Do you want to upgrade an area of your house but are not sure which area to choose? Want to know what potential buyers are most looking for in a new house? According to this Buy Owner Blog post, the Lansing State Journal stated that home buyers find improvements in the kitchen and bathroom to be most important.
With this information, you can upgrade areas of your house that you know most home buyers are looking for! The blog throws out some ideas of aspects to improve, such as upgrading appliances, adding a kitchenette, upgrading a bathroom with a double, his/her vanity and separating the toilet from the rest of the bathroom. The blog even links to past articles that offer advice on upgrading cabinets, countertops, sinks, lighting and décor in these rooms. It’s basically a how-to article for every aspect of your bathroom and kitchen!
Once you make these upgrades, if you’re advertising with Buy Owner, you can upgrade your ad to include these new aspects of your home. Home buyers will see that your home was recently remodeled or upgraded in the rooms that matter most to them, they’ll check it out and the rest is history. Blogs that supply all necessary information are the most helpful tools in the world, at least from a fellow blogger’s perspective!
Caught this recent article in The Globe & Mail, which brings out four key reasons for selling a home for sale by owner (fsbo).
Essentially, this piece shows that if you’re willing to invest in your own home sale—with your time, knowledge, availability for showings and creativity in marketing efforts—there’s no reason you can’t sell it for yourself.
I’d add that when you use a fsbo marketing company (such as BuyOwner.com), you arm yourself with even more resources and tools to sell without an agent.
Check out the complete article here!
Beyond its kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, living area, dining area and laundry, what specific spaces does your home feature?
- Maybe it has a lower level space that you call a multipurpose room, ideal for a rec room or a family room media room or for accommodating an office nook or workout area.
- Maybe it has an office/den off the foyer, where you’ve been keeping all your boxes while you prepare to move.
- Maybe it has a bonus guest room that you tell buyers could be used as a craft nook or a sitting area.
Here is what you need to do: SHOW IT TO SELL IT.
What do I mean by this? Simply put, you want to set up the spaces in your home to feature their potential. If a room could make a sitting room, set it up as one. If there’s a great nook for a computer area, use it as such.
Here’s a great example: Over at HGTV, you’ll see this bonus room has been turned into a showcase-worthy arts-and-crafts room, as lovely as one you’d see in a magazine.
Think a buyer will notice? You betcha.
So what rooms in your house can you show to sell?
Maybe
I found this article from the Chicago Tribune to be interesting, but from a different perspective than it meant to portray. According to the article, one-fourth of all people with mortgages find themselves to be underwater, or in other words, paying mortgages higher than what their houses are worth. That’s approximately 27 million people. Because of this, online sites are starting to accommodate for buyers and renters. Apartments.com, a rental site, said they have seen a significant increase of traffic to their sites and follow-through calls to landlords. With so many people “underwater,” why wouldn’t more people opt to rent rather than own right now?
I found this to be interesting from the landlord point of view. If so many people are underwater, out of work, struggling financially, etc., why not take advantage of this surge in rental interest? Why not fill this up-and-coming market? I say go purchase a home at an exceptionally low price and then rent it out to tenants! It’s the perfect time for that, and your opportunities are seemingly endless.
Buy Owner is a good place to start searching for affordable property that you could purchase and then rent. Not only can you search for cheap houses, but you can also search for apartment buildings and multi-units for sale, vacant land, manufactured homes and more. You can choose your budget and stick to it. You can choose a location that is surging in rental interest and search only in that location. It’s never been so easy to purchase a cheap home, and then decide to rent it out.
I found this article to contain valuable insight on where real estate is heading in the future. My job is complete in sharing this insight with you. It’s up to you now to decide your next move!
There’s nothing especially impressive about this quick tip, but it works. In terms of decluttering, remember this: Trash.
- Simply put, if you don’t use an item, trash it.
- If you don’t need an item, give it away.
- If there is no place for an item, find one or get rid of it.
Decluttering can seem overwhelming when you’re looking at a room filled with knick-knacks, so pick a place to start, and take it one item and a time.
As a female interested in real estate, I found this recent Wall Street Journal article, “The Ladies’ Turn,” to be very interesting. Essentially, it points out a growing demographic of home buyers: single women.
The article states, “..[S]ingle women have become an especially important force to be reckoned with in real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, they now sign on the dotted line in nearly a quarter of all U.S. home deals—up from 14% in 1995.”
A quarter of all U.S. home deals? That’s incredible. So one out of four home sales are being made to a single woman.
If you’re thinking this means sellers should strategize different in ways to sell to this particular buying demographic, you’re not alone:
“To tap into this formidable market, more industry pros are touting themselves as ‘certified’ in women’s housing needs.”
To read the rest of this interesting article, including about more specific companies and tactics now being put into play, check out the full piece here.
Staging is not a new topic around here. I’ve written about the basics of how to stage your home, staging large homes, whether or not to use a professional stager, resources for redecorating ideas and how to set the stage for the buyer.
But if you’re like me, sometimes it helps to have a picture—or lots of pictures!—to get the point across. That’s where a recent HGTV article comes into play.
Featuring a slideshow of images detailing tips for staging your home, “Top 10 Staging Transformations” provides plenty of full-color images that showcase staging ideas.
Go check it out here!
Are you looking for ways to boost buyer interest right now? Seasonal changes allow you to revive your home selling techniques with fresh approaches.
Now that we’re right in the heart of spring, use seasonal perks to your advantage!
For example, create a garden by digging up a square of grass and planting seeds from local farmers or florists. That way, a new buyer can move in, water the garden and enjoy watching it grow as they start a new life in a new home!
Too much? If you’re not into digging up your immaculate lawn, that’s okay. You could also just buy potted annual flowers from a local florist to display on your front porch or back patio. Flowers attract attention, and you want to attract potential buyers! What could attract buyers more on a dreary, rainy April afternoon than pots of bright yellow flowers?
Those are my ideas. Luckily, there are far more ideas out there than mine alone: This article from the Buy Owner Blog offers more tips on how to boost buyer interest in spring, this one offers tips on how to prepare your yard for spring and this one offers tips on how to spring clean your way to a sale. Once you finish reading these refreshing home selling tips, get out there and revive your selling strategies this spring!
GET PAPERWORK IN ORDER
Ask ahead of time what documents, if any, the appraiser will want to see. Some that may be included are the survey, certificates of occupancy, applicable permits, recent tax bills, list of appliances and copies of recent inspections.
GET THE HOUSE READY
- Declutter: It’s important to make sure all rooms and areas of your home are easily accessible, including storage spaces and closets.
- Clean: True, the appraiser isn’t coming to inspect your home’s cleanliness; but on the other hand, getting your home into its best appearance can’t hurt anything! Make it easy for the appraiser to see your home’s features!
- Repair: If you’ve been putting off a repair, now’s the time to do something about it. Fix broken locks, leaky faucets, etc.!
WHAT TO EXPECT
After you’ve gotten paperwork in order and prepared your home for its appraisal, all that’s left for you to do is be available on the scheduled day. Give the appraiser space to look around, but be available to answer questions.
It’s no secret that today’s economy has made selling difficult. Last month, an article in the Las Cruces Sun-News explored exactly what that means.
In part, the article points out, this economy demands more of sellers, from updating and decluttering to flexibility and savvy pricing.
“Howard Dukes, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Las Cruces, said that potential buyers need to walk through the door and feel a connection to the home.
‘Create a wow factor so that when somebody comes in they say, ‘I can see myself living here,’ Dukes said.”
The article goes on to list five specific ways to improve a home’s appeal, borrowed from about.com. To read the full article, click here.
