What buyers notice first in a home

you’ve lived in your home for years
and the moment you put it on the real estate market
strangers will look through it
with a completely fresh set of eyes
and they will see things
that you’ve completely stopped noticing
so let me show you exactly what they will see
hey there
my name is Kasha Mcdaniel
and I’m an occupied home staging specialist
where I help women over 50
get their houses ready to sell
using things you have in your home
and in this video I’m gonna go through one house
where I will walk through it through a
with the buyer’s eyes
as if I was the buyer and this was your home
we’re gonna go room by room
through the pictures that are online
so that you can understand
what it is the buyer is actually looking at
what their questions are what their concerns are
so that you can get a better idea
on how to stage your house so let’s get started
okay so
let’s start with this house that I found here
on this listing um
this is in North Carolina
and as you can tell it’s a bigger home right
it’s a um
colonial type home it’s all brick or mostly brick
it looks like um
it has a beautiful
uh lawn here
it has um
definitely the landscaping’s been taken care of there
it’s just it looks gorgeous
right and if we go through the next picture
this is from the street view
as you’re looking out
you can see there’s a nice big lawn
it’s been cut the bushes have been trimmed
the trees have been trimmed
the landscaping’s been taken care of
now this is one of the things I want to talk about
with the buyer psychology
as you’re thinking as a buyer
looking at pretending this is your home
what is it they see oh
they’re looking they can contain
maintain the outside the grass looks fantastic
you know this is a bigger home
we have three or four kids
now that we need to move in here
this will be a great size home
or so it looks like it because I can see that
you know that’s a bigger house
it has a nice lawn in the front
where the kids could play
we could have them you know
out here playing you know
with their little trucks and toys and things like that
um this is fantastic right
that’s the first impression
and you can see oh
there’s an attached garage
great you know
it’s asphalted okay
they may see some cracks here
but you know what this is a nice brick walkway up here
it’s a bit you know
older type of home right
because it is all brick but you know what
maybe that’s kind of what they’re looking for
it’s not a typical cookie cutter home
now this is the front door
as we walk in um
as you’re walking in they
probably are bringing their kids
maybe with them for this um showing
they probably could maybe they’re younger right
and this may be a bit crowded for them on this stoop
with all these planters here
so uh
one of the things that I would think of
is just remove one set of the planters
probably um
the ones close to the door
cause they seem kind of thinner and scrawnier
if you will um
but the other ones the pine trees
look a lot better those can just be there
otherwise it’s kind of crowded
if you have a whole family walking in
trying to fit in through the front door
OK so that’s one of the things that I would recommend
just you know
not blocking and and making as much room as possible
by the front door and the entryway
because that’s where they’re gonna walk in
they’re not gonna walk in through the garage
like you’re used to walking into the garage
if you park your car you know
and then you walk in through the rest of the house
and you get in
buyers gonna be walking through the front door
and that’s what they’re gonna be seeing
is they’re gonna say oh wow okay
the steps are you know
great condition
maybe we just need to wash these up a little bit
but otherwise it looks great
the front door looks great
you know uh
these may be a little bit dated
but you know what okay
that’s fine
but it still looks like it’s been freshly painted
looks like it’s been taken care of
this is this is really good
because buyers give you basically
give you
eight to 10 seconds to make a great first impression
and this is the first impression that you give them
okay walking in
this is the foyer
and they’re gonna look around and figure out okay
well is there a smell in here
is there a smell something musty
something overly perfumed
is there a pet odor
they may notice the wallpaper
uh that’s the first thing I noticed
um some of you may be looking at going
oh yeah
that’s a bit uh dated
yep yep yep
um so then they’re thinking OK
well how much of this wallpaper is there
is it just this front part
OK it’s really not too bad but um
there’s a little too much
it’s again
if they’re bringing their whole family in here
they’re gonna be kind of crowded in here
all walking in to this foyer
because there’s a curio cabinet here
there’s a grandfather clock in here
there’s something you know
a pot and this other thing here by the staircase
there’s too many things here
that kind of claustrophobic
and don’t need to be there
and don’t add anything to that
other than displaying your collection of
whatever glass things that you have in here
again this is your personality
we’re not trying to show off your personality
the buyers
are trying to imagine themselves living in here
and when they have little kids
they’re not gonna have a curio cabinet
full of delicate and breakable things in the house
so
in order to help them imagine themselves living in it
I would remove both these two things
cause number one they don’t need to be in there
they take up too much space
and again
this is not the impression that you wanna give uh
when you’re walking in up to make it feel crowded OK
and the next picture yeah
okay so this is great
I love this little you know
place to put you know keys
mail whatever it may be
a nice mirror right here this is great
this light fixture is probably dated
as you’re walking in as the buyer
they’re probably gonna say okay
well I’m gonna need to spend some money
to take down this wallpaper
I’m gonna need to spend some money
on changing out the light fixtures
cause this is a bit dated
but they’re okay it still looks clean
they’re still taking care of the floors
look fantastic look at those gleaming wood floors
those look great okay
but those are the impressions they’re gonna come in
when they walk into your front entryway okay
they’re gonna think about smell
they’re gonna think about what it looks like
and they’re gonna think about oh
I need to start changing things
that means we’re gonna start removing
taking some money off of the offer
because
there’s money that needs to be put into the house
to change it to reflect yeah
their style but also to modernize it right
we’re trying to update a little bit
and that’s where you kind of
don’t want to go overboard on that part
but that’s some of the things to keep in mind
that the buyers are thinking of
when they’re walking through your home
so next room is the living room
and it’s a great big space
they’ve definitely painted in here
there’s no wallpaper in here
so this is great uh
the only thing is that again
these are pictures of the family here
um I would remove those
and replace them with something more generic
kind of like this boating picture right
you don’t need to remind the buyers who lives here
they know someone else lives here
they’re trying to imagine themselves living in the home
right they’re gonna look at the furniture arrangement
go oh wow
they have a big long couch and some chairs
yes we have a great
big couch maybe we have a sectional in here
this would look great in our space as well
but they’re also looking to see well
is there too much furniture in here
you know they’re sizing it up to say hey
this is what’s going on in here
what do we need to see um
are there family photos like I mentioned
okay that’s
the kind of things that are going through their mind
when they look into the living room
okay this is another I wait
uh angle yep
there’s more pictures of family members
more here here
here here
yeah you don’t wanna remind them
and show them pictures of your children
I’m sure you are very proud of your children
and how beautiful they look
but not when it comes time to selling your house
okay this is one of the non negotiables
when I’m staging a house
is all the family photos have got to go
it’s just the realistic portion of staging
okay your children are beautiful
but no
they need to go I’m sorry they really do
okay moving on to the dining room beautiful
I love the blue color in here
it’s nice and bright um
the chandelier is really pretty
it’s probably authentic to the house
but again the buyers may be looking at it going yeah
we probably need to update that
change out the light fixture
yeah and then she’d walk around the room oh
there might be again
too much furniture in here
it’s a little too old fashioned and updated
yes and I know they know the furniture doesn’t stay
but that’s what they’re thinking
when they go in here and go
oh well
so what I would do is I’d remove this credenza
side table here leave this one here
leave the table change out the um
the centerpieces cause again
it’s glass it’s very
it’s crystal it’s very breakable
again they’re probably coming in with their kids
which kids are kids they can be rambunctious
they don’t mean to do things
it’s an accident I know
I hear I have my own kids
I totally understand
but I would just put something maybe simple
like a simple vase in here that’s not crystal
maybe something colorful um
maybe you know
in the centerpiece and get rid of this
this is just a little too fancy uh
for a dining room okay
kind of keep it practical keep it simple
next we’re moving on to the kitchen
and wow
there’s a lot of cabinets and storage in here
and a lot of counter space
as you can see there’s
but unfortunately
there’s a lot of appliances that are all
you know sitting around here
especially on the side there’s a
a coffee maker here another coffee maker here
um again
more family photos this is great
this is nice warm colors
um so the kitchen is a long
galley looking type of one here
so you can see it goes straight into the dining room
um so
one of the things I would do is
kind of still take off a little bit more out of here
so that it doesn’t look so cluttered in the pictures
okay
one of the things that the buyers will look at
when they’re in here is
are the cabinets you know
worn down
these look like they’ve been either newly redone
or cleaned at least
um maybe just the knobs are kind of
maybe a little old fashioned
but you know what I mean that may be something that
you know you can easily change out as the buyer
that may not be something that as a homeowner
if you want to change out
they’re going to look at the appliances
do they look old do they look worn out
you know is it a new refrigerator in here
is this a newer dishwasher
um they’re not gonna say
look to see if they all match
cause they don’t have to
as long as they’re similar in color
so you’ve got black here you’ve got silver
they all go together and compliment each other
and that’s perfectly fine
but if they were looking around
to see if anything need to be renovated
not really maybe
just like I said maybe change out the knobs
nothing really needs to be done here in the kitchen
per se maybe the countertops
they may say they want something different um
but again countertops are
you know easier to change
and less expensive than a whole Reno of a kitchen right
you got recessed lighting in here
which is fantastic
that that’s been added into the kitchen
cause
some of these homes are built in the 70s and the 80s
like this one um
that wasn’t a thing back then
alright here’s another angle
look at the faucet that may be something that may okay
it’s a double sink they may want one sink
but this is you know
this is things that the buyer may be thinking of
and going okay
but I can still see that there’s a
eaten kitchen area here yep
and again a dated fixture
maybe something I would change out
I would definitely look at removing all this clutter
here against the bay window
and again something simple here like oh
maybe we take one of those vases um
and put it in the dining room
and then put one here or a plant
a plant is perfectly fine if you do that too here
I think there’s a plant here in the back
um but just putting a green plant is perfectly fine
and simple something easy to do
oh hey
here is the this is the
I think the more family room
if you will
so the other room seemed to be a little more formal
this is just another family room by the fireplace
where they have the TV so as you can see
they have kitchen or the chairs in here
they seem to have a little bit of too much furniture
like I wouldn’t put this chair here
and this other chair here um
just the couches are perfectly fine
um you don’t need to seat 10 people in a living room
the two couches are perfectly fine
I would add maybe a little bit of color
but other than that you know
this is a really nice looking living room
all right so moving on to the master bedroom
um I actually had to clip through a bunch of pictures
to get to this one
because they showed the other kids rooms
so um
this one again um
when you’re walking into the master bedroom
it needs to feel like you’re a retreat right
you
you’re had a long day at work and you’re trying to just
ah just breathe and just kind of
you know kind of make it a hotel esque um
feeling in this bedroom um
now the four poster bed definitely older furniture
um nothing you can really do about that
but what there is
is there just seems to be a lot of extra furniture
you got one two
three and I know there’s two people sharing this room
right um
but it just feels too much
too close too much furniture
so I would for example
get rid of this TV and this chest right here
I would probably get rid of that chair
or you know leave this as a nightstand over here
actually put a lamp on there
get rid of this extra ottoman
um there’s just a lot of pieces in here
and again makes the room feel more crowded
and this looks like it’s a
probably a full or a queen bed um
and you could fit easily fit a king size bed in here
but you can’t really tell
when you have all this extra pieces of furniture
just kind of lined up against the wall here
just to kind of make it you know
feel full and you don’t need that when you’re
you know selling a house
and trying to show off the primary bedroom
the other thing
let me see if they show there’s a closet
let’s see let’s see
no there’s a bathroom that they show
we’ll go to the bathroom just a second here
um but the other thing was
what they’re gonna look through
is when they look for the
a closet whether it’s a walk in closet
whether it’s just a you know
six foot wide closet they’re gonna look and see
well how much storage is in there
you know is it overflowing
and then they’re gonna think
okay if it is overflowing
there really isn’t too much storage in here
and I’ve got a lot of clothes I need to put in here
so they’re gonna look at that and take a look around
and go hmm okay
maybe that’s why they need this extra dresser
and chest here and
and things like that
so that’s why I don’t recommend having all this
I love this beach picture
I love the blue motif in here
this is fine yeah
this little table back here behind the door
that would go to um
there’s just little things here that
are you gonna take those with you to your next house
if not then I would just go get rid of them
sell them donate them
whatever you’re gonna do to them
okay but remove them physically out of the room
there’s just too many little knick knacks in here
that don’t need to be in here
in the primary bedroom okay
so let’s move on to the bathroom
this is a huge bathroom wow
it’s got this huge garden tub which um
and they actually have a stand
a walk in shower here which is fantastic
that’s great now
I know garden tubs have gone in and out of favor
for many years um
this one doesn’t seem to be like
one of those jet tubs or anything like that
so it’s not as overly huge
um it is big
it does take up a lot of space um
but there’s really nothing that needs to be done here
cause I’ve already painted the walls in here
it looks very neutral a nice griege kind of a color
um there is this fluorescent lighting in here
which isn’t I’m like okay
that’s fine the mirrors could be changed out
to be something a little bit more modern
but this is a very nice clean looking bathroom
I would actually take out these little rugs here
and definitely rip out this rug here
along the side here cause that’s just gonna be a
a case for mold and things like that
I would you know
if you could I think
I wonder if this is even hold on
is this carpeting in here in the bathroom
oh there is carpeting in the bathroom
and um
what is this with um
the OK coral here for I think is with the toilet
okay yeah
um yes
so in this case
I would turn this into a physical door for the toilet
yeah um
and the carpeting a I’m sorry
we had that too in one of our um
houses in in Virginia
and it was a colonial home just like this
um but yeah
so that may be one of the things
this house has actually been sitting on the market
for over three months um
and I can see why
one of the things they may be thinking about is this
while the rug looks very clean
they’ve done a very good job of cleaning it up
but there may be mold because of the shower or the tub
or you know
the steam
that happens if there isn’t a fan working in there
but that’s one of the things
that the buyers may be thinking of
when they’re walking into this bathroom
while yes
it’s soft it’s nice and carpeted
yeah you might want to consider tiling here
cause I got this tile here
and it doesn’t have to exactly match
but as long as it’s white
you know but that could be part of it
along with these this OK coral
like one of the first things I would do first is
I would change out these doors
and then rip out the carpeting
um but yeah
that that may be easier and less less um
costly for the seller to do now
at least there’s two sinks
there’s lots of counter space here
this is great um
but again that would be something that
you know again
the sellers or the buyers
when they’re walking through here
they’re going ooh
we need to spend money on this bathroom
that we really do and
that’s probably one of the first things
they’re gonna do other than
you know changing out the wallpaper the
in the you know downstairs
um yes
so it’s still livable there’s nothing wrong with it
it’s all cosmetic things but
that’s what they’re thinking
when they’re walking through the bathroom
okay
so yeah
and I guess this might be the closet
I don’t know if we got a picture of that
nope they don’t show us picture of that
okay that’s fine
um so moving on to another bedroom here um
this is also cosmetic
it’s really shouldn’t be that big of a deal
but the curtains and the flower part
that’s just outdated I would actually
if anything I would flip over the comforter
and make it more neutral make it white
use white in there is it a yellow room
okay
not an ideal color but that’s again
something that the buyers will be thinking of
when they’re walking through
your house again if they have to be thinking about okay
I need to spend money on this
I need to spend money on this and this
and this and this
pick the things that you know
that you can easily fix yourself and update
that won’t cost a whole renovation
cause I’m not saying you need to do a whole renovation
they did a wonderful job
with some of the colors in the house already
um there’s still some other things
that still need to be done
okay
yeah oh yeah
that’s a lot of that’s a lot of floral
I with anything I would just take the um
cause there seem to be some kind of blinds here
I believe yeah um
I would just take down the curtains
if you had to have some kind of curtains there
because you were living in there
um sheers are perfectly fine um
but literally I would just take down the curtains
to help you with this cause this is a lot of color
a lot of um
pattern going on here that I wouldn’t um
necessarily have in here
when you’re trying to sell a house OK
so and then oh
they have outdoor pictures
oh they have a pool out here
okay great
so yes
so this is wow
this is beautiful holy cow
um
I think they said it was a spa type thing or something
um so not necessarily a pool
um so yeah
nice patio outside
looks like there’s a sunroom in here
I I skipped those pictures but um
but yeah so it’s a nicely landscaped space
there’s just still a couple things
that are a little outdated
you can definitely move in
no problem but the buyers
as they’re gonna look in they go okay
we need to update a few things
okay so
that’s just some things
that I wanted to share with you
when buyers are looking at your house
to kind of give you an idea of what they’re thinking
when they walk through it
right you don’t want them
you don’t want to give them the
a list of a to do list or starting a to do list
before they even moved into the house
right you don’t want them thinking that way
that’s why some of the updates
where you probably already have done some
which we have done that too
there may be some other additional things
that won’t make them so you know
loud in their face because
when the buyers see
a lot of these things that need to happen
like they say okay
we need to do wallpaper we need to change
handle the light fixtures
we need to paint we need to
you know pull out the carpeting in the bathroom
we need to retile both bathrooms
you know they start adding things to their to do list
and that means that the price of the home will go
could go lower um
especially if it’s in
if it’s comparable with other properties for that size
that space um
that location you know
that’s gonna what they’re gonna compare it to
um and the work that needs to be done
that they don’t really have time
because there are probably a younger family probably
you know
couples are in their 30s or 40s with younger kids
the kids are gonna be running
you know from activity to activity
the parents are not gonna have time
to be doing renovations and things like that
um they may want to
there may be some people that are up for it right um
but that’s just the thing of when you price your home
make sure you when you talk to your real estate agent
about pricing your home
that you do take in consideration
that there may be some upgrades that need to happen
that’s why I bring up the
the buyers or um
the sellers blindness because you’ve lived in the home
you don’t notice the wallpaper
that’s something that you may love
but the buyers may go oh god no
that needs to go you know
so um
you may not hear that as feedback necessarily um
and that’s sometimes kind of harsh to hear
and I know I
I get it I know
sometimes we get when we’re selling our house
we’re like what
they were offended by that
like okay
well they can go
I don’t need them that’s fine
and a lot of you may be saying that
you may be nodding along going yeah
I don’t need them but you do need to sell your house
I know how stressful that can be
so I understand um
but a lot of these things that
if they see that need to be changed
registers with them loudly in their head
and it’s things
that they’ve already started thinking about
that they need to figure out well
do we really love this home
yes it has the size
yes it has the rooms that we need but
and there’s that but
you know everyone has them right
but is it their 90% solution
maybe yeah
okay great
so here’s the thing none of what I said
has anything to do with how much you love this home
and how much you’ve cared for it right
Seller’s blindness is real
okay um
when you live in your home
for such a long period of time
you don’t see it you don’t think about it
it’s not something well
I’ve lived with it for so long
but the next person is not gonna Wanna live with that
okay um
it’s just human nature okay
so here’s where I can help you with this
if this is something that you’re just
you know lived in your home for a while
and you’re kind of wondering well
maybe I do have seller’s blindness
maybe I don’t see the issues
you can start with something as simple
with a mini consultation with me
it’s online you just take pictures
of one of the rooms in your house
and you’re like is this a great first impression
is this foyer you know
OK or
I’m not sure I’ve heard feedback
maybe you’ve gotten feedback from the real estate agent
they just don’t know what to tell you or how to fix it
then a mini consultation
is something that we can start working on together um
to help you stage your house okay
or if you’re interested maybe an online course
I talk through all the things in my five room staging
master class with the foyer
the living room the bedroom
the kitchen the dining room
um what am I missing
there’s like five main rooms um
and I go through everything that needs to
that you need to look at when it comes time
to staging those rooms in your house
and that’s something that’s simple
then
I’ll leave that link in the show notes below as well
but
that’s how I can help you in getting your house ready
so that buyers are not taking that list
and making the to do list
and then offering less on your home
and then your home sits on the market longer
because it may be priced too high
they may be thinking okay
well yes
it’s a great house
but we need to spend X amount of dollars
just to get it ready for us
to move into okay
so
that’s just the reality of what you will see and hear
maybe you may not hear it um
and but you
sometimes you need to hear it right
yeah so
I hope this is giving you a little bit more insight
into the buyer psychology
of what they’re thinking and um
if this is a video that you like
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share it with your friends if you are moving
and they are moving too
um I’d love to hear any comments on what else you saw
that you thought well
you know what
I really don’t think that we should do this or
you know any other comments on the video
I’d love to hear it okay
I hope you guys have a fantastic week
and we’ll talk to you later bye