Suze Orman said to do what????

A few weeks ago I went to the shore for a few days to relax. While I was there, I did something I rarely do anymore - I read the Sunday newspaper cover to cover. It was enjoyable for the most part, but then I came across this bizarre column from Suze Orman that I saved just so I could share it with you.

Here it is in digital form, courtesy of PostBulletin.com (which is not where I read it before).

I hope you'll take the minute or two to read it, but in case you don't allow me to present the short-n-sweet recap. Basically, Suze suggests that real estate buyers should go through a series of inspections before submitting an offer. Good advice, I suppose, until you get into the crux of her suggestions...

For example (and these are direct quotes from the column):
- "Pull back the rugs -- you never can tell what those fine threads are hiding."
- "No matter what season it is, check that the summer screens and the winter storm windows are in good shape. If you're buying in the summer, turn off the air-conditioning and crank up the radiators. In the winter, do the reverse. "
And here's a good one:
- "If you're buying an apartment, ask residents next door, above, and below to turn on their stereos and television sets and just walk around." (can you imagine how that would go over by the time the third real prospect who came around?)

And then, there is my ALL TIME FAVORITE...
- "If your purchase includes the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher, run a load in each of them. (Bring a few dirty dishes and towels of your own if need be.)"

Did she just say to do laundry in the house? To bring your dirties over and throw them in the Maytag just to make sure the spin cycle is extra quiet?

I am a fan of Suze's work and I am certainly in favor of buyers not getting a surprise right after closing, but I am hard pressed to tell a seller, even in this market, that they have to leave a box of Tide out before each showing just in case the buyer has a load of whites they didn't get done before work. Call me old school....

Nevertheless, I wanted you to see this on the off chance your buyers love Suze too.