Make it 'Wheelchair Friendly!'
More and more people are getting motorized wheelchairs like the "Jazzy Chair" in the picture above like my father-in-law recently purchased. Since more people are getting these, now's the time to promote your listings that are 'wheelchair friendly'. You can also offer to help them get a ramp built for access into the home, if needed from one of your service providers too.
For the homes that are not designed for a wheelchair to get around, now might be the time to do some remodeling to those to make it better for this. If this can be done practically, then your chances of selling the home will be much greater and this can usually work for one story ranch-style homes.
Click on the link below to see more about that.
For example, here is a floor plan that I found on the internet that I modified to show how this can be done for a typical ranch home in our area. In my revision (bottom view), I added a new wheelchair ramp and removed the tub and added a new flat floor walk-in handicap shower, moved the commode and sink and made the door bigger that now swings out into the hallway so it is not in the way inside the bathroom. Also, the sink was replaced with a wall-mounted, easy access sink.
Not shown are the hand rails in the bathroom mounted onto studs so that they can support a large adult.
To accomplish this, one walk-in closet in the master bedroom was eliminated and the hall closet was moved into the new bathroom. This home had an open floor plan which made this conversion practical in other areas and since the master bedroom already had a closet, eliminating this closet is not a problem. Keep in mind that appraisers cannot call a room a bedroom without an adjoining closet.
If you want to know how I did the drawing above, give me a call.
What I like about this plan is that the existing master bedroom with it's own master bath is perfect for a caregiver to use giving them their own privacy too. The key in picking the most convenient bathroom for making the changes is just that. The closer to the living area, the better for the one in the wheelchair.
Also, to make the remodeled bathroom more accessible to the bedroom with the larger door, I moved the bathroom door directly across the hall; another selling point for the buyer.
You can get a contractor to work up a quote for the work and then you can promote the home as "wheelchair friendly plans available and work can be done prior to close" or you can get it converted and then promote "recently remodeled for wheelchair use".
The cost for a conversion like this would cost around $2000 depending on the shower selection. My brother and I did something similar ourselves for my parents in around 4 weekends. Our project was only around $600 and was a lot of fun and a learning experience too.
Since most walls in a one story house are not load-bearing walls, it is usually not too expensive to move them like I showed above like they do on all of those remodeling TV shows!
Beyond the changes made above, kitchen changes might be needed too as mentioned on the linked website.
If you are working with an elderly buyer, you can help them see that a listing like this is going to come in handy if they ever need a wheelchair or a walker. This extra attention to detail is going to help them see that you are a true professional.
If you get a lead with this idea, give me a call and I'll help you close them!
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Will be included in NC Week in Review (our first one!) I'll have it finished later today!