Monday, September 26, 2011 / by Ira Miskin
Sellers Need To Know What Buyers Want
Sellers were once Buyers. Why did they choose the home they are now selling? Was it the location, home style, floor plan comfortability, the yard, the neighborhood, the color of the front facade? Was it clean and in move-in condition and met all their wants, needs and wishes when they purchased the home? Was it a fixer-up they turned into their vision of the perfect home? Whatever the reasons and circumstances, this home was the best fit it came the closest to fulfilling their wants, needs and wishes.
Now its being sold; now the home that once fit the Seller so well has to be the perfect fit for a Buyer. In order to attract the Buyer who will see this home as the right fit, the Seller must think like a Buyer. Helping the Seller think like a Buyer is one of the most important elements of the psychology of selling a home. It is among the primary strategies your Realtor and his or her Team must help you the Seller successfully accomplish.
Every house, whether it is a cottage or mansion is just a box with defined spaces within it. How does that box become distinguishable from all other boxes? What is required to make that box appealing to people other than its owner? What is it about this box that feels welcoming, inviting, orderly, functional, safe? Are this boxs colors pleasing, cold, vibrant, comforting? Is its outer skin clear and smooth or wrinkled and cracked? Does it look drab or bright? How about the window dressing? Is the lawn weedy and sparse or lush and green? Bushes neat and trimmed? Trees cut back away from the roof?
How does the home smell: fresh and neutral or like last evenings fabulous dinner? Carpets cleaned or stained, wrinkled or stretched? Wow, look at all the great art this family has collected. Lots of furniture in this room it feels crowded. Theres stuff in the gutters. The back yard fence is a little tumble-down. I wonder why its so warm in here is their air conditioning broken? Oh look, the windows are all painted shut. Ugh, theres all that soap film on the shower curtain, I think this is a dirty house. There are bulbs burned out, I hope that fan-light is still working. Theres a lot of things on the kitchen counters; this kitchen is small; not enough storage. Wow these closets are stuffed; not enough closet space.
We were previewing a home in Alpharetta. It was a 1980s vintage in an elegant executive style sub division. The owners décor, from the kitchen to the huge work-out room was beautifully maintained 1950s postmodern. The home was decorated in the same style and was filled with extraordinary and expensive art. It felt like you were visiting a time-warp museum. The seller had lowered the price more than $100 thousand dollars and still had not received an offer. Wonder why? The home was eventually withdrawn from the market and two years later has still not sold.
Prior to listing a drab looking contemporary ranch in Kennesaw, the focus for the marketing plan was to offer a home with a bright, cheerful, spacious feeling floor plan that was neat as a pin and in move in condition for a first-time home buyer. The large dog that was delightfully friendly and shed everywhere was temporarily relocated to a daughters home. Carpets were cleaned. Lots of soap and water and elbow grease was used to remove finger prints and smudges from the walls and switch plates. Dark draperies were removed and inexpensive but clean and fresh window blinds were hung. Half the furniture and 95% of their wall are and room décor was boxed up and put in the garage. The scruffy lawn and bushes were trimmed, edged and decorated with rich-looking red mulch. Colorful annuals were planted and the exterior was power washed, gutters were cleaned and the largest tree next to the home was removed. The home sold in two weeks to a first-time home buyer who was delighted with all the space and how fresh everything seemed compared to their crowded apartment, and how pretty the garden (the colorful annuals) made the home look.
Helping Sellers think like Buyers helps sellers sell homes.
Because selling or buying a home is a process and a journey, not an event, you will want to subscribe to our free video e-mail series for home sellers and buyers. For access to the complete series of free video and informational emails that can provide you with many of the important strategies and information you will need to make the best home selling or buying decisions you can email us at info@TMTRealtyGroup.net and ask for the SPECIAL E-MAIL SERIES REPORTS, the free no obligation series of email reports to be sent to you regularly over the next few weeks. Just put FREE VIDEO EMAIL SERIES in the subject line and let us know if want the home seller or home buyer series.
Or contact us directly for free, no obligation information at info@TMTRealtyGroup.net
Now its being sold; now the home that once fit the Seller so well has to be the perfect fit for a Buyer. In order to attract the Buyer who will see this home as the right fit, the Seller must think like a Buyer. Helping the Seller think like a Buyer is one of the most important elements of the psychology of selling a home. It is among the primary strategies your Realtor and his or her Team must help you the Seller successfully accomplish.
Every house, whether it is a cottage or mansion is just a box with defined spaces within it. How does that box become distinguishable from all other boxes? What is required to make that box appealing to people other than its owner? What is it about this box that feels welcoming, inviting, orderly, functional, safe? Are this boxs colors pleasing, cold, vibrant, comforting? Is its outer skin clear and smooth or wrinkled and cracked? Does it look drab or bright? How about the window dressing? Is the lawn weedy and sparse or lush and green? Bushes neat and trimmed? Trees cut back away from the roof?
How does the home smell: fresh and neutral or like last evenings fabulous dinner? Carpets cleaned or stained, wrinkled or stretched? Wow, look at all the great art this family has collected. Lots of furniture in this room it feels crowded. Theres stuff in the gutters. The back yard fence is a little tumble-down. I wonder why its so warm in here is their air conditioning broken? Oh look, the windows are all painted shut. Ugh, theres all that soap film on the shower curtain, I think this is a dirty house. There are bulbs burned out, I hope that fan-light is still working. Theres a lot of things on the kitchen counters; this kitchen is small; not enough storage. Wow these closets are stuffed; not enough closet space.
We were previewing a home in Alpharetta. It was a 1980s vintage in an elegant executive style sub division. The owners décor, from the kitchen to the huge work-out room was beautifully maintained 1950s postmodern. The home was decorated in the same style and was filled with extraordinary and expensive art. It felt like you were visiting a time-warp museum. The seller had lowered the price more than $100 thousand dollars and still had not received an offer. Wonder why? The home was eventually withdrawn from the market and two years later has still not sold.
Prior to listing a drab looking contemporary ranch in Kennesaw, the focus for the marketing plan was to offer a home with a bright, cheerful, spacious feeling floor plan that was neat as a pin and in move in condition for a first-time home buyer. The large dog that was delightfully friendly and shed everywhere was temporarily relocated to a daughters home. Carpets were cleaned. Lots of soap and water and elbow grease was used to remove finger prints and smudges from the walls and switch plates. Dark draperies were removed and inexpensive but clean and fresh window blinds were hung. Half the furniture and 95% of their wall are and room décor was boxed up and put in the garage. The scruffy lawn and bushes were trimmed, edged and decorated with rich-looking red mulch. Colorful annuals were planted and the exterior was power washed, gutters were cleaned and the largest tree next to the home was removed. The home sold in two weeks to a first-time home buyer who was delighted with all the space and how fresh everything seemed compared to their crowded apartment, and how pretty the garden (the colorful annuals) made the home look.
Helping Sellers think like Buyers helps sellers sell homes.
Because selling or buying a home is a process and a journey, not an event, you will want to subscribe to our free video e-mail series for home sellers and buyers. For access to the complete series of free video and informational emails that can provide you with many of the important strategies and information you will need to make the best home selling or buying decisions you can email us at info@TMTRealtyGroup.net and ask for the SPECIAL E-MAIL SERIES REPORTS, the free no obligation series of email reports to be sent to you regularly over the next few weeks. Just put FREE VIDEO EMAIL SERIES in the subject line and let us know if want the home seller or home buyer series.
Or contact us directly for free, no obligation information at info@TMTRealtyGroup.net
