The Science Of Selling Your Home

The process of selling one’s home involves more than just pricing it and advertising it on a few internet website and hope the buyers will come. Many additional factors also play into how quickly and for what price a home will sell for. The goal for selling your home is to bring in that buyer who likes what they see enough to make an offer on your home. Depending on how your local real estate market is or the condition of your home the process of getting a buyer in and getting them to make an offer can vary. The below factors represent the key factors behind selling your home that can make or break your home sale from the get go.

Drawing In Buyers

Pricing

Pricing is always a factor in the selling of a home. Price a great home at a dollar and it will sell very quickly after you put it up for sale. On the opposite end price a $250,000.00 home for one million dollars and you will likely get no buyers or the only buyers who do come are those curious enough to see what about a $250,000.00 home makes it worth one million dollars to the seller. Pricing a home correctly is part science since it involves looking at similar home sales from recent past sales to help set a price. Just as if you price a $250,000 home for one million dollars you will not get any serious buyers nor will you get any offers, the challenge then is to properly price your home so you can attract the right kind of buyers who are ready to make an offer. Proper pricing is best done by hiring a local expert Realtor to help you out in the selling of your home.

Condition

The condition of your home is a key factor in the type of buyers it will attract. If your home is not properly prepared for sale then it will primarily attract value oriented buyers or investors who are looking for a good deal in a home they can fix while living in or to fix and flip for a quick profit as an investment. In terms of the condition most buyers are looking for a home that is ready to move in with little work to do other than move in and add some easy to do basic personalization based on their own preferences. If

your home is ready to move into with minimal buyer effort look for your home to bring in plenty of buyer traffic and sell quickly when priced properly.

When the home is ready to sell with little effort needed from buyers then you open up your home to a larger potential pool of buyers. On the other hand a home that may need a new deck, new carpeting and other updates excludes those buyers who want something that is more or less ready to go. The smaller pool of buyers looking for a good deal who are willing to put in their own effort or money definitely want a good deal and will be expecting your home to be priced accordingly prior to their making an offer. You may get what you think is a lowball offer, but you need to consider the offer carefully as if the price offered is more accurate based the current condition of the home that may be your one and only chance of getting your home sold. Buyers don’t wait around forever to have their offer accepted.

The condition of your landscaping is also key to drawing buyers in. A common term used is curb appeal when referring to homes and how buyers perceive the outside. If your home has colorful flowers, lush healthy greenery it is more appealing to buyers and they are more likely to want to see the rest of the home as well. On the other hand a dead or poorly done landscaping implies the homeowner does not care and may also not care about the condition inside the home as well. Which means less buyers visiting your home thus reducing the chance of getting the right offer.

Location

The location of your home does have an effect on pricing and desirability by buyers. A home located next to an industrial area, a dump or a railroad track will turn off certain buyers who want a more quiet area with less noise and other pollution. Whereas if your home is situated by a lake or riverfront, has a great view of the downtown city from afar, or is in a neighborhood surrounded by similar high priced homes buyers will appreciate those features and your ability to sell your home will be easier.

The location of your home and land on which it is situated cannot be changed, therefore in order to sell your home in a timely fashion it must be priced according to the immediate location it is in. As mentioned earlier the goal when marketing your home is to attract as many buyers as possible so that one of them makes an offer. There is a buyer for every home regardless of location as long as you are working on things you can influence like pricing, staging, condition and more.

The Home’s Look

The home’s look considers updates to the home, age of appliances and other mechanical systems, as well as the floorplan. Based on when your home was built the trend may have been more enclosed rooms with little openness in the flow of the home. Current home building trends are more towards open floor plans with plenty of windows to allow in light and fresh air.

If you are planning on selling your home sometime in the future then some floor plan remodels where walls are removed in order to make the home feel more open can help when it does come time to sell. You will have to evaluate the cost of the remodel versus your expected increase in value when you sell your home. If your neighborhood in general won’t support the price increase then it may not make financial sense to remodel unless you plan on living there for a while and will enjoy the upgrade during your time there. Consulting with a home appraiser while considering remodeling plans can give you a better idea if you will get a return on investment on any remodel.

While your appliances may be in great condition, if they are 10 or more years old their efficiency is lower compared to newer models which means increased energy costs for buyers. New appliances help give your home a modern look and the buyers will be more appreciative of something newer than the 10 year old appliances that could give out and need replacement when they move in. Especially when you are remodeling your kitchen you should factor in the cost of new appliances as well, you don’t want a remodeled kitchen with outdated appliances to make buyers question why new appliances were not put in as well.

Staging

Home staging has been show to help homes sell quicker and sell for more than they would without staging. You can apply some common staging tips like decluttering, depersonalizing and using neutral décor to help position your home better than other non-staged homes on the market. The best way to take advantage of home staging though is to hire a professional home stager to come out, look at your home, and give you an opinion on what best you can do to stage your home. Many home stagers are

also able to rent you furniture and décor that can help brighten up and give the appearance of opening up rooms that could use the extra boost to help show better.

Your home usually only has one chance to make a good first impression on buyers when they first view your home. If your home looks dark, dingy and is painted with off-putting colors the chance that buyers will want to come back again let alone make an offer will be slim. Home staging is an advantage you can use to help sell your home so that buyers can appreciate its full potential for their use.

Bottom Line

Each of the subjects talked about above interact directly with each other and have an impact on the science of selling your home. Just as with some science experiments it is a combination of the right chemistry or elements in order to get something new. Mix it wrong and you get a bad reaction, mix it right and you get the perfect synergy for success. Where any of the subjects talked about above is lacking then your ability to attract as many buyers as possible begins to lessen. By getting as many buyers into your home as possible the chances of getting an offer will increase leading to a greater likelihood of you selling your home.

Additional Resources

12 Items You Should Get Rid Of Right Now by Red Barrinuevo
How Does a Home Buyer’s Narrative Affect the Home you’re Selling? by Lynn Pineda
Consequences of Pricing Your Home Too High by Teresa Cowart

About the author: The above article “The Science Of Selling Your Home” was provided by Paul Sian. Paul can be reached at paul@CinciNKYRealEstate.com or by phone at 513-560-8002. With over 10+ years experience, if you’re thinking of selling or buying, I would love to share my marketing knowledge and expertise.

I service the following Greater Cincinnati, OH and Northern KY areas: Alexandria, Amberly, Amelia, Anderson Township, Cincinnati, Batavia, Blue Ash, Covington, Edgewood, Florence, Fort Mitchell, Fort Thomas, Hebron, Hyde Park, Indian Hill, Kenwood, Madeira, Mariemont, Milford, Montgomery, Mt. Washington, Newport, Newtown, Norwood, Taylor Mill, Terrace Park, Union Township, and Villa Hills.