Get that buyer!!!

How does one attract the buyer for the home he/she is trying to sell? Giant bug zapper and hope that they have a bunch of money in their wallet? Could work- might try it.



It's illegal to grab a buyer by the scruff and force them to buy a home....I haven't tried it and won't tempt the penal system until I have confirmed that legislation has passed allowing me to do that. Until then there are three things that you can control to get buyers to look at a home and make offers.

1. Marketing


2. Presentation


3. Price

• Marketing- I can assure you that you NEED to have your home marketed well. You can have the nicest home around at a phenomenal price- but if no one knows it's for sale, it's not going to sell. This one is on your agent/ brokerage to get done for you unless you are selling unrepresented, in which case, it's all yours!

• Presentation- A home needs to look good enough from outside (curb appeal) for people to want to go in. The home needs to continue to look good for showings. This really should go without saying- but I show far more homes that are not "showing ready" than I do that are ready. You can have a good price and let everyone in the world know about it- but if the home isn't nice, who's going to want it? I'll sell you my smelly old gym shoes for $5. It's probably an appropriate price for what remains a halfway decent pair of NB running shoes- but if they smell like 100 hours of my sweaty feet, does that make them something you want to buy, just because it's priced right and you know it's available? I doubt it. This one's on the owner- make that house sparkle!

• Price- Your real estate professional should be able to give you a price range value for your home and reasonable evidence to support it. What you do with it is your choice. If your home is overpriced, no amount of marketing is going to overcome it- even if it shows beautifully. WHY? Because there's a ton of other homes available! If a buyer doesn't like yours- even in the smaller markets like mine- there's two or three other options. This is a joint venture. Ultimately the owner will pick a price- hopefully it's in line with his/her real estate professionals market analysis conclusion of value.