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How
to Attract Buyers to Your Home
Avoiding Common Mistakes When Attracting
Buyers
You are ready to sell your house, right?
So what are the common mistakes that you want to avoid as a seller?
Pricing too low or too high would certainly be near the top of the list.
Failing to engage an experienced real estate professional to represent you in the real estate transaction is another.
But one of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make is they think they are selling “their home” when in fact they are selling something totally different. The cold fact is that once your house goes on the market it ceases to be your “home” and instantly becomes a product in search of a buyer. This product, when marketed correctly, is not represented just as a structure with two bedrooms, two baths, and a garage, but a rather as an inviting, attractive, and comfortable “lifestyle” that should have eye appeal to potential buyers.
Creating the impression of a fresh, new lifestyle – particularly in an older home – may be challenging for you. That's where the help and advice from an experienced real estate professional can help you transform a dowdy-looking house into a product that has instant eye appeal and communicates the desired lifestyle to prospective buyers.
So, what are some things that you can do to enhance the eye appeal of your home and communicate the sort of lifestyle that would attract a typical buyer?
1. Get rid of any clutter.
Remember, you want your house to communicate an attractive, luxurious lifestyle when a potential buyer first sets his or her eyes on it. Clutter throughout the house only works to destroy this message. Toys, clothing, newspapers, magazines, and any other items that may be cluttering a room should be discarded or properly stored away. Countertops should be free of any
unnecessary items such as car keys, loose change, magazines, food items, papers, mail, bills, rarely-used appliances, and anything else that should be removed. A good Rule of Thumb is: “When in doubt, get rid of it!”. A potential buyer wants to visualize what his or her living environment would look like, not yours.
Bathrooms can be another problem area for many home sellers because these rooms are normally reserved as private areas and are rarely seen by people outside of the home's residents. Bathrooms – along with kitchens and home offices -- are high on a potential buyer's list of important rooms, so the home seller must attack bathroom clutter with an especially cold and callous attitude. Counters should be clear of virtually everything – no toiletries, brushes, loose hand towels, rings or other jewelry, and definitely no drugs or medications of any kind.
Bathrooms are easy to “freshen up” and reinforce the attractive lifestyle you want the room to project. Invest in a new set of fluffy bath towels to give the room a feeling of luxury. Keep fresh bars of soap in the dish tray by the sink. Replacing worn out toothbrushes with new ones isn't a bad idea, either. Everything in the bathroom should look as new as possible.
Remember to appeal to the buyer's sense of smell. Hide any bathroom odors by keeping one of those plug-in, automatic air fresheners installed at all times. In fact, keep an automatic air freshener in the kitchen and other rooms as well, but be sure to use the same scent throughout the house. This will save you from having to remember to use an aerosol air freshener before unscheduled visits from potential buyers.
2. Rearrange the furniture to create a new look.
Even the slightest adjustment in how your furniture is arranged in a room can transform the message and eye appeal of your home. You should be prepared to get rid of your favorite bean bag chair or worn out recliner if they detract from the appearance of the room. Again, a potential buyer wants to visualize his or her furniture in your house, not yours. Minimal furniture is better than too much furniture in a room.
3. Create a consistent color theme throughout the house.
If the walls in your teenager's room are painted Fire Engine Red you are faced with a choice. You can do nothing and risk losing a potential buyer because of your child's offbeat sense of interior design. Or, you can explain the facts of life to the child, buy a gallon of paint that matches the walls in the rest of the house, and start repainting the room. There must be a consistent color theme throughout the house to achieve the best eye appeal for potential buyers. Yes, a buyer can repaint a house whatever color he or she desires after moving in. At the selling stage, however, a poorly coordinated color theme can become an unwanted distraction that the home seller can easily avoid.
4. Consult with a professional to get the best advice on maximizing eye appeal.
There are experienced people in most cities who make their living by “staging” homes for sale. Much like a stage master for a play or performance, a professional stager can give you an objective opinion about the visual appeal of your home. A stager can also actively assist you in creating a visual effect that communicates the type of lifestyle that, hopefully, sells your home for the best price in the shortest amount of time.
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This helpful guide was produced by Prudential Ballard Realty, Inc. -- a leader in residential sales and leasing in the greater Montgomery, Alabama area. You can contact Prudential Ballard by calling (334)
277-8920 or by visiting the web at
http://prudentialballard.com . You may also contact Prudential Ballard via e-mail at
info@prudentialballard.com . Prudential Ballard Realty is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company. Equal Housing Opportunity.
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