I have only been seeling homes for 1 year but I am stunned as to how people live and more stunned as to how people try and sell their homes.  Amazing!

Hi Becky.  I don't know that I'd waste the time contacting that agent.  Its obvious he is in to  "listing only" and leaving it to luck for the house to sell.  Our market here is dead, mores the reason to hire a stager.  But I've found the agents are fine with the way houses show.  How can they possibly think they are going to make a sale without putting any work into it?  I recently dealt with an agent who sells only million dollar plus houses who drove me crazy over his attitude.  I suggested he keep a broom in his car to at least sweep the entrances of the homes so they wouldnt look so neglected.  His answer was that he didn't have time for that.  Well two of the houses I staged last month for his clients have been on the market since August and will probably be on the market till next August.  I know there are some real estate agents out there who are dedicated to making that sale, but most of the ones I deal with just don't seem to care.  I'd contact the seller again.  They're the ones paying the bill and obviously the ones who want to make the sale.  Good luck!

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Yikes!

I feel bad for the homeowner too Becky. It's a shame that when/if his home does sell, it will probably go for less than it's worth.

You don't have to sell me on Home Staging, I've seen the difference that it makes first hand.

I vote for contacting that seller and getting that house set up right.

All the Best,

Sean 

Becky,

I'm new to the rain but I know what you mean when you ask, "What the heck were they thinking?" I took my daughter with me last weekend to look at three open houses (all we had time for) in a neighboring city to the south of us -- OK it was Phoenix -- anyway, the first home was CLEAN and devoid of furnishings and being shown by the owner. He told us his agent "didn't do Open Houses" but did loan him the Open House signs. We smiled, visited with the owner, gave him my card and a little speil and left.

The next house was a FSBO and a friend of the owner was "showing" it. This house was pretty dirty and had what appeared to be the leftovers of furniture left strewed about. The bathtub in the master suite was ringed and so dirty it made my daughter cringe. This was a 5 bedroom house and priced at $774,000.

When we walked into the third home (30 minutes after the opening time for the Open House) the owner greeted us and said the agent would be a bit late. My daughter commented immediatly on the beautiful tile in the entry hall. The owner, a beautiful lady facing an empty nest, told us that "someone with my real estate agent talked us into putting down that tile." We turned to the living room and saw a wonderfully staged room. The rest of the house was also fabulous! As we walked through the home and talked with the owner we realized that she had paid a stager to work some magic on her home but didn't know what to call the stager. She kept saying "the lady with my real estate agent convinced us to do . . ." This house also had 5 bedrooms and was less than 1/2 a block from the above mentioned "dirty place." This house was listied at $699,000. 

What were they thinking?

Becky, In my open house travels I also run into some homes that quite frankly, I can't believe the Realtors have them open to the public.  I visited a semi-vacant property listed at over 800,000. which was nice but there were light fixtures missing parts, crumbs on the floor, dirty curtains.  The upstairs was vacant but there was a renter living downstairs who had left his boxer shorts on the bathroom floor.  The Realtor had been around for awhile but seem completely and totally oblivious to how the home presented itself.  The whole time I was thinking this place needs a good scrubbing and wouldn't touch a thing.

Becky, at first did you think this was part of an April Fool's Joke?  That is what I was thinking when you were describing this.

OMG Marci, it never entered my mind it might be a April Fool's joke.  If it was, the joke was on them because no one would make an offer in the condition it was in and if there was an offer, it would be a low one.

I recently toured a house with an investor that was looking for investment properties that he could flip.  A friend and Realtor had mentioned that he had a "prior listing" that was still on the market that we might want to look at.  This home was by far the most disgusting place I have ever been in. Dirt, repugnant odors, feces, it was all there.   While we were touring this home (as quickly as possible I might add), the agent told us how he had accepted this listing with the understanding that the homeowners would do what was necessary to get the home in selling condition.  He soon realized this was not going to happen and ultimately pulled his sign from the front yard. 

In defense of some agents out there...  I don't think I would bother spending my weekend sitting at an open house if the homeowners won't even clean up after themselves.  Unfortunately, some people just don't get it. 

Wow, Becky, you saw one in three homes that were suitable for selling?  That's not very good odds.  The Agents I know never stop, they work very hard and I know they give the best advice to the homeowners and recommend staging for vacants.  What an eye-opener your post was.

WOW - that's like walking into a nightmare.  I have a few horror stories myself ... but I honestly don't want to re-live them.

Becky, as a REALTOR® I couldn't imagine letting one of my clients host an open house. I wonder if this family feels they are getting good service from the agent. It's REALTORS® like that which give all of us a black eye.