We have an extremely seasonal housing market at Lake Chelan. In my studies, only Alaska sees a greater variation in visitors higher than Lake Chelan. As fall approaches, our real estate market slows down, way down! We have lots of people, around 80% of those who listed their homes, wondering why their home did not sell. They begin to wonder since they're at the dance, why aren't they dancing? It can be enough to make them question whether their home can be sold and is attractive to buyers. So is your home attractive to buyers?
Well, maybe. Beauty is really something that is measured in the eyes of the buyer when your home is for sale. But a pristine beauty in a seller's eyes is too often a fixer upper to a buyer.
With another real estate season heading towards the slower winter months, lots of folks are wondering why their home did not sell. If your Lake Chelan home did not sell this year, I can tell you why your home did not sell. Rather than thinking in terms of beauty, think in terms of how a buyer might see your home.
Yes, a buyer will notice a beautiful flower bed, a new roof or a well decorated room. If I have any doubts, I use a professional stager to help "set the scene" on homes I sell for clients. But the thing to remember is buyers will also see every detail that someone who has lived someplace for years doesn't notice anymore. Fading paint with hand prints on a front door, a water stain in a ceiling (it doesn't matter if the leak was fixed years ago), dated appliances and more are noticed by buyers. Negative details tamp down the emotional buying impulse and start to add up to work that needs to be done for a potential buyer. It is simple for the buyer to rationalize not buying your home without a strong emotional attraction to it. Have you ever noticed that used car lots always have their cars detailed as perfectly as they possibly can? It costs money to detail a car to that degree. They touch up paint, clean and shine the engine, change tired wheels, replace worn looking tires and refurbish every visible item as best as they can. They want it looking like new. Many offer warranties for that used vehicle as well. All of that takes time and money to do in a business where they are trying to make a profit. Why do they do it? The same reason your home needs to be looking its best and have a warranty. It will make your home sell for more, usually much more, than it costs to do. It is worth doing and every item done takes away reasons a buyer might not want to buy that car, or that home!
Detailing and staging your home is just one aspect of truly marketing your home. If you are one of the hundreds of Lake Chelan home sellers whose home did not sell this year, call me to hear about how to attain a different outcome. We know what your get from other agents. Some Realtors do a little staging. Others mights spend a few bucks on advertising. Virtually all of them are pushovers on price. They figure they can get away with letting you set the price, then get you to reduce your price when the house doesn't sell. Meanwhile, they think hanging a sign in your yard for six long months will bring them buyer calls. Mostly what you end up getting is neglect.
We don't do that - not any of it. We simply will not list your home for sale if you won't price it to the market. It will not sell, and our business is selling houses. If we agree to list your home for sale, we're going to prepare a detailed Strategic Marketing Plan and then execute it like a military campaign. We know that sound marketing sells houses, and our business is selling houses. If you are ready to sell your home and not just list it, we would be very happy to hear from you.
Comments(3)