Showing a house involves a skill set

Q. Several Realtors have told us they know the best way to show a house to buyers, but we want to try without using a broker. Is there really a special professional way to do that?

A. Professionals have indeed developed systems that give buyers the best chance to judge a property.

Ask for advance notice whenever possible. That gives you time to send the kids and pets over to the neighbors. Then go through the house and raise every window shade. Draw the drapes back from your spotless windows, and turn on lights from top to bottom, even in daytime. If you've ever gone through a builder model home, you know how much extra charm a living room gains from shaded lamps, and how a chandelier adds sparkle. Buyers shouldn't have to grope for the pull cord in the gloomy corner of the basement, and they should find your attic stairs well-lighted.

Toilet seats are down, and special towels are on the racks. Your fireplace is easy to dramatize with a commercial pressed log - burning. Appliances like a clothes dryer and dishwasher are silent.

It's no use copying the techniques you may see on those real estate shows on television, which have their own requirements, one of which is plenty of audio to go with the video. In real life, a broker may not say much during a showing, but he or she is listening hard.

Too much chitchat may leave the buyers thinking you're a fascinating person. But you're not trying to sell yourself. You can blunder in several ways. Proud of the new paint job, you might point out that the living room ceiling was just redone to get rid of an old stain from the time when crazy Uncle Robert … etc., never realizing the needless anxiety this stirs up in some nervous buyers. If there's no hidden damage, you needn't start on the history of past problems.

If they ask about children in the neighborhood, you might voice your own attitude and say, "They never bother us; you wouldn't know if there were any around." And the buyers might conclude - wrongly - that their children wouldn't find playmates nearby.

Buyers who have a large sofa arrangement may stand at the doorway of your living room mentally placing furniture. Resist the impulse to break the silence. Instead, give them the time they need. When going up the stairway, try to avoid crowding. For most bedrooms, don't enter with them at all; just stay in the doorway.

When acting on your own, there are topics to avoid. Price is one of them. Don't answer questions that start "Would you take …" Just say, "We'll be happy to consider any written offer." If no broker is involved, you might give buyers a blank contract form you obtain from your lawyer.

This is also a poor time to discuss the price of furniture or appliances you are leaving. "We thought we'd talk about that after the sale of the house is settled" is a good answer.

Q. We saw several houses with our agent, and he says he can help us fill out a purchase offer for the one we like. Is it usual to make our first offer at a discount from the asking price?

A. Unfortunately, there's no one right answer. It depends on so many factors.

I know nothing about, for example, the state of your local market. In some areas where property is currently hot, competing offers could come in promptly, and the place may even end up going for something more than list price. Elsewhere, a parcel of overpriced real estate may have been on the market for months. The buying public has voted it isn't worth the asking price, and perhaps the reluctant sellers are in no hurry or haven't yet faced the facts.

Buyers sometimes assume they are supposed to start low for the seller to counter somewhat under the listing price (all in writing, by the way) and that there will be a pingpong series of counteroffers.

In practice, too many counters usually kill a transaction. The parties may lose sight of the main goal: reaching an agreement. Emotions rise; someone says, "It's the principle of the thing," and the deal fails.

From this distance, all I can say is you're well-advised to make your offer pretty near as high as you are prepared to go - or can afford to go.

Good luck!

• Contact Edith Lank on www.askedith.com, or 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester NY 14620.

© 2018, Creators Syndicate