It Depends Who’s Talking

“Have you ever noticed that their stuff is sh*t and your sh*t is stuff?”

—George Carlin

Part of real estate sales ” make that a big part ” is handling clients with sensitivity and respect.

That’s especially true for elderly clients, who haven’t moved in decades and have strong emotional ties to their home.

And everything in it, valuable or not.

Eye of the Beholder

So . . . Realtors’ term for emptying out a house full of accumulated items with little or no market value is “trash-out” (as in, “Does anyone know of an affordable contractor who can do a trash-out for an upcoming listing?”).

Clients prefer to use (and hear) the word “de-clutter.”

Ultimately, what matters isn’t the verbiage ” it’s that the home is emptied out and prepped for sale (staging, fresh paint, any needed repairs done, city inspection, etc. ) before coming on the market.

See also: Real Estate Euphemisms“; “Real Estate Clichés and How to Avoid Them“; “Show and Sell!”; “And Repeat:  “Never Negotiate Furniture!’ . . . “Never Negotiate Furniture . . “

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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