Pat Starnes' Snippets

 

Adding Character to a Vacant Home is So Important

 

I recently went on a couple of listing appointments, with my business partner Will Hamm, where the homes to be sold were sitting vacant.  There wasn’t one thing in the home, not even a roll of paper towels. 

 

Many homeowners feel that the best way to sell their vacant home is to remove every last item from the home.  This isn’t always a good idea and here’s why.

 

Buying a home is always an emotional experience as well as financial.  The buyers need to feel some emotion when they walk into the home and a stark empty home void of any character emits no emotion.  For men this isn’t always such a big deal, but isn’t the woman who usually makes the decision of which home to buy (even though most men don’t realize that)? 

 

Not everyone is creative when it comes to visualizing furniture in a vacant home.  Without furniture, rooms usually look smaller and the question arises of how much can fit into each room.  If the home is staged with appropriate furniture, there is no guess work.

 

Bathrooms are typically a cold room in the home without character.  Why not buy a nice shower curtain or drape to swag back and make the tub look inviting.  A few candles on the ledge with some nice smelling soaps wouldn’t hurt either.

 

The kitchen is the heart of most homes.  A vacant home with absolutely nothing on the counters doesn’t emit any warmth to the homebuyer.  Some knick knacks and colorful towels would spice up that kitchen.  I have also used a serving tray with a setting for two on the edge of the counter.  Coffee cups and pretty napkins are a nice touch. 

 

One of the folks we met with asked if staging his home would result in more money in his pocket.  I told him that staging his home would make his home sell faster which would effectively mean more money in his pocket because it would reduce the debt service on his home while it was sitting on the market. 

 

Stagers are artist.  Let them make your drab home look outstanding.  They are worth their weight in GOLD!!!

 

Belinda Spillman
Cornerstone Homes Realty
Metro Brokers Marina Square
(303) 884-2026
www.BelindaSellsColorado.com

Belinda1126@hotmail.com

Back in August of last year, I published a post called 6 Reasons why your house won't sell.  It garnered an unbelievable (at least unbelievable for ME) 192 comments, after being viewed 8667 times, and having 7,934 people "click" on it.  That means that 2.4% of the people who viewed the post, were moved enough to leave a comment behind.

The average, at least for me, has been less than half of that return... more like sightly under 1%.  It was also "reblogged" by an astonishing 47 Rainers to share with their readers.

Soon after posting, a local Realtor publication contacted me, having found the article on Active Rain, and asked if they could publish the article, with my byline, of course.  As you might imagine, I said "yes", and picked-up 438 copies of that issue (my mother loved them).  So I thought it might be time to review and revive that post, and let the "next generation" of readers have their shot at it:

________________________________________________________________________________________

7 Reasons why your property won't sell

1. Your property won't sell because your photos are "less than impressive". The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, so your property had better look fantastic in print. Not just nice, it has to look downright fabulous.  Today an internet view is the same as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... You should really consider that your SECOND showing. Today's online viewers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them...the picture below... taken from Google Maps... is completely unacceptable.  That's a $500,000 listing, take a moment and your digital camera and force your agent to go earn their commission), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, and they need to be high-quality, or don't bother.

2. Your property won't sell because it's overpriced. It's important to be as objective as you possibly can.  Look at the home as though you were a "buyer"... if necessary, make an appointment with your Realtor to view other properties that are priced comparably to yours.  Be brutally objective.  Given the other options on the market (and yes, you DO have to include short sales and foreclosures on your list... your potential buyers are!), would YOU buy your home, over the others that are currently available on the market?

If the answer is "NO", (and try to be as honest as you can) well then you have your work cut out for you, don't you?  You either have to "update" your home to meet or beat the competition...(that might mean an updated bathroom or kitchen, or neutralizing some decorating... remove that old wallpaper that was there when you bought the house or lower your price to adjust for it.  if you can't afford to sell it for the price, that you KNOW it should sell for, this may not be the right market for you to sell.  Consider taking it off-market.

3. Your property won't sell because it shows badly. This could mean almost anything... from the 60 pound Rottweiler, barking and drooling at the potential buyers from behind the safety of the flimsiest child-gate, to the lingering smell of 30-years of smoking.  Maybe the carpeting shows traffic-pattern wear, or your windows allow in slightly more than daylight.  All things that aren't visible from the internet, but whoa.... once you get inside the house... they show up, like a cat-urine-soaked-shag carpet on a 95 degree day in New Orleans!

4. Your property won't sell because you're invisible. Today's buyer comes from the internet, almost exclusively.  Have you (or your agent) simply plopped the property on the MLS, and started praying?  Are you on all the websites...(Trulia, Zillow, Craig's List, Google Base, etc...) all the places that buyers are searching?  If not, you need to be, now! Don't try to be a secret, in today's electronic world.  You want to be found, and the sooner the better.

5. Your property won't sell because your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market a year and a half ago.  But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly, constantly chasing the market down. Now, finally you're truly priced where you believe should be, but your listing (not your house) has become tired and stale.  Everyone who is looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen the listing online, or in person and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price.   Time to take the listing off market.  Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring.  Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.

btw... Resist the temptation to bring the house back on at a higher price, than when you left the market.  Just "don't do it"!

6. Your property won't sell because your house won't appraise. The house looks great... you've finally gotten someone to bring you a bid on your slightly over-priced, but beautiful pied-a-terre.  But the bank appraiser says it's worth $20,000 less than your buyer has agreed to pay.  Heavy sigh... bite the bullet.... negotiate with them.   If you have to drop the price $20,000 to make it work.... "make it work"... chances are, anybody else trying to buy your house will run into the same problem. If you're not willing to negotiate the difference, you may find yourself with no buyer, and accepting a lower offer somewhere down the line.

7. Your property won't sell because it's unavailable to show. You have a baby, and a 1-year old.  And they need their naps.  So you've told your Realtor in no-uncertain-terms, that you'll only allow showings between 9:00a.m - Noon, and then again from 2:30-5:30 p.m.  And no showings on Saturday or Sundays.  "After all", you've told him "we still live here.. it's our home!".  Well guess what?  They can't buy it, if they can't see it.  As good as your online photos are, they're no substitute for an in-person visit. "If they really want to see it, they'll reschedule", you're already answering as you read this.  Nonsense!  What they'll do, is they'll just move on to the next property in line (there are dozens like yours available) and maybe they'll buy that one instead.  Once you put your property on the market it stops being your "home", and has become your "product".  And you want your product to be seen by as large a buying audience as possible.

So, there you have it.  Stick around another year and half.  Who knows, maybe by August of 2013, I'll have EIGHT reasons why your property won't sell!

ALAN MAY, Realtor®
Specializing in Evanston Real Estate and North Shore Real Estate
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, 2929 Central Street, Evanston, IL 60201
847.425.3779      Cell: 847.924.3313      Email: Almay@aol.com

Evanston Real Estate & North Shore Real Estate