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When selling your home, providing a good first impression could mean the difference between a quick sale and a long wait for a buyer. Here's how to do it right.
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Homeowners Tips
What Are the Pitfalls of Marketing a Property Before It's Ready?
Selling quickly is a high priority for some home sellers. A job transfer can prompt the need to relocate on short notice. When trade-up buyers find their dream home, they often need to sell their current home quickly in order to complete the purchase of the new one.
Regardless of the motivating factor, when sellers decide to sell they often want to get the process started as soon as possible, but putting a home on the market prematurely can be a mistake.
Some sellers insist on marketing their home before it's ready. Rather than complete the work that will make their home more salable, they offer to reduce the sale price to compensate buyers for shoddy conditions, or they credit money to the buyers at closing. This generates fix-up money for the buyers who take responsibility for completing repairs after closing.
These approaches work with some buyers, but most buyers lack the vision to imagine how a home will look in its fixed-up condition. Many buyers, particularly first-time buyers, don't have any experience fixing up homes. The entire process intimidates them. Repeat buyers may have had too much experience with the process and vow to never buy another home that needs work.
In their haste to get a quick sale, some sellers jump the gun and put their home on the market while the fix-up is in progress. Notices tacked up around the house or a statement made in a flyer describe the work the sellers will complete before closing -- replacing a tired-looking linoleum floor or re-carpeting a room. T his strategy rarely generates the desired results.
Agents and prospective buyers remember a home the way they see it. A bright pink dining room creates a lasting impression. It's difficult for most people to imagine the bright pink transformed to a stylish taupe, and it's hard to get agents and buyers to come back to take another look after the work's completed.
First Time Tip: You may have only one chance to sell your home -- the first time the public comes to take a look. That's why it's best to wait until your home is in its best shape before showing it to anyone other than your own agent. IF THIS IS YOU CALL US NOW.
You should select us asyour listing agent because we have a the "Power of Visualization" and can advise you on how your property should look when it hits the market. If your agent is deficient in this area, call us in.... If we can't do it, we will find a decorator who can.
Whebn we do an "Open House" it is a "Marketing Event." This is when real estate agents preview your home for their buyers. We also hold a seperate broker's open house when your home is completely ready for sale to invite everyone from are offices over to see your home.
As a seller you want agents to have fabulous memories about your home. That way, they'll promote your home to their buyers and fellow real estate agents.
The Closing: Sellers who market their home before it's ready usually wait longer for a sale and sell for less than if they'd done the fix-up work first. It defeats the purpose of selling quickly for a good price.
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