Selling Real Estate - What Buyers Look For

What do buyers look for in terms of the house itself?  Many agree that location is a decisive factor, but so are tangibles like the price and condition of the property (is the price worth the additional huge sums of money to put this house back into mint condition?  How much time will I need to renovate the dilapidated portions of this house?).  Buyers will be on the alert for the following:

Start with the outside of the house and ask yourself the following questions – because these are the questions that your potential buyer will be asking!:

• Do these garbage cans, discarded wood scraps and building materials  strewn about carelessly an indication of the seller’s negligence?
• Are the gutters and roof in place?  When was the last time the seller changed the roof?
• Apart from the human occupants of the house, are there termites and other insects that live here also?
• These overgrown bushes and trees are distracting.  What is it that the sellers don’t want us to see?
• Is the lawn is looking unhealthy?  Is the rest of the house like that?
• Have the patios and decks been converted into storage areas?  Why can’t we see what they actually look like?
• The paint is peeling off; is that why the house looks so drab and uninviting?
• Why are there no lights outside the house?  Is this the owner’s way of saving on utility bills?  Is this a safe neighbourhood?

The above questions are just a few of the many questions buyers are likely to ask with respect to the outside of the house.  A house’s exterior constitutes the buyer’s first impression.  And we all know what they say about first impressions – they are powerful and outweigh other considerations!