Listing laments: What makes homebuyers run screaming

The first time she and her husband toured it, Sharon George wasn’t impressed with the house off Providence Road.

It only took a few minutes for the unkempt home to turn her off.

“We walked away from the house very quickly on the first run,” George said. “There were people living in the house who were still there. It was hard to get through the clutter to see the home. As I was leaving the porch on the first visit, I said, ‘This is a shame, because this house really has potential.’”

About 70 home tours later, she noticed online that the home’s price was reduced and an open house was scheduled. George, who was in Cincinnati, figured the home had been cleaned up. So she called her real estate agent, Irv Schwebel, of Prudential Carolinas Realty, and asked him to show her the two-story, 3,800-square-foot house again.

“They got the tenants out, cleaned it up, had the carpets cleaned and touched up some of the paint. It was also empty,” George said.

The cleanup did the trick. In September, George and her husband, David Payne, bought the house just north of Promenade Shopping Center. George declined to say how much they paid for the home.

For George, who is no different than many homebuyers who encounter turnoffs when looking for a new home, there is more to house-hunting than just location.

Deal-breakers for her include yards that are unclean or overrun with weeds. Ditto for fingerprints and dirty carpets. She looks for window seals that are in good condition and a water heater that’s not too old.

The interior, she said, should sparkle.

“It’s like going to an interview: You have to be your very best,” she said. “If a home is being shown, it has to be the best it can look.”

Cosmetic problems, such as brass fixtures, aren’t as big of a deal for George.

But noise from traffic is.

“I went through some beautiful homes, but when I stepped in the backyard I would listen very carefully, and if I heard that hum of road noise, I turn around and left,” she said. “It might have been a home I dearly loved, but I wasn’t going to compromise on that.”

Traffic noise also factored into the purchase decision of Warren Vigus and his fiancee, Mandy Wilson, who are scheduled to be married March 3.

On Feb. 16, they bought a five-bedroom house near the 16th hole at NorthStone Golf Course in Huntersville. The house is tucked into the community, far away from any main roads.

“We looked at some houses that were great, but they were the first houses in the neighborhood,” Vigus said.

Vigus said small closets and kitchens were an instant turnoff for Wilson. They also wanted a home that had a master bedroom on the main floor and a detached garage, and they insisted on a large front porch for entertaining.

They paid $268,000 for the home, which Vigus said made him more willing to pay for small cosmetic changes, like new light fixtures, to update the house.

“If it has wallpaper or an ugly light fixture, I can hire a handyman for $15 an hour,” he said. “For $2,000, the house looks new. It’s not like taking a wall down or adding another bathroom.”

Vigus and Wilson shopped for more than two months with not much luck before changing agents. He declined to name the agent but said they worked for Savvy & Co. The couple then began working with agent and former NASCAR driver Boston Reid, co-owner of Lead 2 Real Estate Group. Three weekends later, the couple began making offers on homes. Vigus estimated they looked at 40 houses.

Like George, Joseph Price paid attention to yards when shopping for a new home with his wife, Lizzie Price.

“I didn’t like to see overgrown shrubs, because it made me think they didn’t take care of the house,” Price said.

The Prices looked at about 12 houses over three months with real estate agent Brian Haigler of Keller Williams in Indian Trail.

In June, the Prices paid $140,000 for a 1,200-square-foot, one-story Unionville home. The couple didn’t mind having to do some work to the three-bedroom, two-bath home, like tearing out wallpaper in the bathroom.

But the couple wanted to avoid houses with old heating and air conditioning systems and appliances. The roof had to be in good condition, too, and the master bathroom had to have two sinks.

Paneling would send them running in the other direction.

“Some rooms were painted paneling, and we would have to tear that out, and we didn’t want that,” Price said.

Buyer Shelley Rohm also worked with Haigler after she became tired of renting and decided to become a homeowner. The single mother wanted to buy a short-sale home, but the conditions of some houses stopped her at the front door.

“There were a couple houses you’d open the door and then shut the door and not even look,” Rohm said. “Brian and I walked in and the stench alone killed us both. They were so rundown. I don’t know how people live in such conditions. You walk in and it takes your breath away.”

Rohm has made a short-sale offer of $119,500 on a four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 2,100-square foot home, but she is waiting for approval from the lender.

The downstairs master bedroom and laundry room helped her to fall in love with the home, she said.

“It was an older home, but the deal I could potentially get on it made it worth it,” she said.

Haigler, the agent who helped both Rohm and the Prices, said buyers often complain about cluttered homes and those that have strong odors, like from pets.

“Radical” paint colors can make a buyer lose interest, he said.

“Most clients these days, because of the way the economy is, think they can find the house they are looking for in perfect condition,” he said. “They’ll look through 20 houses, if they have to, to find that one. Then they realize they are not going to find that perfect house. They’re very picky in the beginning, but eventually they do turn around.”

Todd Comer, a Salisbury agent with Advantage Residential Specialists, said some buyers have expectations that are too high, especially if they are considering purchasing a foreclosed home.

“People need to have their bubbles bursted,” said Comer, who is leaving real estate behind after only selling one home last year to begin a career in the financial services field.

“People see too much HGTV. They want the granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, fancy flooring, fresh neutral paint, the fixtures, a huge walk-in closet in a master suite. They really want it all. But with a budget of $150,000 or $100,000, they’re not going to find it.”

RAMSEY can be reached at [email protected].