Leave the heat and water on while your home is for sale
Colorado real estate professional and ActiveRain blogger Belinda Spillman offers some very good advice for home sellers.
Have a wonderful week!
Pink Dahlia at Brookside Gardens IMG_5818
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
Please Leave the Water and Heat On
Lately, it seems that we have had our share of vacant home listings. Part of me prefers vacant homes because the sellers are not inconvenienced during showings and there are no pets to worry about.
One thing I have noticed lately is that the sellers want to turn off the water to the house and turn the heat down to 50 degrees.
Turning the water off is never a good idea. Many buyers are families with little ones who need to use the little girl’s or boy’s room. No water makes for a nice mess in the toilet.
What if someone spills something on the floor or counter? Without water, you cannot clean up the mess.
And then there are the vacant homes where the seller has turned the furnace down to 50 degrees. It has been very cold in Colorado this week with temperatures ending up in the single digits. Showing a home where your breath shows is not a fun thing to do.
Sellers must be thinking that they want to save money wherever they can, but making their home so uncomfortable to show is not the answer. The furnace can be set at around 65 degrees and still provide the warmth and comfort needed to make the showing experience a pleasant one. Leaving the water on for folks to use the facilities or clean up a mess can’t cost more than $30 per month.
I think that turning the water off and turning the heat way down projects a feeling of desperation. If the buyer senses that feeling, they will low-ball the offer thinking that the seller has to get rid of the home in a hurry.
It is very important to make the home as comfortable as possible so the buyer feels good in the home.
Belinda Spillman
Cornerstone Homes Realty
Metro Brokers Marina Square
(303) 884-2026
www.BelindaSellsColorado.com
We represent home buyers and sellers as their exclusive agents in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.
Roy Kelley
Roy Kelley & Associates
Associate Broker, RE/MAX Realty Group
Client Assistance: 301-670-8996
Recipient of the RE/MAX International Lifetime Achievement Award - 2008
I had some sellers do that but then fell 60 days behind on their mortgage. The bank (BofA) re-keyed the house and shut the heat off in Sept, but their "contractor" didn't properly winterize. We hit a big freeze in November and it flooded the basement with a broken pipe.
There's no win-win, but in most cases when you're not dealing with a foreclosure or short-sale yeah... leave the power/water on.
Thanks, Brint, for your comments. The situation you have described is very typical of circumstances to be found in areas that have severe winter weather.
Please be sure to make comments at the original post.
Have a great week!
Dahlias at Brookside Gardens IMG_5836
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
Excellent reblog...in my area, a cold home means "damp"...that "wet coast" thing. Creates mold issues.
Roy, That was so so sweet of you to reblog my post. I really appreciate it!!!!! Have a wonderful evening!
Have an outstanding week!
Dahlias at Brookside Gardens IMG_5902
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs