Ways to Advertise and Promote Your Home Preview

Book Title

Home Marketing Strategies

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INTRODUCTION

FOR SALE BY OWNER VS. A LICENSED REALTOR The time has come to sell your home, and you find yourself considering the options of selling it For Sale by Owner (FSBO) to save the commission fee or hiring a professional Realtor® to handle all the details. True, some people can sell their property outside the confines of a contractual agreement with a Realtor®, but the harsh reality is that most cannot and will spend significant time and effort spinning their wheels while qualified buyers come and go without giving their property any serious thought, or worse yet, never even knowing it was available.The downfall of giving it a try yourself is that once you price a house, it’s easy to reduce the price, but nearly impossible to increase it without the herculean effort of starting a bidding war. If you get it wrong the first time, the only place to go from there is down and you may end up selling for a lot less than the value of your property. According to the National Association of Realtors®, FSBO sales accounted for a mere 9% of all home sales in 2013. That’s down from an all-time peak of 14% in 2004. You might be a great

sales professional in your own right and thoroughly knowledgeable in your own area of expertise, but unless you’ve gone through the rigorous training and education of a licensed Realtor®, you don’t know what it takes to prepare, correctly price, market, and sell a home quickly and legally. Yes, there are certainly sales techniques that are transferable in any transaction, but a pharmaceutical representative wouldn’t know how to sell a house and a Realtor® would have a lot of trouble deciphering the world of pharmaceuticals. In fact, both could get into a lot of trouble if they tried andmade legal — or lethal — errors!

While you might think that “location, location, location” is all you need to sell your home, that is simply not true. Yard signs only attract 10% of all home buyers. It’s even worse for print advertising — only 1% of buyers find their homes through newspaper marketing. You have to employ a technically savvy marketing campaign to compete with all dedicated websites, blogs, and social media advertising that bombard the internet and attract buyers. If none of the above has dampened your resolve to go the FSBO route, another thing to consider are the security concerns of going it alone. Craigslist can certainly be an effective sales tool, but you have to be oh-so-careful about the scammers, criminals, and dangerous people you could be letting into your home. Realtors® have many more secure resources on which to market your property than you have access to, including highly qualified sites such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or Realtor.com. As a FSBO, you will have to work within the confines of your accessibility on unknown or unqualified sites. This can be expensive and even scary. Finally, there is the ultimate and sole responsibility of showing your home. You have to pick up your phone every time it rings and be able to drop everything in order to meet potential buyers on their schedules. This might mean canceling your plans or even leaving work for a showing. You should try to make arrangements to show as soon as humanly possible. You can’t cancel or postpone on prospective buyers and when a home shopper calls and says “jump,” you have to be ready, willing, and able to ask, “how high?” That is the nature of sales. There is an immediacy involved in meeting the needs of anxious shoppers. If you can’t show them the house when they want, they could just as easily move on to the next interesting property. A Realtor® always answers the phone and moves heaven and earth to accommodate potential buyers. That is their job, and it’s a job you are happy to let them handle. If you are acting as your own sales agent, how will you determine who is a credible buyer and who is just browsing? Shoppers who cruise the FSBO section of your local newspaper are usually the type of shoppers who are looking for a deal at rock-bottom prices. A seller’s agent has been trained to ask the right questions about

the qualification of the inquiry in order to save time showing to “looky-loos” who aren’t really serious or financially equipped to buy a house. Let’s imagine that you do find your perfect buyer on your own. Now you are in water so deep that you may be over your head. This is where you need help from an experienced professional, who will attend to every detail, mandatory disclosures, inspection reports, title searches, etc. At the very least, you have to engage a real estate attorney to satisfy all legal requirements. Realtors® take care of it all, and you can relax knowing that you are not going to face any potentially serious legal repercussions. With all of the above in mind, this book is written for the people who want to learnmore about becoming a FSBO seller.The intent is to provide the non-professional with a beginning point and a broad overview of what is needed to get organized for selling a home without the services of a licensed Realtor®. FSBO is not for the faint of heart. Many find it far more productive to partner with a real estate agent because once you start infusing money into preparing your home with the upgrades and repairs, your budget for marketing might be awfully lean. It is often to your financial advantage to hand the task over to a professional who will Nearly all prospective home buyers use the internet to narrow and target their searches. While it does occasionally happen, most people will not buy a home on the strength of an internet listing alone, no matter how attractive the content. Eventually the buyer will move from the couch to the car to look at houses. It is at this point that most buyers will turn to traditional methods of buying a home, including enlisting the services of a professional buyer’s agent. Real Estate Agents : These professional Realtors® have completed a required pre-licensing education and have passed a state real estate license examination. They are an invaluable part of the process of searching for, selling, or buying a home. They provide a number of advantages for both buyers and sellers. foot most of the bill for the marketing. LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Buyers: A local agent will be familiar with the area of interest, including pricing trends, desirability of neighborhoods, local laws (such as property tax), reputable loan officers, and a host of other things that buyers would have to spend extended amounts of time learning. Sellers: Real Estate Agents help sellers in many ways. An agent’s knowledge of the area is helpful in pricing the home appropriately by comparing it with similar homes in the area. An agent will guide the individual seller in the home preparation phase, determine areas for improvement or repair, and how to best appeal to the demographics most likely to desire your home. He or she will handle the details of listing your home online on the major listing sites in your region and focus on marketing through their social media accounts and networks. Dual Real Estate Agents: When a real estate agent represents both the buyer and seller in a real estate transaction, the agent is considered a dual agent. Since the broker is representing both sides, the broker is unable to keep up with all his duties to both parties. If your agent works as a dual agent (works as an agent for both buyer and seller), he or she can make connections with his own clients, which increases the exposure of your home to another source of qualified buyers. In conclusion, though you may be tempted to try to sell your house FSBO, unless you have a buyer in mind, or a great lead on a buyer, you may spend a lot of anxious nights waiting for the phone to ring. The purpose of hiring professionals is because they know things we don’t. Given this, if you are selling, you should be working with an agent. To not do so is to rob yourself of a knowledgeable partner in marketing your home. While only 17% of buyers make contacting an agent the first step in their search, nearly all turn to an agent at the point of decision. • • •

Part 1: Preparing Your Home for Sale

CHAPTER 1

PRE-MARKET IMPROVEMENTS THAT REAP BIG REWARDS The decision to put your house on the market requires your commitment to prepare/update the house for sale by decluttering, painting, removing dated wallpaper, improving curb appeal, and possibly even undergoing some small improvements. Once this “phase one” of the sale is complete, you must keep the house impeccably clean and “show-ready” at all times. You must be prepared to vacate the premises at a moment’s notice for showings, regardless of your plans. MAKING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SHOWINGS You can spend your time, money, and effort on attracting buyers, selling them on all of the unique features of your home, and building their confidence in you, but without properly preparing and staging the house, the buyers will be turned off and you will fail. Look at your house through the eyes of a prospective buyer. You must anticipate and eradicate anything that could give a buyer a poor first impression. Here are a few: An overgrown, messy yard will cause potential buyers to form a preconceived notion that your entire property is in poor condition, inside and out. They may even make them decide against coming inside. The inside could be immaculate, but if the outside looks like a natural habitat for snakes and massive spiders, potential buyers will most likely keep on driving. Pets in residence. No matter how well-groomed or well-behaved your pets are, not everyone is a pet lover. You have to go on the assumption that your potential buyer doesn’t view your furry child as a sweet companion, but as an animal that sheds, has accidents

in the house, and spreads germs and dirt. If you haven’t already, immediately put your pets on flea repellant. One flea bite could send a potential buyer out the door, never to return. In terms of liability, if a potential buyer trips over a pet or is bitten, not only is the sale off the table, but you might be looking at legal problems. A dirty kitchen and/or bathroom. Kitchens and bathrooms sells houses. You can’t show off your beautiful kitchen with dirty dishes piled up in the sink, and your bath looks like just another locker room with towels all over the bathroom floor, or a dirty sink with blobs of toothpaste andwhiskers clinging to the rim.Thismakes potential buyers feel uncomfortable. Best case scenario, they feel like they’ve put you out, or that they are inconveniencing you and they need to rush out in order to let you have your privacy. Worst case scenario, they might be disgusted

andwondering about the overall cleanliness and quality of the house’s upkeep under your ownership. Either scenario is bad for the sale. It bears repeating: kitchens and bathrooms sell houses.Make sure yours sparkle!

Dirty windows and sills. Dust the cobwebs out of the corners and keep the window sills neatly dusted and clean. Good quality windows are expensive to replace, so buyers want to know that they won’t have to make this kind of investment any time soon. They look closely at the windows, so clean windows are a must. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, the windows are the soul of the house! A bedroom that is…not a bedroom. A home office may be part of the American dream, but not necessarily on every potential buyer’s checklist. Turning a bedroom into a working home office is common these days with so many people working virtual jobs, but problems arise when changes are made that destroy the integrity of the room and require renovation to revert the room back into a bedroom. The same holds true for children’s bedrooms that have affixed, permanent structural changes such as a built-in bed in the shape of a pirate ship or

Cinderella’s coach. Most potential buyers don’t have any use for these customized designs, so remove them before putting the house on the market. You don’t want to give anyone a reason not to buy! RepurposedGarage. Many potential buyers want a home with a garage for a secure place to park their cars, store lawn care essentials, and tools. If they discover that behind those garage doors lies a repurposed garage that has been structurally changed, they will be disappointed and might disregard the property entirely. Of course, it’s your home, and you should use the space to suit your needs. Just be aware that if you have made permanent structural changes, you’ve changed the basic design, and you might need to return the home to its original design in order to sell it for your asking price.

Swimming Pool and/or Hot Tub. People usually love a swimming pool and hot tub, but again, visiting with someonewho has one is a different ballgame to owning one. Not all buyers are looking to invest in the maintenance and labor required in ownership. The water bill, constant maintenance and cleaning, potential safety hazards, and legal

liabilities that come with a pool/hot tub could be enough to discourage buyers. If you have an above-ground pool, it is a good idea to dismantle it and re-sod any dead grass underneath before putting the home on the market. The housing market is more competitive than ever. As the seller, it’s up to you to go the extra mile to make sure the house stands out head and shoulders from all the other comparable listings. It’s the small things that can make you thousands of dollars. • • •

CHAPTER 2

OPTIMIZING CURB APPEAL  Many buyers form an opinion of whether or not they are interested in a home before ever stepping through the front door. Your home’s curb appeal is your first, and best, chance to make a good first impression on the buyer. You may have spent a lot of time and money updating the interior, but if the exterior of your home screams “help!” you’ve already lost the sale. This may not be as exciting as getting the interior in tip-top shape, but it’s possibly even more important. Landscaping, physical exterior, and the facade of your home are all important factors that have to be considered, and are vital to selling your home for your asking price. THE EFFECT OF GREAT CURB APPEAL When it comes time to sell your home, use curb appeal to your advantage to get your asking price. By presenting a beautiful home, inside and out, you’ll close the deal in no time. It is written in Proverbs that “first impressions are themost lasting.” Apply Andrew Grant’s quote that “you never get a second chance to make a great first impression” on the presentation of your home for sale, and you have some powerful food for thought. There is only a seven-second

window tomake a brilliant impression on your potential buyers. When they pull up to the property, buyers

are busy looking down (at the grass), at eye level (at the shutters and paint), and up (at the roof) to formulate their first impression. A manicured lawn with thriving trees and bushes, plants on the porch, flowers blooming in the garden, fresh mulch,

and updated shrubs are all easy and relatively inexpensive investments that pay off big in the end. On the other hand, if a potential buyer is greeted by dying grass, wilting flowers, overgrown and out-of-control weeds everywhere, chipping paint, and a roof that looks like it’s about to collapse, they may just keep on driving. Buyers don’t want to have to come out of pocket after they make a purchase unless they’re getting a great deal. The more they estimate that they will have to put into the property after the purchase, the lower their offer will be, if at all. Attractive photos showcasing great curb appeal will generate enthusiasm to see the property and prompt potential buyers to make an appointment with you or your real estate agent to tour the home. More about photographs later. DRIVE-BY APPEAL Potential buyers will drive by your home or park out front to decide if they want to contact you for an appointment. This is where the devil is in the details. Just like you have to keep your house show-ready clean at all times, the same applies to the outside. Keep your yard cut, trees pruned, hedges trimmed, garden weeded, etc. Keep the garage door down when your house is on the market, and wash the windows and make sure that any chipping paint is repaired. CREATE A WELCOMING WALKWAY If the pathway to your front door is an ambassador to your home, the front door is your welcoming committee. Make the short walk a magical, appealing journey that promises unlimited possibilities for excited buyer-to-be. If the walkway to your home is a straight line from the sidewalk to the front yard, decorate the lane with plant groupings in vibrant colors in flower pots or beds. Add curious boulders and interesting trees to charm your guests, but be careful not to overdo it. You don’t want to create clutter.

For a more contemporary look, a wooden walkway made of cedar, redwood, cypress, or teak constructed with weather-resistant wood is a beautiful option, and is easy to stain and seal once a year. Whatever the building material, keep the pathway manicured with regular edging. Ensure no weeds or overgrowth infiltrate, especially around the concrete or wood itself. Adhere to the “less ismore” discipline. Go easy on the decorations and lawn ornaments. A tasteful welcome sign is appropriate, but forgo the gnomes and flamingos. Be careful not to overcrowd your entry. Make sure your entry is well-lit, as this will not only make a big impact on curb appeal, but also provides better security. Solar stake lights can be purchased inexpensively from home improvement stores. EXTERIOR PAINT

The exterior of your home plays a large role in the entire look of the property. Painting a house is a significant investment, but one of the most important investments you’ll make to get your asking price. Don’t skimp on this when it comes to preparing your house for the market.

The best way to chase off a buyer is to show him a house with wood rot in the windows and chipped paint. The first thing the buyer is thinking is,

“we’ll have to paint immediately, and that will cost $20,000!” It may or may not cost that much; but if you freshen up the home, replace all rotting wood, paint the trim, etc., that worry won’t be the first thing the buyer thinks about before ever touring the inside. THE FRONT DOOR As your guests’ “welcoming committee of one,” your front door has a significant impact on your home’s first impression. Make the point of entry “pop.” Painting your front door in a punch of bright, bold paint

that contrasts with the home’s siding and trim will add beauty and is another great way to add curb appeal. A seasonal wreath, a cheery welcome mat, some potted plants, or boxed planters will create a positive, free flowing atmosphere, and have buyers dreaming about the life they could have beyond that door. Pay attention to the details: make sure that the door knob is polished, and if the hardware is dated or beyond cleaning, replace it. Making your front door sparkle is important in helping buyers develop a positive first impression. If your outdoor lights are dated, consider replacing themwith updated fixtures. Also, birds like to make nests in front door lights, and spiders love to weave webs in the shade of the overhang. Make sure you clear all that nature away. Take a good look at the back door as well. If it’s a sliding screen, make sure you replace screens with holes or are coming apart at the edges. Make sure your sliding door slides smoothly and stays on its tracks upon operation. Don’t let anything fall apart in your buyer’s hands. There is absolutely nothing worse than having something malfunction during a showing. SOFT LANDSCAPING If your “soft landscaping” (lawn and garden) is withering, has bare patches, or is overgrown and riddled with weeds, buyers will be turned off. The importance of a well-manicured lawn cannot be overstated. Go for a neat and attractive look. A lawn that appears to be too high maintenance can also be a turn off. You don’t need to hire a professional to design a landscape. Just make sure the grass is cut and healthy.

Flowers make people happy. Planting a simple garden is a great way to turn a

house into a home. Plant brightly colored flowers to bring a joyous feeling to your lawn area.

To add a finished look to your yard, lay some dark colored mulch around bushes and in your garden. Mulch gives the area a clean, well- maintained look, adding to your curb appeal. As mentioned above, one or two simple garden ornaments is fine, but don’t overdo it. Avoid any thoughts of “tacky” or “clutter.” Though the buyer will understand that the lawn ornaments don’t come with the house, they could still impact that perfect first impression that you’re seeking. HARDSCAPING The term “hardscaping” refers to the driveway, rocks, sidewalks, and any paved areas around the home. Be careful not to fall behind in pool maintenance at summer’s end. A pool can be a powerful ally — or enemy — in selling a home. People either love them or hate them, but pool lovers will be turned off to see a dirty pool full of leaves, twigs, and dead bugs. Keep the chemical level balanced year-round and keep it skimmed. Your goal is for prospective buyers to envision themselves enjoying a hot summer day in the pool, not hard labor to keep it clean. In the fall, excess leaves hide walkways and sidewalks, and can be dangerous if someone slips on wet leaves. Be sure to keep leaves raked and the paths safely clear. TAKE TIME FOR THE BACKYARD By the time buyers gets to the backyard, they have formed their impression and they are moving into decision-making mode. Now is not the time to rest on your laurels. Your back yard should be just as well tended as the front yard, as it matters just as much. Many buyers consider the backyard an extension of the home. This is where children and pets will play, and adults will relax and entertain guests. Making a good impression with your backyard is incredibly important. You want your backyard appeal to give the buyer a vision of endless possibility and picturing themselves enjoying life there for years to come.

Ensure your lawn looks good for showings, that it is cut, fertilized, and watered. Pick up any pet waste. If you have a pool or a hot tub, ensure that the cover is off and that the water is sparkling clean. Again, flowers will go a long way in adding to the appeal of the area. The addition of patio furniture will make your backyard feel more welcoming, and will help the buyers envision themselves sitting outside with friends or family sharing a cold drink on a hot day and enjoying good conversation. THE ROOF The roof of a house is a big consideration in the sale of a home. Roofs are expensive to repair and replace, and buyers will have the roof inspected before making an offer. Before putting your house on the market, hire a professional to assess the condition and estimated life of the roof. Make sure that any minor repairs are completed and all shingles are in place. There may be some expense in this pre-marketing strategy, but it will be worth knowing exactly what to expect in the inspection and negotiation phase of a sale, so making all necessary repairs beforehand will ensure that the sales process will be smooth and efficient. If any problems are discovered upon inspection, you can fix them or you can subtract the cost of the repairs from the final sale price. This is generally acceptable to both buyer and seller. • • •

CHAPTER 3

HOME STAGING  According to Wikipedia, home staging, or “real estate enhancement” is the act of getting a private residence ready for sale in the real estate marketplace.The objective of staging is tomake a home captivating to the highest number of possible buyers, therefore selling the house more quickly and for more money.

There are many ways to achieve the desired outcome of a show-ready home: Do-It-Yourself (DIY), hiring a professional stager or staging company, or enlisting the services of a property stylist. The following strategies are proven methods of home improvement that will raise the price of your home because of their vital importance to drive-by, walk- through, and online house shoppers.

Whether staging the home yourself or hiring a professional home stager, the goal is to do as much as you can with what you already have. In other words, don’t run out and invest a lot of money in new furniture or spend thousands of dollars on appliances. It could be as easy as rearranging furniture and removing day-to-day living items. Or, it could involve some moderate financial investment such as painting, landscaping, and renting some furnishings to stage an empty house. Your ultimate goal is to “depersonalize” your home so that buyers can imagine themselves living in it. This is accomplished by creating or maximizing space by clearing out clutter, rearranging or discarding furniture, and giving the house a thorough spring cleaning, inside and

out. You may also want to paint some rooms a fresh, neutral coat of paint. None of the above is terribly expensive and can be accomplished easily with a little help from your friends. What could involve some financial investment is in making repairs, which, if left undone, could impact a buyer’s impression of the home. This could include replacing, or at the very least, shampooing stained carpets. If the vinyl in the bathroomor kitchen is peeling and or shredded by animal nails, spending a weekend replacing the vinyl will give you a good return on investment in terms of sale price. Once the house is clean, the next step is to assess what additional accessories and/or furniture might help accessorize your newfound space to create a welcoming environment. Done well, home staging will make prospective buyers envision themselves living in the home. That’s the end goal. There are those who discount the value of staging your home, but money spent on staging should be considered an investment or cost of doing business in boosting the home’s perceived value, and will be recovered when the property is sold. THE EFFECT OF HOME STAGING ON THE SALE According to the Real Estate Staging Association, properties that are well-staged appear more appealing to prospective buyers and spend about 75% less time on the market than houses that are not staged. The appearance of the home in “model” condition is viewed by most buyers as positive sign that the house has been well-maintained and will subsequently sell at a higher price. The majority of prospective buyers think that they can overlook empty rooms or poor décor and see the potential of a home, but they really can’t. This is the reason successful builders use model suites and model homes to sell their projects. HOW STAGING SELLS YOUR HOUSE In beginning a search for a new home, most home buyers start with a reasonable list of prospective properties and narrow the list down based

upon curb appeal, first impressions, and an emotional connection they make with a house while imagining their life there. The first 10 seconds of a showing are critical. In fact, most buyers are beginning to form an opinion as they pull into the driveway. Again, the primary goal of staging is to help the prospective buyer envision themselves living in the home. You want to create excitement, and urgency to act, because they have finally found the house of their dreams. If the potential buyer is excited by the house, they may be willing to look past some of the “must have” features on their list. That is why it is critical to pay attention to all of the minute details of home preparation. On the other hand, if you’ve left personal memorabilia on the shelves, ignored over-crowded rooms, or dripping taps, your buyer will beat a path to the door because all they will see are the problems with the home. They will “check out” mentally, dismiss your house as a realistic possibility, and shift their attention to the next appointment. However, if you can help them make an emotional connection to the house, if you can stir a feeling of urgency and keep them restless about losing it to another buyer, you’ve made your sale, and your buyer will have his dream house. • • •

CHAPTER 4

STAGING SOLUTIONS AND OPTIONS RENTING If you are still using the same furniture you bought before kids and pets, and it has seen better days, you might consider staging your home with rented furniture to make a “wow” first impression on your potential buyers. If your home is vacant, renting furniture to stage the home is not only convenient, but a smart move to get the most out of the sale.

According to Consumer Affairs Why you should stage your home if you want to sell it, July 7, 2017, you should not only clean your home from top to bottom before putting it on the market, but you should stage it with furniture and accessories that help the potential buyer see him/herself living in the home.

The article goes on to list the most important rooms that should be tastefully staged. The living room is at the top of the list, followed by the master bedroom, kitchen, and outdoor space. Interestingly, the guest bedroom ranked last in importance. Take a close look at your current furnishings. Remove worn or dingy items and then take inventory of what’s left after grandpa’s favorite recliner is safely tucked away in storage. If the home appears overly bare, determine whether or not you could use a fewmore pieces.The investment you put into renting additional pieces will pay big dividends in the end when you get your asking price for the home.

WHERE TO RENT FURNITURE Furniture rental companies. The upside to using one of these companies is that they deliver and set up the furniture. They do usually require a three-month minimum rental period. If you sell your home sooner, you don’t get a refund, but there is no penalty for returning the furniture early. Thrift shops or antique shops. It’s not a common practice for these stores to rent furniture, but it happens. If they have a piece that has been sitting for a while, offering to expose it to a whole new group of consumers with a “for sale” sign on it could be a good way to propose what could be a win-win situation. It doesn’t hurt to ask! Display Furniture. To minimize expense, it is not unheard of to use cardboard display furniture. You can easily accessorize as standard furniture. It is durable enough for sitting, but it’s not intended for strenuous use. AFFORDABLE OPTIONS When exploring staging options, it is possible to become overwhelmed by the expense of renting furniture. This is when it is important to assess and rearrange your current furnishings. This can save on expense. Here are a few tips for preparing your home for staging: Re-establish boundaries. If your living room is also the playroom, remove the toys. Don’t set yourself up for failure by giving the impression that there isn’t enough room in the home for the kids without spilling into adult areas. Home cleaning. Do a deep and thorough cleaning of every single room, and pay attention to the details. When was the last time that you polished the wood or washed the windows? Don’t forget the ceiling fan blades. Depersonalize. This might appear unnecessary on the surface, after all, the potential buyers knows the home is inhabited. But you have to help the buyers visualize themselves in the home. You don’t want

them subconsciously thinking about how they will have to clear the house of all your belongings. That said, you don’t want the home to seem sterile. Put out a vase of fresh flowers, a bowl of lemons, or a basket of produce on the counter. Fresh air. Make sure your home smells good. Chase away stale odors, and ban smoking from the premises! Light a citrus candle, bake some cookies or bread. Don’t let lingering odors from litter boxes, garbage cans, or moldy laundry run off your buyers! This will take some effort. But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained! DIY HOME STAGING Pinterest has become a great online resource for learning how to improve your living space through creative projects. If your furniture is in good shape, but you need to beautify and embellish your home a bit, here are some ideas: Brighten it up. If your paint job is dull, dark, or depressing, consider choosing some sophisticated neutral paint to create a sophisticated backdrop and pull it all together. Paint rooms according to their purpose, such as soft neutrals such as mild yellows or creams that set off a glow when the sun shines in. Add an accent wall in the living room by choosing a complementary color, such as a calming sage green or a deep red against taupe walls. Whatever you do, make the home welcoming. Remove dated wallpaper. No one wants to be weighed down with the thought that they’re going to have to spend time and money on removing wallpaper from 1988. If that’s the case, they will definitely lowball the offer. Drapes and Curtains. We often don’t pay a lot of attention to our window coverings. Not only do they become dated, they also collect dust and dirt. At the very least, have them professionally cleaned.

Better yet, update the window coverings to complement the paint colors or purchase new accent sofa pillows to provide an easy and quick upgrade to your home. Don’t forget the bathroom! Buy some new towels and mats to bring out for showings. Add some life. Strategically place a fresh plant or vase of flowers in different rooms throughout the home. The keyword here is strategic . Don’t overdo. Don’t put a huge floor plant in every corner or cover all the surfaces with flowers. Avoid flowers containing heavy pollen to keep your potential buyers from allergic reactions. Slow things down. Light lightly-scented candles to create a calm and warm atmosphere. Cinnamon, vanilla, pine, and citrus are all nice choices. Play music. Low background of classical music will add a level of sophistication to your home, releasing your potential buyers’ endorphins, and instilling a sense of wealth as they stroll through your beautifully-arranged home. HIRING A PRO VS. DOING IT YOURSELF Lack of time is a common denominator among homeowners throughout the home-selling process. To conserve time, you will need to delegate as many tasks as possible to free you to focus on other important aspects of your move. Hiring a professional home stager is a real time-saver. Staging experts apply valuable experience that increase your home’s salability. The staging professional or firm creates themes for each room that complement the home’s layout and supply the furniture and home décor needed to complete the themes. They provide you with tips for showing the house in its best light.

In addition to supplying the furnishings, they do the heavy lifting and move furniture throughout the house to achieve the desired effect. They cover the cost of any damage that may happen in the process. That said, staging the home yourself not only saves you money, but also allows you to infuse your own personality into the theme. No one knows your home better than you do. You know its pros and cons and how to manage both in order to show the home in its best condition. You know how to light all the rooms and when to treat the lawn for weeds to prevent them from sprouting overnight.

STAGING INTERVIEW

✓What is your formal training? ✓Are you Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) Certified? ✓How long have you been a professional stager? ✓May I see your portfolio? ✓Do you select all furnishing, accessories, and paint?

✓What style do you recommend for my home? ✓Do you know the real estatemarket of my area? ✓May I call your references? ✓Are you insured? ✓What are your rates? Do you have a contract?

✓Beprepared to followtheir instructions.The stagerwill instruct you on how to live in a staged home to keep the rooms in order and ready for viewing. ✓ If you aren’t living in the home while it’s on themarket, be sure to dust regularly.

If you believe you can highlight the home’s best assets without the help of a professional, you should take on the project yourself. If you doubt yourself at all, spend the extra on a professional and you will reap the benefits at the sale. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A PROFESSIONAL HOME STAGER True staging pros run a smooth operation. Here are a few things to keep in mind when interviewing companies: Ask for referrals. Don’t hire a stager without doing your homework. Ask friends and acquaintances about their experiences and for a referral. Interview several companies and select the one who will provide you the best value. That doesn’t mean hire the “cheapest.” You get what you pay for. If the price tag is low, it’s likely the quality of service will match that price. Ask for the stager’s references and portfolio. It is fine to start with referrals you solicited from friends, but you want to talk to the stager’s own clients and see pictures of successful projects. Ask questions. Don’t be shy. Do some research and come up with a list of questions for the initial consultation to interview the stager. • • •

Part 2: Marketing Your Home

CHAPTER 5

THE 80/20 RULE Imagine a buyer is in the market for a 3-bedroom home and his agent found him five houses to preview. Each meets his

general criteria, with similar features, are comparable in price, and are located in

his desired area. One would assume the buyer would have a difficult time deciding between the houses. No matter how similar they may seem, no two houses are exactly alike.

This is where the 80/20 Rule comes into play. Let’s say that one out of the five houses has a pool. The buyer is unaware of

this feature, however, because the agent didn’t mention it. The buyer tours the four houses without a pool and isn’t particularly interested in any of them. Then he sees the fifth house with the pool. Suddenly, he is ready to make an offer. He may even pay full asking price, even though this house is more expensive than the others. THE 80/20 RULE IN ACTION: BUYERS FOCUS ON UNIQUE FEATURES. This buyer’s offer isn’t based on the 80% of features this house shared with the rest. Instead, his bid is based on one unique attribute: the pool. The 80/20 Rule predicted the sale of this house. Unfortunately, a lot of time was wasted in finding the perfect house. Had the agent known to look for the 20%difference, this may have been their first stop. As a seller, you can leverage the rule to work in your favor. Draw attention to defining characteristics in your home.

In one actual example, a real estate agent was contacted by an out-of- town client. He didn’t present a list of criterion for his house hunt. All he mentioned was that he liked the area. The agent drove him from house to house. In each case, the buyer suggested offers that were 10-20% below the asking prices. He would not budge. She began to think that the whole day was turning into a big waste of time. The last house of the day didn’t have a lot of curb appeal. It was not a great looking home, but the agent was out of options. Nevertheless, this house broke the tough negotiator down. He was suddenly willing to offer the full asking price!What set this house apart from the others? It was not because he had a thing for ugly houses. This agent and her client had spent the entire day looking at houses that shared 80% of the same features. The buyer didn’t care about any of those details. A bedroomwas a bedroom as far as he was concerned. He fell in love with the one remarkable feature of this “ugly” house: a large window with a gorgeous view. Since the showing was the last of the day, and the sun was setting below the distant tree line, the view sold the buyer. As far as he was concerned, the other 80% could be addressed. He did not buy the house because he liked the floor plan or the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. His decision was based completely on the hill and view. That view ignited an excitement in him and he offer the full asking price on the spot, without further negotiation. Such is the power of the 80/20 Rule. Learn to leverage this rule, and you will not have to settle for less than your asking price. Leverage a unique selling point. Buyers who fall in love do not haggle over pricing; they make good offers. In some cases, the 80/20 Rule can helpmake a sale without even a showing. This is a huge time-saver. The 80/20 Rule kicked in again: THE 80/20 RULE IN ACTION: BUYERS PAY MORE FOR UNIQUE FEATURES.

The house in the following example had languished on the market for months: Unlike in the previous anecdote, this house was not ugly. On the contrary, it was a brand new custombuilt home. But nobody seemed to care. It sat on the market over seven months without a single offer. The builder was baffled that his fancy new house would not sell. He ended up firing his agent and hiring a new one. Fortunately, the new agent knew the importance of finding that special feature. He toured the house to investigate further. What he found changed everything. The house had a gorgeous 5-acre yard. Other houses for sale in the area were all on 1-2 acre lots. Not only was the yard bigger, it offeredmore privacy than the other available lots. The new real estate agent marketed the 5 acres. He described the home’s details, but focused a lot of attention on the lot. The house was not the main selling point, so he shifted the attention to the 5-acre lot. In no time, his phone rang! A buyer was relocating. He had noticed the house was for sale, but it hadn’t caught his eye with the previous description. THE 80/20 RULE IN ACTION: BUYERS ARE SEARCHING FOR UNIQUE FEATURES. With the added detail that the house was built on a 5-acre lot, all of a sudden, this buyer was very interested. So interested, in fact, he submitted an offer from 1,000 miles away. He had never even seen it in person. He feared someone else would buy it before he could, and he would lose out on the perfect house. That sale happened in 45 days. The builder was amazed! His house had been on themarket close to eight months without so much as a nibble. Suddenly it was sold. Purchased sight unseen, all because of the 80/20 Rule. By shifting the focus to the 5 acres, the real estate agent captured the interest of buyers immediately. The house was no longer unsellable. On the contrary, for a short time, it became the hottest house on the market.

SELLING TO INTERESTED BUYERS Themoral of this story is to stop (or don’t ever start) wasting time showing your home to uninterested people. Compare your home’s features with other houses in the neighborhood to see what makes yours stand out. Think about what you love about your home. What makes you happy or brings you comfort as you walk through the door at the end of a long, hard day? By shining a bright spotlight in your ad copy on what makes your home unique, you will attract interested buyers who are willing to pay full price and won’t waste your time with lowball offers. POTENTIAL UNIQUE FEATURES Look for the 20% difference and find a way to market it for the best results. Here are some ideas to get you started: Hilltop views. A high vantage point that comes with a spectacular view of the surrounding area. Wildlife. Many people enjoy the beauty of being one with nature by watching birds, deer, and butterflies from their back porch. Majestic views of sunrise/sunset. There is nothingmore awe-inspiring than bearing witness to the beauty and stillness of the colors of twilight and sunset from your own back yard. A beautiful patio. Outdoor living is important to most buyers. A good sized patio big enough to host a summer party might be just what your buyer is seeking. Location, location, location. Emphasize the safety, convenience, and future of your home’s location. Today’s buyers want great schools, easy commutes, and local amenities. Some will pay extra for a home based upon its location in the complex, especially if it has a yard area. One owner, whose townhome backed up to a yard area, was able to sell his townhouse for a higher price than comparable listings because his was the only available listing offering a yard area.

Another townhome seller in the same complex capitalized on a different unique feature. He did not have a yard, but his property backed up to a lake and fountain, so he used that feature to his advantage and he sold his townhouse quickly and for a great price. Aprivate location. Homes that sit far back on the lot, next to an empty lot, or are partially concealed by trees appeal to buyers who want to unwind out of the sight and sound of neighbors and street noise. A big, shady backyard. If you have a larger backyard than your neighbors do, use that to your advantage. People like to have extra room for kids, pets, and entertaining with lots of trees for shade. A fenced in backyard. People with kids and pets flock to homes with fenced in backyards. You can alsomarket a finished basement, large attic, an extra-large garage, swimming pool, hot tub, or anything else that makes your home stand out. • • •

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