There are many generalizations that can be truly instructive for homeowners with local homes for sale. The undeniable importance of “location, location, location!” is a good one; de-clutter! As a main order of business is another…as is the wisdom of researching neighborhood comparable.
Anybody with homes for sale in Metairie can usually visit the National Association of Realtors® website for useful nuggets of that kind of information. However, one article that appeared there last week seemed to me to be less than real estate gospel—although it was thought-provoking. It dealt with features that might make some homes for sale harder to sell; features that most people might assume would improve rather than curtail a home’s appeal.
The article named seven otherwise “awesome” features that the author, Jamie Wiebe, thought belonged in that category.
First was a school next door, for the main reason that traffic tie-ups deter many buyers. That’s a pretty common complaint, yet even the author had to admit that younger buyers might see the advantage of having school within walking distance. This one is a tossup—but having school a block or two away would have to be a plus!
Next came middle-of-the-action location, meaning homes for sale on busy streets, because while “you might be intrigued by the activity,” future buyers might not. That’s true of any home for sale and any feature, of course; but it’s probably true that there is some degree of risk that the current popularity of being able to walk to frequent destinations (rather than drive or use public transportation) might fade over time.
More possible minuses were assigned to multistory homes for sale (which might be avoided by older prospects shunning stairs); big backyards and small backyards (fear of yardwork for the former, lack of privacy for the latter); a swimming pool (admittedly, a must in warm climates); and tile flooring (difficult to remove). That last one is where local readers with Metairie homes for sale might realize that citing these ‘drawbacks’ is not a uniformly useful exercise, since potential buyers who appreciate the beauty and easy maintenance of tile flooring might not be giving much weight to how difficult it is to remove. And come to think of it, people who garden might actually be willing to pay more for homes with big backyards! Just as people who hate mowing might…etc.
But we shouldn’t be too critical of the author’s approach. It’s always a good idea to consider the pros and cons of how a property will be greeted by the public. And the seventh feature is one I think every Metairie real estate professional will agree is questionable: over-the-top renovations. The risk of striking some prospective buyers as ostentatious is possible, but the higher probability is of pricing yourself out of the market.
Part of what I offer is marketing that emphasizes a property’s most marketable features in an unarguably positive light. Give me a call if you are interested in going over how your own home is likely to fare in today’s November market!
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