How You Can Get a Full Price Offer By Using a Swiffer

As a seller, I’m sure you’ve heard your Realtor advise you to clean, declutter, and have great curb appeal, right?  But do you really know WHY this is so important when selling your home?  There is more to it than you might think.   

There is a psychological response that buyers have when touring a neat and tidy home versus a messy and dirty home. 

Kathleen Vohs, a psychologist scientist at the University of Minnesota and her team of researchers found that “a clean setting leads people to do good things: not engage in crime, not litter and show more generosity.”  In other words, the environment, whether tidy or messy, made a difference in how people behave.

In several experiments, two groups of participants were to complete tasks in messy environments and in orderly environments.  Afterwards, they asked the participants if they wanted to donate to a charity, and they were asked if they wanted a snack of chocolate or an apple on their way out.

The participants who were in a clean room did what was expected of them:  more of the clean room participants donated more of their own money to charity and more chose the apple as their snack choice over the chocolate.

Tailor the environment for the behaviors you want to encourage, such as getting a full price offer.  In essence, by using a Swiffer (and a few other cleaning tools!), sellers have the opportunity to create a clean and orderly environment that would encourage buyers to submit an offer that is expected of them (which is full price).

If you had the opportunity to psychologically impact a buyer’s behavior and feelings towards the house you are selling just by cleaning and de-cluttering, wouldn’t you do that?

If you are considering selling your home, contact me for a free, no obligation market analysis customized for your home plus a free Swiffer!  (You can also visit my website to see what homes are for sale and what sold in your neighborhood at www.FrancineViola.com.)

This blog post was originally published on Francine Viola’s real estate blog: www.InTuneRealEstate.com, where you can learn more about selling a home in the Olympia WA real estate market.