When real estate sales are slow, people start talking about buyer incentives – a little something extra to get people to buy your house. In the current market, with prices flat and sales slow, buyer incentives are getting a lot of play in the local real estate news. We’ve seen stories about sellers who are willing to throw in a big screen television, luxury cruises – even a brand new car. Before you rush out and buy a boat to sweeten the deal on the home you’re trying to sell, check with your realtor. Chances are that he’ll tell you what real estate professionals all over the country already know – the best incentive to buy is a beautiful home.
If your home has been on the market for a few weeks without attracting interest or offers, there could be any number of reasons. One of the most common is that the house just lacks sparkle – that special something that captures buyers at first glance. Adding that sparkle is neither as hard nor as expensive as you might suppose. Before you consider incentives that might attract buyers, take a hard look at your house. Here’s a five step plan for making your home its own buyer’s incentive.
#No one has a better grasp of what is keeping your home from selling than the professional whose job it is to sell it. Your realtor has been walking people through your house and is in the best position to hear their comments about it. Ask! Remember, your realtor’s living depends on getting the best price possible for your home. You can expect an honest appraisal of what steps you can take to increase the appeal of your home and get it on the fast track to sell. There are some questions that you can ask to your realtor:
1. What do people like least about our house?
2. What improvements can I make in the name your price range that will increase its appeal?
3. What low cost steps can I take to make my home more appealing to buyers?
4. Is our asking price reasonable for this neighborhood?
5. What features have been most important to people who have bought houses from you?
#Look at your home through a buyer’s eyes. Pull up out front and study your home from the curb. Is the view appealing? Walk up to the house and keep your eyes moving around the property. What do you see? Stand on the front stoop or porch long enough for someone to open the door. What does that give you time to notice? Proceed through your house room by room in the same way. Look at your rooms from angles that you normally don’t use. You might be surprised at the things you notice that you’ve never seen before.
#Your first step in preparing your house to sell should be a full-scale roof to basement cleaning. Get rid of all the personal belongings that make your home “yours”. Rent a storage unit for those things you don’t want to discard – but get them out of your house. Family pictures, knick-knacks on the mantelpiece, the knitting bag tucked between the sofa and the wall – they may seem neat, tidy and homey to you. Their effect on prospective buyers, though, is far different. Even if they don’t recognize exactly WHY the home doesn’t feel like it fits them, they’ll feel it.
#The first impression your house makes will be the most important incentive your house has to offer. It can be surprisingly inexpensive to turn your home from ho-hum to wow! Some outside improvements can even have a positive effect on the interior of your house.
#Outdated kitchens and bathrooms are the two biggest detractors in the eyes of buyers. It’s not surprising, then, that improvements in the kitchen and the bathroom are the ones that are most likely to be reflected in the selling price of the house. Take the money that you’re considering using as a buyer incentive and invest it in your kitchen and bathroom.
Before you start figuring out what you can offer as an incentive to buyers, think about how that money can be used to add value to your home. The more attractive your home is, the more likely it is to sell without any additional sweeteners in the mix. Remember, a beautiful home is the best incentive to buy.
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