How to Increase the Appeal of Your Home to Attract Buyers
Are you interested in selling your home? Whether you list your house as for sale by owner (FSBO) or hire a real estate agent to list it for you, there are a few essential steps you must take to ensure that your house stands out amongst the houses for sale Big Island Hawaii has to offer.
Below we have provided a few tips and tricks for amplifying the marketability of your house. You may be surprised at how a few small additions and adjustments can make or break whether your house stands our among the houses for sale Big Island Hawaii has to offer. Sellers, read on!
Get in the Shoes of Your Buyer
Imagine you are marketing your home to a small family. Sure, a family will be most concerned with the practical and functional elements of the home. Does it have enough bedrooms and bathrooms? Does it have ample living space for family activities and holiday celebrations? Is it located in close proximity to grocery stores and good public schools? These are the types of questions a small family will be most concerned with, and the factors that will help your house stand out among the listings of houses for sale Big Island Hawaii is home to.
Subliminally, though, families are seeking a whole lot more than just practicality. When a family views a home, its members are imagining a life; they are imagining how their furniture might look in the space, how they would decorate it, how they might adorn the space with their own aesthetics and treasured belongings, how the home will feel to return to after a long day at work or a trip away…in short, they are imagining how day-to-day life in your home will feel. Though subconscious and far more visceral than logical, the emotional impression or “vibe” that your home generates will powerfully impact your home’s appeal to a family. The following tips will allow you to refine that “vibe” and create a lasting impression to attract buyers.
Help Buyers Envision Themselves in Your Home
There are a few things you can do to help a family imagine living comfortably in your home. First, try to remove personal belongings from plain sight. Clearing your home of your own unique personal touches allows the family to imagine what the space would look like with their own. These types of touches might include artwork, fancy furnishings, and personal belongings. Try to make the space look like a blank slate without completely stripping the space of aesthetic appeal and personality.
It is also important to remove more permanent and dramatic touches. A neon red kitchen or sponge painted bathroom might appeal to an artsy buyer. But, in all likelihood, these personal preferences will make it hard for others to imagine themselves living in your home. Further, if they don’t like the paint colors, a tacky home means more work for a buyer—a big deterrent for busy families. Select tasteful subtlety in paint colors and furnishings for showing and selling your home.
General aesthetics, too, are incredibly important. Dirty old rugs, eccentric wallpapers, and damages to walls or floors will stand out like a sore thumb to a fresh eye. Do the extra work of completing not just functional repairs, but also aesthetic ones. Do a deep clean before prospective buyers arrive. Adorn the space with simple flowers, clean sheets, and tidy furniture arrangements. It might cost you more time and more money, but it will also help you find a buyer much more quickly. Who knows? It might even result in a higher offer!
Create an Illusion of More Space
Space might not be the determining factor for every family that views your home. But it will certainly make your home stand out among the other houses for sale Big Island Hawaii has to offer.
There are a few small adjustments you can make that will go a long way in crafting an illusion of space. Sheer curtains and natural light make a space feel larger, as does placing furniture around the parameters of a room instead of in the center. Try to clear rooms of unnecessary furniture and decorations. If you can, cover loud wallpaper or dark paint with a bright but neutral color, like opal or off-white.
Hire a Real Estate Agent
In last week’s post, we explored the common attributes of good real estate agents. As an investor, hiring a real estate agent can be incredibly beneficial. Of course, your typical agent’s bread-and-butter is helping a seller market his or her home in an effective and efficient fashion. Thus, it’s a good idea to consider hiring a real estate agent to help you market your home.
A good agent will have an eye for what makes for the best houses for sale Big Island Hawaii can offer. He or she will take care to highlight these features to prospective buyers. Further, most buyers are more likely to ask tough questions and issue critical feedback in the presence of an agent than they are to the owner of a home. Prospective buyers don’t want to insult the personal home of a seller. Agents create an excellent buffer that, ironically, opens more direct channels of communication—making for a faster sale.