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What is the most creative idea you have ever heard or used to sell a house? We are ready to try anything!
In a nutshell:
Nice clean house, suburban neighborhood, about 15-20 years old, priced as the cheapest on the street even though size is above average, priced $20k below tax assessed, realtor doing open houses every other weekend, decor is neutral and staged. All clutter gone.
Does anybody know of anything fresh, new, and creative we could try? Could we offer something cool to make our house stand out...besides dropping the price?
Maybe there is something intriguing that I can learn from one of your markets. Please share!!!
What is the most creative idea you have ever heard or used to sell a house? We are ready to try anything!
In a nutshell:
Nice clean house, suburban neighborhood, about 15-20 years old, priced as the cheapest on the street even though size is above average, priced $20k below tax assessed, realtor doing open houses every other weekend, decor is neutral and staged. All clutter gone.
Does anybody know of anything fresh, new, and creative we could try? Could we offer something cool to make our house stand out...besides dropping the price?
Maybe there is something intriguing that I can learn from one of your markets. Please share!!!
CNN had an article about one seller offering a free Toyota Prius. You could try offering goodies such as one year of paid
1. landscaping/mowing services
2. HVAC maintenance plan
3. Gym membership
4. Gift cards to grocery stores/pharmacies/malls/gas stations [this could be expensive]
How about offering a 1 year guarantee - if the house appraises for less than the contract price in 1 year you'll rebate the difference up to some max value. Obviously you'd need a lawyer to draw up the offer language and the addendum to the contract. You'd probably need to escrow the max amount.
Since it's a novel idea you would issue a press release to your local paper and TV describing the guarantee, you may get free advertising. Advertising means traffic.
I've never tried it. But I sit up nights thinking about new ways to attract the extinct species called the real estate buyer
Not sure how inspections work in your area but I've mentioned to sellers that they may want to offer to pay for the septic inspection and water test for buyers, which is usually a buyers expense in this area and can cost about $500 for both. If the buyers can't decide between two homes it may be the seller who is offering something like this that will make the difference. You could also offer termite contract for one year (we have them in this area) a home warranty, or something that would be of value to the owner after taking possession.
I love the idea of a free car in the garage, a boat, or a gift certificate to a landscaper. I find advertising the best, billboards ($600 per month), large businesses have relocating services for employees, veterans are always looking for affordable housing... This is the worst time to sell, but people still need houses. Don't jump on a bad deal for a quick sell. Keep it with a lawyer and realtor. Motivated sellers are getting bad deals from unscrupulous house buyers. Watch for scams!
What is the most creative idea you have ever heard or used to sell a house? We are ready to try anything!
In a nutshell:
Nice clean house, suburban neighborhood, about 15-20 years old, priced as the cheapest on the street even though size is above average, priced $20k below tax assessed, realtor doing open houses every other weekend, decor is neutral and staged. All clutter gone.
Does anybody know of anything fresh, new, and creative we could try? Could we offer something cool to make our house stand out...besides dropping the price?
Maybe there is something intriguing that I can learn from one of your markets. Please share!!!
You want blunt advice?
Either offer to pay for all of the closing costs or drop the price.
Offering trips or Plasmas or any other junk are just gimmicks....
From a "marketing" perspective -
1. Who is your most likely buyer? Young family? Older 'downsizers'? etc...
2. Is your home being effectively exposed to those buyers?
What kind of exposure are you getting on the Internet? Does your Realtor have a website? Are they a "showcase" lister in Realtor.com? Do they post it to other websites? One thing I'm seeing is getting a website specific to your home (www.1234MapleSt.com (broken link)) which can increase exposure.
3. Are the pictures and virtual tour good? (Professionally done or using a cheap digital camera?)
4. How's your curb appeal from the street? Look at it as if you were the buyer.
Gimmicks are just that - some of them can be effective to help get your home attention and stand out from the crowd. Others are most effective because they open your home up to new buyers.
* One thing I've heard of that intrigues me is the rate buy down. This is essentially providing closing costs, but they are specifically targeted at buying the interest rate down below market for the buyer. The effectiveness is that it opens up YOUR home in terms of affordability to a wider spectrum of buyers...more people can afford it because a reduction of 1/2% point can make more difference in the monthly payment than the price reduction it would take to buy the rate down.
All that said, CouponJack's advice is very solid - price cures almost all ills...but that wasn't the question you asked!
Best of luck.
DaveP
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