There are hundreds of homes on the market in your city, so how can you give your property the best chance to sell quickly? By thinking like a homebuyer and accent the features about your property that will give them advantages. In other words the question that your listing needs to answer is "Why should I buy your property instead of another?
Homeowners, who have decided to sell their property, want it to sell fast for the best purchase price. If that is music to your ears don't leave anything to chance. If you plan and prepare carefully with the following tips you will be able to have prospects competing to buy your house.
For every house on the market that sells, the buyer's expectations were fulfilled. And the same will be true for your home. Your advertising plays a key role is communicating the benefits of buying your home for the price you are asking. Of course you have to remember that the process of selling will in most cases involve negotiating and incorporate a certain amount into your price to be able to walk away from the deal satisfied.
HOME STYLESThe style of your home is the first thing a buyer will notice that makes your house different from others. Many sellers list the type of construction for their home incorrectly, for instance stating that it is a "Ranch" style when in reality it is a "Split Level" . It is helpful to use the correct description for your house style for your listing and your word-of-mouth advertising. Having a basic understanding of the different styles can also help you to sell the advantages of your house design.
Ï Cape Codtwo bedrooms downstairs and one or two bedrooms upstairs. Ï Colonial most popular style of house, all of the bedrooms are upstairs. Ï Victoriancolonials with front porches, turrets and gingerbread style siding. Ï Contemporarybuilt mostly in the 1980's, open floor plans, soaring ceilings,
angular construction,
Ï
Farm Ranchsimilar to a cape, but larger. Two levels, most bedrooms on lower
level, slanted ceilings in upper level rooms.
ÏHigh Ranch or Raised Ranch-usually built with stairs to get to the front door,
main floor has the most living space.
ÏPost Modern-usually a colonial some with cathedral ceilings and oversized
windows.
Ï
Ranch-all living space on one level besides a basement.
Ï
Split Level-has many half-stair cases usually without a bathroom on the main level. ÏTudor colonials with stucco exterior walls, small windows lots of woodwork
inside.
The person who buys your house is also making an investment in the community. The collective image of the neighborhood creates its identity and most buyers place just as much value on the identity of the neighborhood as the property that they are buying.
Communities and neighborhoods have as many different faces as people. If you live in a gated community your home may be part of a real estate developers design. If you live in the suburbs or in a semi rural area, your community may have an old style charm with treelined streets and a Main Street, where as in a large urban neighborhood tree lined streets are not as common.
It is important to know the positive and negative points of your neighborhood when you decide to sell your home, because the home buyers will ask you questions about the community so be prepared. You can use the Internet to find the statistics about the basics like population, school locations and security. Although crime can happen anywhere, many homebuyers will often ask: "Is the area safe?" Beyond the local police presence, if your community has special provisions like "Neighborhood Watch”, be sure to tell them.
Some of your prospective buyers may be looking at your property from an investment standpoint. The quality of your community can enhance the value of your home, for instance a house located in areas that are designated as "historic" are considered highly desirable and their sales price can be much higher than other homes built in the same style in other sections of the city.
As you tour your neighborhood keep an eye open for indicators of its popularity such as:Look for these signs of increasing popularity:
Fewer rental homes
Homes being remodeled
An increase of civic improvements; re-paving of streets, new street signs, etc.
Know the "pulse" of your community; does it have stores that remain open 24 hours a day or does everything close at a certain time. If you do not have a garage, how convenient is the on-street parking?
How accessible is public transportation? How many routes can be used to reach your location? Knowing this information can help you in guiding prospective buyers to your property.
If your prospective buyer gets frustrated because they cannot find your address, you could lose out on a sale.
In addition, you can use the location of your property to enhance your listing, especially if your property is well suited for a family. Many of the "for sale by owner" real estate websites offer property-listing templates that automatically generate community information about the different levels of schools that are in close proximity to homes.
As you begin to interview buyers for your home, keep in mind that many of them will be completely unfamiliar with your neighborhood. It is a good idea to keep a list of all of the service features that are important when people move to a new home.
In addition to school locations, generally most people are concerned with the location of utility services, banking and postal offices. If your neighborhood is serviced by public services for waste disposal and transportation on a certain schedule, provide the information that is essential for them to factor into their decision making process.
Selling the benefits of a home property location can include many convenience and lifestyle factors such as:Ï business and shopping centers Ï hospital and medical facilities Ï recreational activities
Ï parks and forests
Ï beaches and amusement parks Ï sports facilities
Ï bike trails
Ï transportation routes
If you have been living in your neighborhood for many years, take a tour through your community with fresh eyes to see all of the features it has to offer. Many homeowners are surprised at what they find when they look at their communities from the perspective of a new homebuyer.
HOME FACTORS: THAT EXTRA BEDROOMAfter surveying your community, it's time to re-evaluate the features of your house. The total number of rooms is important, but the size of each room can be used as leverage as well, especially in terms of an extra large bedroom. Today with more people working at home, an extra bedroom can serve as a home office instead of being tucked into the corner of the living room or master bedroom. If your community now has cable, satellite and high-speed broadband service available, you can use this to enhance the attractiveness of using the extra bedroom for this purpose.
But there are other ways an extra bedroom can be used, for instance:Ï a home gym
Ï library
Ï craft workshop
Ï sewing room
Ï children's playroom
Ï entertainment game room Ï office
Ï day trading room (stocks)
Keep in mind that many of the buyers that respond to your advertisement are first time homebuyers who may have lived only in an apartment. Helping them to see the advantages of how they can use the space in the home can make the deal irresistible.
Besides using an extra bedroom creatively, there are other parts of the house that can be used to enhance time spent at home. Many older homes have large attics that can be used for storage or as private retreat. Finished basements are perfect to use as a teenagers recreational area and eat-in kitchens encourage family breakfasts or informal dining.
AMENITIES: THE MULTI CAR GARAGEToday it is not unusual for a family to have more than one car and if you have a home with a multi-car garage, check and see how common this is for your type of property. You can use this feature to your best advantage if the majority of homes in your area have single car garages or if most of the homeowners have to park their cars on the street.
GET CREATIVEDescribing your property is a combination of the exterior, interior and community features. It is to your advantage to remember the questions that were in your mind when you began looking at houses to buy. A good way to prepare to sell your home is to visit new real estate developments and review their marketing material. Look at the features that they list and see how they compare with the features in your neighborhood.
Ï Being creative also means thinking outside the box; is there anything unusual about your home? Here are few examples of how you can use them:Ï Is it close to a major tourist attraction? Tourist attractions make great landmarks that make it easy for prospective buyers to find your home.
Ï Does your property sit on an extra large plot? You can suggest some of the improvements that are allowed for your neighborhood.
Ï Are you in a community that is zoned for residential and commercial use? Professionals will be interested to know that they can have clients visit without a problem.
Be sure to make note of the special features or improvements in your property, for instance a detached storage shed for storing landscaping equipment or a brand new water heater. Use every aspect of your home to your advantage. Does your property have a working fireplace? Many times homes are advertised with fireplaces but they either do not work or they are decorative fireplaces.
Other features that you can accent in your home are a separate dining room, food pantry or laundry room. In addition to room space, there are the room features such as hardwood or inlaid tile floors, which are enjoying a renewed popularity. Wood beam ceilings, wood paneling and finished basements are features that many homebuyers want to see.
Windows and lighting are features that are important to many homebuyers. Extra large or special windows like bay or port styles and features such as double insulated or tilt windows save energy and make cleaning easier. In terms of lighting, skylights, track and recessed lighting bring warmth to a room and make it easy to enhance the display of paintings and photographs.
As you work through the process of preparing to sell your home don't forget the importance of networking. Ask your friends and family to give you their opinion about your house and what features they think are the most distinctive, useful or add the most value.
Your family, friends and neighbors can spread the word about your property and your asking price, which can help get your marketing off to a good start. But it is wise to rent a pager for your contact number to avoid unwanted calls at your home. If you use an answering machine you can describe the features of your house and its price in your message. It is also a good idea to let a friend record the message for you.
With the information you have about your neighborhood and home you are ready to tackle the next step of improving the picture to make it ready to advertise and show buyers.