As a REALTOR®, communicating on a regular basis with the seller is a crucial component of the listing's success. And, as I have so often found from experience, sellers who have mentally made the transition from "home owner - to - home seller" have a much easier time accepting advice and feedback from their agent realizing it as a means to an end: the sale of their home.
Such was the case for one of my listings (before and after pictures, below), a truly beautiful single family home that I sold last year, recently included in the May, 2009 edition of REALTOR.org "Best Room Makeovers".
Painted in a South-West Adobe orange color motif, many buyers just found the family room too loud for their tastes.
The seller originally gave me resistance about changing the color, but after reading the feedback I was sending him from buyers, he finally realized the family room needed to be re-painted. I suggested an off-white, neutral color. Up until that point, I was having nightmares about this room.
My advice: Re-Paint That Room and Let's Get Your Beautiful Home Sold!
The cost in supplies and paint was under $200 and with a weekend's worth of elbow grease by the seller (the seller truly did a fantastic job), the paint job made a world of difference and the home sold some time afterwards.
At work here was the basic fundamental economic principal of price vs. cost. Not doing the painting with a price tag of $200.00 worth of paint and supplies, plus some personal time to remedy a situation could have cost the seller an untold amount of additional time on the market with added carrying costs, a reduced sale price, plus the added stress from not selling.