Tips on Selling Your Home During a Down Economy

In this economy it can be tough to sell your home. It's no secret that it is currently a buyer's market. So what can you do to improve your chances of selling your home?

In this market, it really is both a price war and a beauty contest isn't it?

Yes, it really is about both price and appearance. The reasoning behind it is that consumers have more to pick from so they have become finicky; they've become very choosy and very selective because we are competing with banks. Prices are dropping dramatically and we are dealing with more volume on the market than ever before. As a result, buyers have become very, very fussy. So it's absolutely crucial that you show your home in the best possible condition that you can. And price your home absolutely perfectly; no longer does the time exist where you can ask a price from which you can negotiate. You have to price it where it will sell.

First impressions are extremely important aren't they?

Yes, you have one opportunity to make that first impression and when people pull up to that house, they start making a judgment immediately. I've had the pleasure of being in this business for over 20 years and during that time I've encountered many situations where first impressions mattered. For example, when pulling up to a home with trash cans, a trailer hitch, and lots of other debris outside, people will start forming an opinion immediately that this is not a home that they want to go into.

People make an opinion immediately, as soon as they pull up to the home, whether they can see themselves living there or not. Even when they are standing on the front porch waiting for the realtor to open the lock box to get into the house, they're looking around the porch area and they're making a judgment as to the condition of the entire home based on the condition of the entrance. So if the door needs to be painted, be sure and paint it and if the steps need to be pressure washed, be sure and pressure wash them. Put some flowers outside. All of those details are really important.

There are some really simple and inexpensive things that you can do to help; something as simple as sweeping the porch, right? And what about when they walk into the home?

Walking into the home is very crucial; there needs to be a "wow" factor. When people walk into your house, you want them imagining living in the property themselves. I've learned over the years that 80% of the time, it is the woman picking out the house. It is so crucial to make a good impression. So if you have a cluttered kitchen for instance, it doesn't seem as inviting, whereas a light and bright kitchen that has no clutter is very inviting.

You need to get rid of the clutter. So many times when people are selling a home it's because they've outgrown the property. However we DON'T want the consumer to feel like they've outgrown this house before they've ever walked through it, or as soon as they walked into it.

Besides de-cluttering, our other senses are a factor as well, right?

Yes, it is true that our senses are important as well. We get used to our own smells. If there's a dog in the house or somebody is smoking, we don't notice it because we live in the house. It's very important that your realtor gives some honest feedback about the condition of your house including how it smells and how it looks.

It's really important when someone walks into a house, that all their senses are working positively. You want it to be light and bright. You want it to be smelling good and it's a good idea to have some soft music playing in the background too. If you have ever been in a model home, the reason it looks like it does is because it conveys a message when people walk into the house. The message it conveys is, "If I buy this home, I will live like that." We might be the biggest slobs in the world, but when we walk into this perfectly staged home, it sends a message of peace, organization, and comfort that makes us want to buy the home.

So the bottom line is that because it's both a price war and a beauty contest we have to consider all of that?

Yes, it truly is about price and appearance. We live in the most competitive market that we've ever seen before so if you don't really want to sell your home, or if you don't really need to sell your home, then do not put your home on the market because you will be competing with people and banks that absolutely have to sell their homes.