I attended a house inspection for a client on the weekend and was almost knocked for a sixer upon entering, due to the general smell and filth of the place- there's no better word to describe it. I really can't understand how people can live like this. Though the place was generally tidy there was grime everywhere. The house reeked of it- especially the kitchen. The oven appeared never to have been wiped down, the benches and cupboards had a layer of grease over them, the sink was full of God knows how many days worth of dishes and pots, kitty litter trays in the pantry and laundry and approx 6 kittens wailing outside.... the shower recess was probably once white but is now an ickky shade of brown... the carpets looked as though they'd never had a vacuum... the curtains were stiff with ingrained dirt... the backyard pavers had so much grass growing between them you could hardly notice there was a courtyard... it was quite appalling. OK these were tenants who obviously didn't give a toss about cleaning up (its not their house after all) but still, it strikes me as amazing that people would allow others to traipse through their abode when it's in such a disgusting state. When I spoke to the agent afterwards, he said the owner hadn't attended an inspection in years, just wanted to offload the place and was hoping for a quick sale. I would have got rid of the tenants, spruced the place up and welcomed another $5-10K easily in this particular part of town for this house for some simple cleaning. I don't care what anyone says- even in a sellers market presentation still counts!!
How cool is that as a buyer's opportunity though People in general don't see past the presentation issues, and really any dirt a tenant can accumulate can be cleaned in a weekend of awful, nightmare-generating working bee A small cottage we bought was horrendous and most potential buyers wouldn't even go in the front door. After we bought it I demolished anything vaguely like a cupboard (vanities etc.) then sprayed the whole house, walls, ceiling and floors, with a chlorine solution, and followed up with a high pressure water blaster (which took off all the old paint etc at the same time ) It wasn't the most professional caring approach but after 2 full days the place looked and smelled brand new, with no hint of the previous occupants effect (and odour ) I swear I could have re-sold it for $50K more in the same market just for that bit of effort. I love finding disgusting looking places on the market if their bones are good .. but as Jax says really does make you wonder how people live with themselves (our previous occupants stored 100 or more used cotton wool ear buds in a drawer of the bathroom vanity - I think it was to feed the cockroaches) ... still makes me sick remembering all that waxy goodness !
