Let's Play Realtor! - Part 2

[c9]

I remembered the questions I have for our studio audience!

[Poll #852533]

Comments

[thespos]

I tried to select pics that I would most like to see if I were looking.

And I only voted for the cats to go to Grandma's from an allergies perspective... I found it a lot easier to show my house without Quinn around, too.

[sarah-sosiak.livejournal.com]

I'd have to see the photos to vote specifically, but I'd say:

1 that shows views
1 that shows style
1 that shows spaciousness
1 that shows...um...whatever people are looking for in a condo in KW, maybe check out other listings and see what they show?

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

There's no option for "Have cats put down", which is my vote whenever the opportunity arises.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Once when I was little, my parents left me (and the cat and dog and house) in the care of my grandparents. They returned home at the end of the weekend to everything fine, but the to-do list had a new item added: 'kill cat'

[gueny.livejournal.com]

Take the cats. When people see them they may imagine cat damage, whether it is there or not

[amnewsboy.livejournal.com]

Having never had to show a condo before, I have no idea.

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

If people see cats they might think there are problems the cats caused that they might not be able to see.

Also, when the condo is shown, it is usually the buyer's agent doing the showing so they might not know you have cats and it is possible they could escape or scare the crap of the potential buyers.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

When we were looking at houses where there were cats (dog owners tend to take their dogs with them, naturally), there was usually a note on the door warning us/the realtor not to let them out.

Of course Jackie always made friends with the cats. I just ignored them. If you do leave them, make sure the cat box is clean :)


I don't think there are any "problems" that cats can cause that can't be seen or readily detected by some other sense.

[canuckotter.livejournal.com]

Vacuum like crazy, get rid of all the fur, and get the cats out for showings. As wonderful and loveable as your cats may be, when someone's coming to look at the place all the cat adds is fur. Some people might not care, but other people will be driven off... And it might be that your perfect buyer is one of the people who's driven off by cats. So, be prudent and reduce the odds of driving them away.

I'm not voting for the poll yet because I'm waiting for the pictures. :-) But as a general rule, unless your view is spectacular, pictures really won't do it justice. (Based on the house ads that I've looked at, anyway.) Highlighting the cupboard space and spaciousness in the kitchen is a good way to go. A pic of the bathroom is good... Whenever I looked at ads that didn't have one, it made me worry that the bathroom was godawful. Other than that... I dunno.

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it doesn't matter what reality is, only what is "perceived" by the people. Maybe there are nasty things that are hidden under furniture, etc...

[c9.livejournal.com]

Amusingly, the worst stain anywhere in our condo is from tea spilled by a baby, not from the cats (despite Lucky's herculean efforts)

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

That might be the case with people who don't own pets, I suppose.

If you are going to temporarily evict the cats, make sure there's no sign they were ever there, otherwise the people viewing the place might get freaked out if they thought they let out the cats inadvertently.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're just going to clean right before any viewings and let the cats be the hosts. My only worry is that Lucky will decide that his quarterly hairball needs to happen right then.

[skeezix1000.livejournal.com]

When we sold our house a few months back, our realtor was unconcerned with our cat, and told us not to bother sending her off to stay with friends. But that might've been because it was only one (rather small) cat -- two might be different. We also had no carpet, and I think people worry primarily about getting pet stains/smells/dander out of carpet. My own view is that sending the cats to grandma can't hurt you, but keeping both cats might hurt you (even if it is unlikely).

Whatever you do, make sure you have at least one photo of both the kitchen and bathroom. As mentioned above, when we were house-hunting, it was always off-putting when there were no photos of either the kitchen or bathroom -- like they were trying to hide something.

[c9.livejournal.com]

There's this place that sort of appeals to us in Toronto, but the problem is that all seven pictures on mls.ca are of the exterior -- not a single inside picture. Weird.

[skeezix1000.livejournal.com]

Condo?

[c9.livejournal.com]

Townhouse on Jarvis. There are three for sale: one with inside pictures, one with only one outside picture, and one with seven outside pictures.

[skeezix1000.livejournal.com]

I went on MLS, entered Jarvis, and see what it is you are talking about. I know that development, and it is fairly new (less than 10 years old). Certainly, Jarvis is improving considerably -- with the new Ballet School + Radio City, the X condo development at Charles, the expansion of the Rogers headquarters, etc. It would be a great location for both of you, walking distance to the subway, the gay village, Bloor and Yonge, the Eaton Centre, etc.

As for lack of interior photos, given the age of the development, I suspect that the didn't post photos because the rooms are probably very ordinary (rather than decrepit). (I note that the one TH listing that does have interior shots boasts new hardwood floors, and that is what the photos show). I wouldn't worry about "ordinary" -- that just means that it's a blank canvas. The units are certainly attractive from the outside.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thanks!