March Madness

By Jim Palmer Jr.

As I sat at my desk this morning filling out my bracket for the NCAA basketball tournament I was interrupted countless times by business. Can you imagine that? It is mid-March and the sun is finally shining and after a very blustery winter season it appears that Old-man-winter is losing his grip and buyers are starting to scramble for available listings.  As I finished up my bracketeering, I reflected on all of the spring projects at my house that will soon be coming my way whether I like it or not.

Some projects that made the short list were; cleaning up the dog poop off the lawn and other things they dragged there, prepping the garden, pruning fruit trees, repairing the winter damage to paint and roofs etc. My wife is also expecting me to finish that remodel in the kitchen, which I am dreading. Now that we are empty nesters, we’ve been painting and replacing carpet, finishing trim that has gone unfinished for many years and repairing all of those deferred maintenance issues that have been on the list for awhile now. As we’ve been feverishly engaged in that project, (since it has been so yucky outside), we’ve also spent a great deal of time removing and getting rid of stuff. You all know what I mean by stuff! If you have not seen it for a few years, it’s probably time to take it to Goodwill or directly to the dump!  

I’ve noticed that, like myself, many sellers procrastinate those little repair projects and the cleansing process (described above) until they need to sell or remain in the denial state even well into the listing process. That is probably why the Realtor® generated 22D form has specific provisions that “Seller shall clean the interiors of structures and remove all trash, debris and rubbish from the Property prior to Buyer taking possession.” That might be a nice way of saying that the seller is a junk collector! Maybe you are not an outright hoarder, but things have just accumulated through the years?

If you are thinking about selling, maybe a purge of your stuff and a good spring cleaning can be part of your own March Madness!  Don’t wait until the last minute like most do!  Oh, and be sure to check with your spouse before you start throwing things away. On second thought, they may never miss it if they don’t watch it disappear!