

Perhaps you haven't done the best job about keeping up with necessary home maintenance and servicing for certain things, such as the furnace or central cooling system. However, it is important that you never word things to a prospect in a way that insinuates you don't remember when the last time something was serviced. Instead, it is better to go ahead and get things serviced right before you list a home. If you didn't do so, you should kindly let a buyer know that whatever they are asking about is due for another checkup.   

The house is too expensive for you to upkeep. 

It may be true that your lakefront home is costing you too much to properly keep up for your budget, but this is not information you should share if you are asked why you are selling out. This kind of statement can be enough to make a prospect believe the house is inefficient or too costly to keep up. Instead, you could let a prospect know that you are downsizing to a smaller home or you are trying to realign your expenses. 

If you have a waterfront home for sale, avoid saying these four things and you will be more likely to sell your home.