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 11/29/09 the William Stoen RePage is ranked at 5,322 with 50 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 Decorah, IA

Latitude: 43.301795 -- Longitude: -91.790218

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Decorah photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Originally settled by people of English descent in 1849, Decorah has become popular as a center for Norwegian-American culture originating from a high number of Norwegian settlements beginning in the 1850s. Since 1862 it has been the home of Luther College, a liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Each July Decorah is also the host of Nordic Fest, a celebration of Norwegian culture with ethnic dancing, food, and music. Decorah is also the home of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, the largest museum in the country devoted to one single immigrant group. Until 1972, one of the largest Norwegian language newspapers in the nation was published in Decorah, the Decorah Posten. Decorah is named for Chief Waukon Decorah, a Ho Chunk who cooperated with whites during the Black Hawk War and whose people were subsequently forced out of Wisconsin into Northeast Iowa. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Decorah	Iowa	United States
Population	8,172	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	29.8	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	28.1	35.2	34
Median age for Female	31.7	38	36.5
Households	2,819	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	6,009	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.13	2.46	2.59
Families	1,563	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	2.8	3	3.14
Housing units	2,968	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	2,819	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	149	83,235	10,424,540

Visit US Census