The Ick Factor And Tucson Real Estate
June 25, 2008
Post Tags: BINSR , Moldy-Bread , The-Ick-Factor , Tucson Real Estate , Tucson-Home
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What do you see when you look at a piece of bread with a little mold on the edge?
What do you do when you find a piece of cheese with a little mold on the edge?
The Two Usual Responses
- Throw it away, it is moldy
- Cut off the mold, wash it off, it is fine
This pretty much sums it up doesn’t it. Oh, there are subtle variations on this theme. Check the rest of the loaf to see if there is more mold. Check the bag to see if all the oranges are moldy or just one. But the responses tend to be one of the two mentioned above.
Throw it away it is moldy vs It’s not all bad
I live with two of these. They read expiration dates like they were reading the Bible for divine knowledge. They don’t even make a distinction between a sell by date and a use by date. If there is a date, and it is on or past that date, in the trash it goes.
Find a spot of mold, GONE, all of it, gone without a seconds thought.
I have on multiple occasions rescued an entire meal from the trash can. There was only a spot of mold on one slice of bread. Tear off the mold, inspect the rest of the loaf, and make some toast. Scoop off the bit of mold on the top of the strawberry jelly and you have spread for your toast. Cut out the bad spot on the potatoe, Hashbrowns, Rescue the eggs because they have another week before the use by date and I have scrambled eggs to go with my hashbrowns and toast. As for the milk, it was really gone, lumps even : )
They look on in amazement that I am eating “poisoned” and “spoiled food” Like a curse of intestinal disruption is about to disrupt our household they distance themselves to a corner of the house where they huddle and wait for the explosion or ensuing death. But alas, nothing happens except I have done my duty and rescued food and kept some poor kid somewhere from starving to death in the process, at least that is what mom always told me I was doing. (Yes, right after I took the picture of the bread under the desk lamp I turned it over waited for it to toast on the other side and ate it. No it wasn’t moldy, it was raisin bread which is all I could find)
Attitude Makes All the Difference in the World
This little story is a glimpse into the two attitudes among home sellers and home buyers.
In real estate it is the difference between the seller that thinks even though there are some things that need to be fixed it shouldn’t affect the asking price, it is only a small crack in the pool, The roof only leaks when it rains from the East, which is almost never. The dishwasher door and refrigerator door can’t be open at the same time, “SO What’s Your Point?” These are no big deals to a person that only sees the good. In their eye, their house is no different than the one next door that has none of these issues.
If would cut off the mold and eat the bread then you have to take a hard look at how you view your home. If you are putting it on the market or it is already on the market take The Ick Factor into consideration. Get someone to come in and look at your house with an objective point of view. When they suggest you repair, paint and fix certain things don’t say, “I’ve lived with it like this all these years, if it is good enough for me and my family it should be good enough for anybody else”.
If you get an offer and you go to inspection don’t forget The Ick Factor often comes into play once again. You should expect to get a BINSR (Buyer Inspection Notice Seller Response) that might be quite detailed in the items they want repaired or replaced. It is a matter of attitude. Some people expect to fix some things when they move into a home that isn’t new. Others expect it to be brought up to “Like New” status.
We see The Ick Factor taking place all the time. Sometimes it is the seller that:
- Has the home preinspected and repaired
- Decorator called in to consult on staging
- New Paint
- Every routine maintenance issue resolved and checked
- Utility bills and averages on display
These are the meticulous ones that would simply throw out the whole loaf when they spot mold on a slice of bread and would never give it a seconds thought to try and salvage any part of the loaf. When it comes to buying a home, these are the sellers you want. When it comes to buying groceries . . .
Whatever side you fall on you should be aware of the effects of The Ick Factor on the process of buying or selling Tucson Real Estate.
July 4th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I was browsing around Tucson real estate articles this morning and found this post. I just wanted to tell you that I thought you came up with a very clever metaphor. I would have never thought of comparing a defect in kitchen layout to a spot of moldy bread. But did you really drink the lumpy milk? My stomach hurts for you…
July 4th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Robert,
No I didn’t drink the milk. I poured it down the drain and remembered as a kid how this was good for the septic tank. Ah, memories of childhood.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Oh good. You had me worried.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
That is a really unusual but neat way to look at it. I’m a don’t eat any of it/expiration date checker. That mold is really bad for you! Even if you don’t see it, there are invisible mold spores that you could be eating!!!! (I don’t know if that’s actually true or not, but that’s what I’ve heard and AM NOT taking any chances, lol.)
July 11th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
This is a great post- I love your take on things and the fact that your writing is not stiff or uptight :-).
I like the comparison of buyers to some one looking at moldy bread and what would you do. It is hard to convince sellers to spend a bit of money to improve the appeal of their homes and this is a good example of why it is a MUST.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I ignored the ick factor and bought, now I’m looking at the ick factor for when I sell. It’s amazing what a little paint and new carpet can do for a room. That’s a solution for 50% of “ick” factors.