Real Estate - Showings in a Recovering Market.
Categories: Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
hiLet’s not be confused, the economy may be going through all types of gyrations, but the real estate market in South Florida is showing definite signs of recovery. However, sellers should not think that the worse is over and it is once again a seller’s market - the buyer is still king and the buyer with cash is the Emperor.
Since we’re once again showing properties to potential buyers it may be good to review some of the basics in showing a property. We get only one chance to make a first impression and in a recovering market, every showing a property gets is like gold. You don’t want to waste the opportunity to make a great first impression.
When showing a property these days, you have to consider everything and you need to do everything possible to make sure your property shines above the rest. The best approach when selling a house is the minimalist approach - less is more, and often better. I showed a house recently that had a nice size room that was about 12′-0″ x 14′-0″, but it had a large desk, sofa, files, etc. The buyer’s perception was that the room was too small for her son — for years I had two sons in a room that size. The room size was fine, but it was a 5lb bag with 10lbs of stuff - take out the desk or the sofa or somehow lighten the visual clutter. Put the stuff in the garage or rent a mini-warehouse.
For many women buyers there are two rooms in the house that are sacred… the kitchen and bathrooms. Some kitchens look like a mechanics shop with all the tools of the trade displayed on the kitchen counter; cute pictures on the refrigerator; notes, books, etc. Removing all the clutter works best - if you must, a few well placed utensils as accent but open counter space is better. A few well placed under cabinet lights to brighten dark counter areas are also very helpful in making the space look bigger.
Dark is great for drama, but terrible for selling — so brighten up the house. The amount and quality of lighting is very important in selling. Light bulbs give out different types of lights that may accent different colors - daylight is best for most conditions. When selling, you may need to accent with incandescent, halogen and other bright lights to bring out and create details. I also suggest to sellers to increase the wattage on light bulbs to the maximum when selling a property. One place that people often do not light properly is the closets - a large dimly lit messy walk-in closet will look small. But if you have it organized and well lit, it will look larger.
Animals is another area of concern. Now a day it seems like every other person is allergic to one thing or another. So if you have pets, make sure to remove them from the house when showing — I’ve found people allergic to everything but fish. Some people have food and water containers for their animals in every corner and in some cases in the path of travel. Also in houses with animals you need to clean twice as much to make sure you don’t have animal hair, smells and or little brown jewels laying around. Litter-boxes and papers or diapers on the floor for the animals to do their thing is a no-no when showing.
Most people’s first impression are made when they drive up to a property. I still remember driving up to a property with my wife years ago and saying, “if the inside is half as nice as the outside we’ll buy it” — and we did. The front of the house including the door, door hardware, door chime button, porch light, landscaping and steps to a front door are critical. There are times when showing properties that we drive up to a property and the buyer will take a first look at the front and ask to skip a showing – at that point there is nothing to do but drive, because they already made up their minds.
Convenience is also important… it is very likely that you have a greater interest in selling your property than the buyer has in buying it. You have one house to sell to one buyer, but the buyer has many houses to buy and yours however nice it is, is just one of many available — so make it convenient for the buyer. So give a key to your Realtor and let her or him work around the buyer’s schedule. Also vacate the property when it is going to be shown - I had one buyer who eliminated one house, because she felt very uncomfortable because the owner was present and she felt she was imposing. In another case the seller became furious, when she heard the prospect say that the house stunk! That is why a seller hires a professional, because they don’t take comments personal - their objective is to sell your house.
The above are just a few suggestions… there is much more. But to say simply that sellers have an opportunity to sell at this time. Do everything you can to show your property in the best light. A buyer’s first impression of your house will often determine if you will sell your property faster.
Estoy interesada en la villa,quisiera ver fotos
Estoy en Venezuela,cuanto aga de mortgage y cuanto paga de condominio.
Esperando su respuesta
Tania Cohen