subject: Itemize Your Home's Selling Points When Marketing It [print this page] Lots of people ask me for my selling home tips wherever I go. I guess they think there are probably some tricks up my sleeve since I've sold a lot of homes over the years I've been buying and selling as a real estate investor. Well, they are right. My selling home tricks don't fill up a long, boring list, though, they are actually quite short. A powerful short list is better than a long, boring list any day. The main thing to know, the most important one, is that the marketing and sales process is all about finding one qualified buyer. It's not about attracting the most possible interested parties, but just the one who is looking specifically when you try to sell a home.
It's easier for real estate investors who are not living in all the homes they own. Their homes are, essentially, inventory for re-sale or leasing purposes. A person gets pretty attached to his or her own residence and that actually makes it more difficult to see the home with a clear perspective. We all seem to get overly familiar with the home where we live and that makes us less discerning when it comes to marketing our home.
When I try to sell a house, I've learned this lesson over and over when I meet with other sellers who want to sell me their home. I look around and think how they could make it more attractive but it just didn't occur to them. I notice qualities about the neighborhood in general that they never got around to mentioning to me. Those are exactly the things a seller needs to consider in order to sell a home now. It's the subtle differences that will set your home apart from all the others, possibly even homes on the same block that are for sale at the same time.
I'm not sure what point another investor would pick as the very top item on his list of selling home tips, but mine is definitely the ability to see your home as other people see it. And that means sprucing it up a little, reducing clutter and making basic repairs, but it also means telling prospective buyers about things they cannot see as well. It means making a list of items like these: most trusted neighborhood dry cleaner, great parent-teacher group at the grade school, well-established antique rose bushes in the backyard landscaping, and don't forget to mention the annual neighborhood block party. These are the seemingly little things that can make a big difference when you sell your home.
