1. Check your online marketing agency. Ninety-two percent of homebuyers start searching online, so they will never even get in the car to come and see your home unless the online listings are convincing. In real estate and on websites like for sale or rent by owner, pictures mean convincing! A research conducted by Trulia.com reveals that listings with more than 6 images are twice as likely to be viewed by buyers as listings with less than 6 images.
2. Post a Your home video love letter on YouTube. Get a $125 FlipCam and stroll around your home AND your neighborhood, telling prospective buyers about the best bits – what your family enjoyed about the property, your favorite bakery, or coffee shop you frequented on Saturday mornings, etc. Buyers want to think that they enjoyed home and it also lets them imagine living a better life there.
3. Let your neighbours choose your neighbours. If you belong to online message boards or email lists in your neighborhood, please send a connexion to your neighbors' online listing of your house. Invite your neighbours to your open house too – turn it into a party in the street. That creates incentives for your neighbours to market the neighbourhood to prospective buyers and to invite house hunters they know who have always wanted to live in the city.
4. Listing your house on Twitter. These days, Facebook is the big people link. When you have 200 friends, and they have 200 friends each, imagine the network's strength in getting the word out about your home!
5. Leave behind some pretty nice material. We've all heard of closing cost discounts, but those are almost so popular now that buyers are expecting them – they're no longer really separating your home from any of the other houses on the market. What will differentiate your home is that it leaves some of your personal properties behind, preferably items that are above and above what the average home buyer might afford in the price range of your house. That could be stainless steel kitchen appliances or a flat-screen TV, or if your home is on a golf course, it may be a golf cart.
6. Beat condition to the limit. Most of the rivalry in many markets is low-priced foreclosures and short-sales. The way you will compete is on the condition, as an individual homeowner. Consider doing a pre-listing termite inspection and getting as many fixes made as you can – it's a big selling point to be able to advertise a very small or non-existent bill for repairing plagues. Always, make sure the tiny bruises and nicks, doorknobs that don't fit, and wonky handles are all patched before you start showing your house.
7. Stage your home outdoors too. Stage the exterior onto the deck vignette with fresh paint, immaculate landscaping, and even outdoor furniture to set up a Sunday brunch. Buyers also fantasize about enjoying their backyards by spending time outdoors and entertaining.
8. Control is a must. Homes which are not seen are not being rented. And many foreclosures and listings for short sales are vacant, so they can be shown at any time. Don't make it impossible for agents to bring their customers to your home – if they have to arrange appointments ahead of time or can only show them in a very tight time frame, they'll probably just cross your place off the list and go showing places that are easy to get in.
9. Get true on pricing. Today's consumers are highly informed about the area's comparative prices and do read for sale or rent by owner reviews, which significantly affect your home's fair market value. And they know they are in the driver's seat too. To order to keep your home affordable, let your broker or agent get you the selling prices of the three most comparable homes sold in your region in the last month or so, then seek to go 10-15 percent below that when you set the list price of your house. Homes that look like a lot are the ones that receive the most visits from customers and even get several offers on occasion. (There are still wars to bid!)
10. Get clued into the contest. Work with your broker or agent to learn about the price, form of sale and condition of your home's other homes. Watch out for any open houses in your area and do a real estate reality check: remember that customers seeing your home will also see other homes – make sure that the real-time comparison works out in the favour of your home by ensuring that your home's condition is up to standards.
11. De-personalising. Do this-plan to step out. Take all the items that make your home "your" personal sanctuary (i.e., family photos, religious decoration, and kitschy memorabilia), pack them up and store them. Buyers want to see your house as their home – and it's hard for them to do so with all of your personal things marking your property as theirs.
12. Declutter. Hold in motion the false-move. Pack up all your things something on a countertop, table, or other flat surfaces. Anything you haven't seen in a year or so? That also holds true. Give away what you can, throw away what remains as much as possible, and then prepare the rest to get them ready to go.
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