Fsbo

In buyer’s markets, it is especially important to pull out all the stops and make your home stand out among the sea of inventory on the market. Ask yourself why a buyer would choose your home over all the other homes for sale.

Poor Condition of Your Home

Check out your competition. If 90% of the homes in your market are not selling, then your home needs to outshine the top 10%. Look at the homes that are pending sales because that’s your current indicator. Sold comps could be two to three months in arrears of market movement. You want to know what is happening right now, and pending sale data will tell you which homes are selling.

Apart from preparing your home for sale, consider its condition. Perhaps you should consider adding updates or doing repairs before selling. If the top 10% on the market have new carpeting and your carpeting is worn and dated, your home is not going to sell. Replace the carpet. Paint the walls neutral. Check its curb appeal.

Not Enough Photographs or Badly Shot Photographs

Homes in MLS that have one photo are passed by. Homes with dozens of photographs get noticed. Take quality photos or hire a professional photographer. Shoot wide angles with plenty of light showcasing your home’s best features. For goodness sake, keep the toilet lid closed.

• Unless your bedrooms differ from one another significantly, just shoot the master bedroom or largest bedroom.
• Don’t get yourself or the camera in the photo of the bathroom by shooting the mirror’s reflection.
• If your hallway is narrow, don’t take a picture of it. Get a close up of your fireplace or other interesting feature instead.
• Take several photos of the kitchen. The kitchen is generally the most important photo.
• Before photographing the dining room, set the table.
• Living room photos should show space, so move out some of that furniture.
• Remember to include the back yard and gardens.
• Add descriptive text to each photo; make your poetry sing.

You Haven’t Paid For Extensive Marketing and Advertising

No single aspect of marketing sells a home. It’s a combination of marketing efforts. If your newspaper makes a mistake and lists your home under the wrong section, don’t panic — homes have sold to buyers who found them in the wrong place. For that reason, consider placing an ad under several classifications.

• Print four-color postcards and mail them to surrounding homes in the neighborhood and to out-of-area buyers.
• Create four-color flyers containing several photos to distribute to prospects and those who tour your home.
• Hire a virtual tour company to shoot and upload videos.
• Massively advertise every weekend.
• Hold Open Houses on Sundays that coincide with other neighborhood open houses. Sometimes Thursday evenings attract buyers.
• Get feedback from buyers about what they liked and disliked about your home, and make adjustments to overcome objections.
• Consider shooting a video yourself and uploading it to YouTube.com, even if it’s just you talking about what you like about living there.

 

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 7:41 am and is filed under FSBO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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