Five Things That Instantly Make Me Nervous During a Showing

By Kendra Conyers

Kendra proudly serves as a Jesus-loving real estate agent whose life and business are guided by faith, purpose, and service. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Counseling, and she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology.

Most buyers have no idea what I’m watching for during a showing. While you’re picturing your furniture in the living room, I’m reading the room for the things that separate a smart purchase from a very expensive mistake. So pull up a chair, because these are the five things that instantly put me on alert, and the psychology behind why they matter.

You love every single house we walk into. If I unlock six front doors and you love all six, from the 1980 ranch to the brand new two-story, we have a problem. You can’t love all of them, and when you do, it tells me we skipped the homework. We never nailed down what your daily life actually needs, from your commute to your school district to the kind of neighborhood that fits you. When every house gets an “oh my god, I love it,” that’s excitement, not a filter. And excitement without a filter is exactly how people end up in a home that doesn’t fit their life six months later.

There’s fresh paint or a water stain where it doesn’t belong. If there’s a bright white patch on the ceiling and the rest of the room is a completely different shade, I’m paying attention. Was it an HVAC pan, a roof leak, a tub that overflowed? North Carolina is a caveat emptor state, which means sellers don’t have to disclose a thing, so it’s my job to catch what they’re not telling you. I’ve had sellers suddenly “remember” a leak after we found the evidence, and I’ve seen a brand new construction home where the builder forgot a clamp on a pipe under the primary shower and water was quietly coming through the ceiling. Fresh paint that doesn’t match is a question, not a coincidence.

The house smells too good. Plug-ins in every room, candles on every surface, air freshener turned up to eleven. When someone is working that hard to make a house smell nice, they’re usually covering something up, whether it’s pet odor baked into the carpet, mold, cigarette smoke, or a sewer problem. A home shouldn’t smell like a candle store, and when it does, I want to know why.

The kids are making the decision. I love that parents want their children to feel good about a move. But when a ten-year-old vetoes a great home because the bedroom is “too small” or they’d have to share a bathroom, and the parents actually walk away over it, that worries me. Kids have social media expectations and they’re comparing their future bedroom to what they see on a screen, which isn’t a real filter for a decision this size. You’re the parent, and you’re the one paying the mortgage. The house needs to work for your life, not your child’s Pinterest board.

The advice is coming from everyone except the right people. Grandma bought one house in 1982 and suddenly has opinions about your closing costs. Your best friend bought during the pandemic, when the market was a completely different animal. Your partner is convinced a little creek behind the backyard, down a hill and behind a fence, is going to flood the house in a Charlotte storm. People who aren’t paying the mortgage and haven’t been in this market in years tend to have a lot to say, and I’ve watched that noise kill deals that would have been perfect for my clients. When I hear “well, my grandmother said,” I ask one simple question: how many homes has she bought, and when was the last time she sat at a closing table?

Here’s the psychology underneath all five. There’s a real difference between excitement and intuition. Excitement says, “I love this house.” Experience asks, “What am I missing?” My job is to stay objective when emotions are running high, because the most expensive mistakes are usually the ones buyers never notice until later.

If you’re getting ready to start looking, or you’ve been out there and something just feels off, let’s talk before you make a move you can’t take back.

Give me a call at (910) 578-3306, email me at kendra@kendraconyers.com, or visit blog.kendraconyersandassociates.com.

I’d rather have the real conversation now than watch you make a mistake you’ll feel later. Pull up a chair anytime.