Selling Your Home - Why Should Buyers Choose Yours?

November 20, 2008

Assuming certain factors are the same - such as location, amenities, approximate price range, features - what would entice a buyer to put an offer on your house instead of another in your subdivision?

It’s been my experience that most buyers lack imagination when it comes to looking at properties. They are effected by your decorating, your taste and how your home makes them feel. Only about 20% can detach themselves from your decorations and imagine their home in its place.

So how do you appeal to the 80% of buyers who want to walk into your house and feel at home?

The first step is to de-clutter your home. Any clutter translates into a read-between-the-lines detractor of “not enough storage space”. If you truly don’t have enough storage space for all of your possessions, treasured though they may be, then rent a small storage space. Go through your home and remove everything except the most flattering and visually appealing items. Your home does not want to look bare, but it needs to give the impressions of elegance and space.

The next step is to take care of any maintenance issues before you put the home on the market. You may be temped to say, “I’ll fix anything their home inspector finds”, but in my experience, your initial offer will be lower (or even non-existent) if the impression the buyers get is that you have not taken care of the home. So replace rotten wood, fix and paint damaged or grubby walls, replace torn or damaged flooring, service HVAC units before you call your real estate agent.

The final step is to thoroughly clean the home. Hire someone to help you do a deep spring cleaning - clean baseboards, polish mirrors, shampoo carpets. Make your home sparkle. Buyers will notice on a subconscious level that the home is clean. Why do you think new homes are so attractive to buyers? It’s because no-one’s dirt is there - it’s virgin and pristine.

Once you have listed the home, keep it clean and tidy. Make beds and put away dishes before you leave in the morning. So often I’ve tried to make appointments to show a home, and the seller has said that we’ll have to come back another day because they left the home in a mess that day. Normally there is no “another day”. So if there is a day you’ve had to run out in a hurry, take a deep breath and let it be shown anyway and hope that the buyers are the 20% that can imagine the dishes in their right place!

As of 12/01/09 the Linda S Rothfus RePage is ranked at 4,943 with 55 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for West Des Moines, IA

Latitude: 41.573739 -- Longitude: -93.750359

Other Area Cities: Des Moines Urbandale West Des Moines

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your West Des Moines photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of West Des Moines and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

West Des Moines is a city in Polk County, and partially in Dallas and Warren counties, in the state of Iowa. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 46,403; a special census taken in the spring of 2005 counted 51,744 residents [1]. West Des Moines is the second-largest city in the Des Moines metropolitan area and the tenth-largest city in Iowa. West Des Moines incorporated as the city of Valley Junction on October 9, 1893. The area's first settler was a cattle farmer named James Cunningham Jordan, who later became a state senator. His residence, the Jordan House, has been restored and is now home to the West Des Moines Historical Society. In its early days Valley Junction was home to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad's switching facilities and repair shops due to its location at the junction of several railroad lines. The Rock Island's facilities moved out of Valley Junction and back into Des Moines in 1936. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	West Des Moines	Iowa	United States
Population	46,403	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	33	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	32	35.2	34
Median age for Female	33.9	38	36.5
Households	19,826	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	46,104	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.33	2.46	2.59
Families	11,920	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	2.98	3	3.14
Housing units	20,815	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	19,826	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	989	83,235	10,424,540

Visit US Census