Beware of Home Selling Tricks
If you are in the market for a new home, it's a good idea to make sure
you are aware of the various little things that home sellers as well as
agents can do to make a house look better and consequently lure you into
buying a house.
Remember that by law, home sellers must disclose anything they know that
might be wrong with the house. If you find out after the fact that a
seller did not disclose vital information regarding a problem with the
house, you may have legal repercussions.
One of the first things that you will likely notice when you are
shopping around for a new home is that the lights will almost always be
turned on. This is one of the oldest tricks employed by home sellers and
agents alike for one very important reason; it makes a house look more
spacious. While that may be fine, because you do want to make sure you
know how much space is available, it's also a good idea to make sure you
know how the house looks when the lights are not all turned on, so feel
free to turn the lights off briefly to give you a clear idea of how each
of the rooms look in natural light.
Be aware of the fact that some rooms may look more spacious than they
really are because the sellers have taken furniture out of the rooms in
order to give the appearance of additional space. Check the carpet to
see if there are any indentations that would indicate that other items
of furniture have been in the room recently. Visualize how your own
furniture will look in the room and consider whether there is really
enough space in the room once all of your own items are moved in.
Similarly, be aware of homes that have been professionally staged. Many
sellers and agents are turning to professional staging to make a home
look more attractive, but make sure you are not so taken with the
professional décor and furnishings that you become blinded to possible
faults with the home.
When you first walk into a house for sale you may notice two things; the
smell of freshly baked cookies and light music playing in the
background. These are two tricks that sellers and agents sometimes use
to help set the mood. While there is certainly nothing wrong with
popping a sheet of cookies into the oven just before a buyer arrives,
make sure you do not let your true feelings about the house be obscured
by a plate of warm cookies or the music playing in the background.
Everyone who is looking for a new home wants to see carpets that are
clean and in good shape and sellers know that so they commonly have the
carpets professionally cleaned prior to putting a home on the market or
before an open house. Take the time to closely inspect the carpets and
notice any stains that may still be visible. If you can still see the
stains even after it appears that the carpets have been professionally
cleaned, you should be aware of the fact that the stains will probably
never come out.
Sellers are also well aware of the importance of curb appeal. They know
that if a house does not look good from the outside that many buyers
will not even take the time to stop to see what the inside of the home
looks like. As a result, they often employ some little tricks to make
the landscaping look better than it ordinarily would. One of those
tricks is to make sure the grass is wet. Look closely if the property is
outfitted with automatic sprinklers, to make sure there are no dry
spots. If there are, the property may have a problem with the
sprinklers.
Along those same lines, check the plants on the exterior of the home to
make sure they are actually planted and not just potted plants that have
been carefully staged. If you do notice an abundance of potted plants,
it could indicate that the property has a problem with the soil or even
too much shading. This means that in the event that you purchase the
property, you may experience difficulty in growing your own plants in
that location.
Making sure you that you are aware of the subtle little tricks that home
sellers as well as agents can use will help you to see a home for its
true worth and value and also help you to determine whether it is really
the right home for you.
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