In today’s housing market, both sellers and buyers need all the help they can get when it comes to selling and buying homes. The business of real estate has been hit hard with a perfect storm of stubbornly high interest rates, a lack of affordable housing, growing inflation, global unrest, AI, wage stagnation and job uncertainty. It’s mostly impossible to read the tea leaves and predict how things will be in the near future. This makes everyone nervous and both buyers and sellers need targeted reassurance to encourage market participation. Buyers need to fall in love and feel confident about their investment and sellers need to know they can get a fair price without their home languishing on the sidelines. Here’s how to make your listings irresistible for faster sales:
MAKE IT TURNKEY
A turnkey property is move-in ready. It requires no immediate renovations or repairs. In new construction, it can even refer to a fully landscaped house inclusive of all appliances and window treatments. For real estate investors, a turnkey property is completely renovated and often includes an active property manager and existing tenants.
STAGED TO SELL
The goal of staging is not only to make a house look pretty, but also to create an environment that speaks to buyers both visually and emotionally.
- Higher Offers: A third of agents report staging increases an offer’s dollar value by 1% to 10% per NAR.
- Faster Sales: Staged homes typically spend less than half the time on the market compared to unstaged or vacant homes.
- Better Online Presence: Nearly all buyers begin their search online. Staged photos make listings stand out, driving more foot traffic to open houses.
When staging on a budget keep in mind the areas that matter most to buyers: the living room (37%), primary bedroom (34%) and kitchen (23%).
NAIL YOUR OPEN HOUSE
A carefully orchestrated open house is one of the most important events you can plan for your listing. In certain markets, like California, properties often go under contract during the first open house weekend. Here’s a successful gameplan to keep in mind:
- Build digital hype that’s hyper-local:
- Be different: Use words like Sneak Peek Block Party or Open Invite to stand out.
- Invite the neighbors: Door-knock nearby neighbors a few days before. They may have friends or family looking to move in to the specific area, and they make great unofficial advocates.
- Collaborate with local businesses like food trucks and local popular restaurants that cater.
- Highlight the home’s best features: For example, if the home has a great backyard, feature a mini-barbecue that encourages visitors to spend time there.
- Raffles & Giveaways: Generate buzz and collect leads by offering a raffle for a gift card to a popular local restaurant, a high-tech gadget, or a home decor piece.
(Click here for more open house pointers.)
DON’T FORGET THE HOME WARRANTY
Last but not least, make sure your listings come with a seller’s home warranty that is then transferable to the buyers. Don’t forget to add this important feature to your yard sign (Fidelity National Home Warranty provides this sign rider, along with many other free marketing tools). This reassures sellers that system failures during the listing phase will get repaired or replaced without breaking the bank. It also reassures buyers that expensive systems like the HVAC and appliances are covered and protected upon ownership of the home.
According to Realtor.com, homeowners should budget 1% to 4% of their home’s value each year for repairs and maintenance. A home warranty can help offset this expense. When you position the right home warranty from the beginning, you help protect your clients from major out-of-pocket expenses. A seller’s home warranty from Fidelity costs as little as dollars per day, is transferable to the buyer and has fewer limitations and best-in-class HVAC coverage, including: No age restrictions on covered items, no aggregate limit on HVAC, 100% coverage on all forms of AC refrigerant, and no limit on the number of AC units.
In addition, homes that come with a home warranty (on average):
- Close 16 days earlier
- Close for 1% more
- Close with better buyer confidence
- Close with fewer post-sale disputes
You can’t go wrong by adding a seller’s home warranty to your listing. Fidelity home warranties start for as little as $350 and offer repair and/or replacement protection for both sellers and buyers during the listing phase and after closing. This is truly the final touch that will make your listings irresistible for faster sales.