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We just listed our home. What can we do (besides cleaning and de-cluttering) to make it stand out from competition during showings? Thanks for your input!
Really the best things you can do are make sure the place is spotless. I'm not talking friends/family are coming over clean, I mean white glove, the cleanest the house have ever been in it's existence. If you have alot of things, get them out, and most importantly, price it low, and price it right.
Cheap price. At the right price, any house will sell fast.
Just price it right, don't get into the idea of "I am giving it away". Keep it clean and bright. Remove anything with odors or wash them. Remove clutter, personal photos and knickknacks. You want people to see the house not your stuff. Bake some cookies before a showing, people enjoy a house that smells good and if you put a cookie and some cold water they will hangout longer. When you get your first offer, really really do what you can to make it work. First offer in this market is usually the best offer. The longer the house sits the more competition you will have and you will have to drop the price. Just think of the house as a big liability and not home anymore, the goal is to sell sell sell. Good luck
We just listed our home. What can we do (besides cleaning and de-cluttering) to make it stand out from competition during showings? Thanks for your input!
The details regarding the presentation book in the next post should be a model for most Sellers:
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
When I purchased my home, it had only been on the market for 5 days when we made our offer. We had been looking for about a month and had a very good idea of other options in our price range.
Now, that was real quick and even quicker then even the seller was anticipating. The main factors for us buying it were location, price and size. It was where we wanted to be, it was priced well for the area and it had the space we needed.
However, there were two other properties available in the same development that were similar and generally the only differences were cosmetic, except that the home we purchased did have an extra breakfast "room" while the others had a "nook".
The one thing that really stuck out to us was the presentation of the home. The sellers and their agent had prepared a very nice booklet about the house. It was printed in full color and was presentation quality in a nice binder.
The book detailed the following:
-Floor plan of the house.
-Sketch with dimensions of each room with full color photos.
-A list of all upgrades done to the home, with the date they were done, model numbers and names of things like flooring and paint, as well as who did the work with their business name and number listed.
-A list of all the appliances in the home with model numbers, dates they were purchased and warranty information.
-The make and model of the HVAC system with a list of all services performed and who did them.
-Monthly averages for utilities cost for the past year. As well as the name of the utility companies with contact info.
-Current taxes and tax history for the past three years.
-A letter from the seller describing why they originally bought the home, why they were selling and what they liked best about living there.
-A list of a couple local recommended places to try for good take out.
-Demographic (wikipedia style) info for the neighbrohood as well as info about the schools.
Overall it gave us a great idea of the house and how it had been cared for. When we sat down to discuss which one we liked best every other house only had the generic MLS listing information, while this house had everything right there for us to look over. That book was also our bible as we prepared to move in as anything we needed to know was right there for us.
This is just an idea and something I had never seen before in any of the 30+ houses we looked at. It really set this one apart especially considering we had 2 other options in the same development that were the same floor plan, albeit a little smaller.
I'm sure it cost them a decent amount to put together, but in their case it really paid off.
I agree. The house we purchased last year had a very similar book and it definitely helped. There is only so much you can do that the others aren't going to do and this is probably one of them.
The details regarding the presentation book in the next post should be a model for most Sellers:
It took us 5 months to sell our house in Michigan. We only dropped the price once. Granted we listed right after Thanksgiving, the realtor told us not to expect activity until after the holidays.
After receiving feedback from other realtors, many of the buyers were from out of the area, they felt our house was little too far from everything. This is true if you took the main roads. There are roads you can take besides the main roads. We decided to add to the presentation book (very similar to above), how far is it to get to places like township office, parks, YMCA, popular hole in the wall restaurants, Costco/Sams', airport, etc. We also added name of utilities on it.
The buyers of our house commented on the presentation book and liked the how far it is to get to places page.
If you go above and beyond with decluttering and cleaning you definitely will stand out above everyone else. Many people's ideas of cleaning and decluttering are far from being well staged to sell. Curb appeal is also critical.
Most homes we looked at were full of STUFF. Too much stuff! If you can't park your cars in the garage because there's just too much stuff - get rid of it! Either put it in storage, have a big tag sale or donate it. You really can't see how big the rooms are when they are filled with too much crap. Even if the house needs nothing - it looks to a buyer like there is too much work just seeing all that stuff there. The house should only have the BARE NECESSITIES for staging and a couple pieces (like flowers, plants, etc) to make it less sterile. Clean out closets - you must literally stage everything like you were being featured in a home magazine. No clutter anywhere. Pretend that the whole country was going to look at how organized you are. Paint must be neutral colors and walls must be free of marks, dirt, smudges, etc. Floors must be spotless. All fixtures should be neutral and updated. Every house I've seen on the market where the owners went through this trouble sold quickly and for top dollar.
As a buyer - when you walk through the house you notice every little thing that isn't perfect and start to add up the dollars in your head. Will the carpets need to be steam cleaned or replaced? Do I need to paint because I don't like their colors? Are there holes in the walls from artwork or other things that will need patching? You get the idea. One house we looked at was a mess - and we instantly took 20% off their asking price in our heads because of all the work that needed to be done to clean it up to our liking. Another house was perfect except for one carpet in the living room that needed steam cleaning - that is the one we put the offer in on and for more than asking price.
" very nice booklet about the house. It was printed in full color and was presentation quality in a nice binder."
Great idea, Mike!!!!
Thank you!
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