Top 5 Desires Of Buyers

Aspects Of Your Home To Emphasize When Marketing To Buyers

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1. Natural Light

What to do: Open the curtains, remove the window screens, and rotate the blinds to be fully opened but don't pull them up. Also consider repainting to a more neutral, bright paint that reflects the light. More on paint in the points below.

Why: No one wants to feel like they're living in a dungeon, natural light makes the home appear clean and open.

2. Open Floorplans

What to do: Minimize clutter, furniture, decorations, and bulky objects. Re-arrange furniture to open pathways and show the space like an art space.

Why: Although not every home has an open floor plan, most homes can appear open to a degree. Painting an attractive picture using your own contents allows buyers to visualize the home as their own.

3. Paint

What to do: It's best to use a neutral paint, but use what best complements the home's style and location. In most situations, brighter paints with slightly cooler tones show best because they reflect light better.

Why: Using a neutral paint doesn't offend buyers and it helps them imagine the home how they would prefer. You may say "well painting is easy and buyers can just repaint if they don't like it" and that is a logical point, but paint is a first impression factor and as they say.. "first impressions are everything". If a buyer doesn't like the paint, there's a great chance they'll not like the home, humans are emotional beings and therefore they are susceptible to superficial persuasion. As for cooler vs. warmer paints, while warm can make the home feel homey, it often influences the natural light in a negative way.

4. Neighborhood/Area

What to do: You can't change where you live but you can emphasize what you love about the area. Leave notes or a pamphlet in the home that specifically talks about your favorite restaurants, nearby parks, neighborhood amenities, ease of access, and the proximity to highlights in your area.

Why: Many buyers may have no idea about the area they're looking in, they could be from out of state or just out of touch. In addition to simply educating buyers, it let's them know that there is something special about the area, rather than just "a house on that side of town".

5. Cleanliness/Health Of The Home

What to do: Prepare the home so that it is organized and generally clean. Make the home as spotless as possible, even the trash cans. Also, consider repairing known defects of the home, if you don't know of defects, consider ordering a pre-listing home inspection.

Why: Any trace of other people (the owners), like hair, trash, stains, etc. reminds buyers that it isn't their home, and you want the buyers to feel like it's their home when they're viewing it. Repairing even little things like cosmetics can at least put the home in an apparently healthy form, but letting buyers know of recent updates or major repairs can be a good thing. For vendors such as a home inspector or handy man, check out our vendor list: neoraleigh.com/vendors