When the buyers market is hot, there are so many homes to choose from. Buyers feel they are in the power seat while sellers are working hard to make their home stand out as the most desirable. After all, the longer a home sits on the market, the staler the listing gets making it less desirable. Here is how to separate your house from the competition in South Florida.
Set the Right Price
Of course, pricing is critical in setting your home apart from others for sale in the area but this is a balancing act. Setting the price at the top of the market will limit some buyers who find it just above or at the top of their price range. Setting it below the main marketing listings will generate a lot of interest in the house. This is good but you need to make sure that the price isn’t too low. You want multiple offers to drive the price up to its top market price; setting it too low initially might limit the upward bidding potential.
In the current market conditions we are in right now, setting the optimum list price is imperative. Technically we are still in a seller’s market, however we are in a shift moving us more towards a buyer’s market and buyers are being a bit more selective when they choose an house to buy.
Right now it is best to set the price right at market value. If you go higher you risk the house just siting on the market with no one coming to see it. If priced correctly and marketed aggressively, you should begin to receive offers relatively quickly.
Professional Photos
You should want professional photos. It’s unfortunate that only about 1/3 of listings include professional photography.
Professional pictures will attract a lot more buyers. The very first thing buyers will see online are the pictures. If they are not of the highest quality the buyers will not be impressed and move on to another home. You don’t want to lose buyers based on bad pictures. There’s really no reason why a home listed for sale should not have professional photos taken.
Photos should be well lit and capture the home in the best possible angles. Great photos make rooms look bigger and highlight the key selling points of your home. Just because you have three bedrooms doesn’t mean you need to show the third bedroom if it is tiny and painted an off color.
The home should be prepared and decluttered before taking the pictures. There is nothing worse than seeing pictures of a home for sale with stuff all over the place.
Interactive 3D Virtual Tours
Interactive 3D Virtual Tours are the future of marketing homes for sale.
Similar to Google’s Street view where you can zoom down to the street level and actually walk down the street, there is technology now available to do that very same thing in your home. If you would like to see a demo click here.
Think about it, a buyer can sit at their computer or mobile phone and walk through your house as if they were actually there seeing every room from every angle.
The great thing about using this technology is that 1. You can reach out of town buyers that don’t have to be here to walk through your home, and 2. A buyer that sees the Interactive 3D Virtual Tour and then still comes to personally visit your home is what I call a HOT Buyer. They already know what your house looks like, they just want to confirm it. The Interactive 3D Tour weeds out the people that are not looking for a house like yours and attracts the buyers who are.
Video Walkthrough
Let’s face it, video has become one of the most popular ways of communicating online with millions of hours viewed on a daily basis. A home for sale that does not use a video walkthrough is missing out on attracting buyers.
In fact, real estate listings that include at least one video get 400% more inquiries. However, only 9% of agents include a walkthrough video for their listings. Done correctly, the walkthrough video will provide the viewer a good understanding of the layout of the home. Focusing on some of the best-selling points of the house via video will attract more buyers.
Get a Stager
Staging is another critical component of marketing. Great staging gives buyers a palette to view their own lives in the home. It minimizes furniture but still sets a purpose for each room. A home office might have one desk in it for staging purposes where a functional home office would have files and bookshelves along with the desk. Staging starts with removing the clutter and making sure the furniture fits the space. Take the time to stage the house.
Staging does not necessarily mean replacing your furniture with different furniture like we see on tv. It could be as simple as removing some pieces if needed or rearraigning the furniture you have.
Make Critical Updates
Your real estate agent is your partner on reviewing the home and recommending which updates will make a difference in selling your home. Homeowners willing to put a little elbow grease into a project can do many updates. This might include painting walls or changing out hardware and fixtures in kitchens and bathrooms. There may be a more serious item on the list that should be fixed before listing. Perhaps the A/C isn’t working or the pool pump has died. These are critical components that buyers will not want to fix as soon as they close escrow. Spend the money to get the house ready to sell and it will sell faster and for more money.
We provide sellers with a Free Home Review where we will evaluate your home and provide suggestions on things you should and should not do to make your home more attractive to buyers.
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What You Need to Know
Before Listing Your Home for Sale