Sell Your Own Home Part 4

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Sell Your Own House

101 Tips for selling your own home ... without resorting to property managers or real estate agents!

articles and information about real estate and property investment.

Category 2: Know thy Area/Community

Property Selling Tip #10: Good schools? But of course!

Think about what’s special about your community, then conjure up an ad that might attract say, a young couple with school-age children. Find out how many private and public schools there are, and how near are they to your house.

Many times, good schools are the deal clinchers. For young families, schools are a top priority. If the schools in your community have won awards from the private and public sector, or if you hear about any achievements, mention them to your buyers.

Property Selling Tip #11: It’s the fitness thing, you know.

Do an inventory of your community’s attractions. How many parks, tennis courts are there? Is there a YMCA? All these facilities play a major role in the decision to buy, especially if the husband or wife is a fitness freak.

Property Selling Tip #12: And what about concerts and that kind of thing?

Don’t overlook the entertainment factor: how many restaurants and movie theaters does your area have? What about concert halls and other cultural activities? Young couples, especially those with no children, like to eat out often.

They also want the assurance that if they don’t feel like entertaining friends for dinner at home, they can go for a concert or a show to spend a relaxing weekend. A very cultural community filled with activities is a huge factor, not only for them, but also for their children.

Property Selling Tip #13: Will I fit in the area?

The ethnic factor: if your area has a strong multi-cultural presence, this might be an attraction for newly arrived immigrants in search of a house. The feeling of wanting to feel “at home” is a strong motivator. You may think it a trivial matter, but buyers do ask if there’s a sushi restaurant in the area, or if there are any Jewish Synagogues nearby.

Are there meeting places where members of ethnic communities can mingle and share views, cuisine and stores about “back home”?

Property Selling Tip #14: Is there a doctor in the house?

Does your area have a good hospital? What makes that hospital a plus factor? Families that have aging in-laws in tow would like to know if they can get medical help immediately in case of an emergency.

Also, if your local area hospital is known for a particular specialization make sure you let your buyers know.

Selling Real Estate - What Buyers Look For

After you have finished inspecting the exterior of the house, it's time to look at the inside the house: what are buyers looking at?

Barb Schwarz advises sellers to be guided by the 3 C’s in real estate:

1. cleanliness
2. clutter
3. color

These three are self-explanatory, yet many sellers overlook the fact that buyers have fixed ideas about what makes a house clean, bright and uncluttered. Don’t take clutter for granted. Clutter is a big turnoff. Too many objects lying around the house collect dust, and when you have an open house and the sun is streaking in through those large windows, the dust becomes very conspicuous.

Schwarz explains: “Clutter makes it difficult for a purchaser to mentally move into a home”. This means that purchasers have a hard time imagining where their sofas and entertainment centers will be placed because the clutter is hampering visualization.

This is what Schwarz tells her clients: “the way you live in a home and the way you sell a home are two different things”. This is just her way of saying that some clutter does give a home a lived-in feeling, but too much is too much and makes buyers very, very nervous.

Source: Barb Schwarz. How to List Residential Estate Successfully. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. 1991.

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