The 5 Biggest Pet Peeves Real Estate Agents Have About Your House

Your real estate agent is your best friend when you’re selling a home—you’ll talk to them practically every day and you’ll meet up regularly. And although they’re always there for you, sometimes you can do things that really get under their skin. Several real estate agents were kind enough to weigh in on exactly what those things are. Avoid committing home faux pas during a sale by steering clear of these five pet peeves.

This applies to every portion of the home sale process, from showings and open houses to the closing. Clean your house! If it’s not in showing condition, it will take longer to sell. That’s especially true if it’s vacant, says Rachael West, an agent with Bear Realty in Wisconsin. Vacant homes show dirt in more obvious ways, so hire a professional cleaner. You’ll have to do it before closing,” anyway, she reasons, “So you might as well do it at the beginning.”

If you’re going to host an open house, also try not to cook anything pungent beforehand.

“Buyers are so picky,” says Shelton Wilder, a real estate agent and owner of the Shelton Wilder Group. “You don’t want anybody there cooking food like fish. When we do open houses, we have fresh-baked cookies and everything smells so good.”

Wilder also wants you to make sure you get everything out of the house before closing. She once walked into a home with a new owner after picking up keys to discover the house was completely trashed and the fridge was full of food. “It was devastating,” she recalls.

Disclose everything, West says. Dead dishwasher? Roof in shambles? Let your agent know before any showings—and before even listing your home. “It’s better to just be honest and put it out there,” West says. “What’s the point of having a showing if people show up and see one thing wrong and don’t even want to come in?”

Be sure you’re flexible, both in timing and pricing. Showings can happen at all hours of the day, and you need to be willing to let people in whenever they can make it. And don’t price yourself out of the market because you’ve made an emotional decision about how much your home should cost. It’s a business transaction. Listen to your agent’s professional opinion about both of these. They’re there to help you. 

People looking to buy a short-term rental property can unintentionally cause headaches for real estate agents. Amy Rosen, an agent from Ruth Gale Realty in the Catskills, says it’s mostly an issue of availability and timing. Sellers are likely still renting the properties out during the sales process, making showings more difficult.

“One of the ironies of working with a lot of people who want to be in that space is they frequently want to look at houses that are currently rental properties,” Rosen said. “People want to come up on the weekend to see several houses and make it worth the trip. For anybody that is interested in searching for a second home and comes across the problem of it being rented on Airbnb, even though it’s listed, try to be available for weekday showings or use an agent who can be creative about getting you in to see it.” 

West, Rosen, and Wilder all agree that photos can be a major frustration. Using a fisheye or wide-angle lens won’t cut it—you want the pictures to actually represent the home properly. Wilder notes that if photos were taken with the home staged, make sure the house matches the photos for showings. And if the photos just aren’t working out, let your agent take a video. Rosen regularly shoots videos to showcase properties she’s passionate about.