Now more than ever home owners are keen to sell as quickly as possible. Stories abound about people having their home on the market for a year or more. Many have knocked thousands of pounds off the asking price yet still they haven’t had a single bite.
If you are therefore looking to move in the near future it is vital that you know all the tips and tricks possible in order to sell your house quickly – and at a price that you can be comfortable with. After all, having made money in a rising market, it makes sense to try and conserve as much of that extra equity as possible, wouldn’t you agree?
There are two kinds of buyer you need to appeal to in order to achieve this outcome – the emotional buyer and the logical buyer.
Let’s take a look at them both.
The emotional buyer is of course so-called because they are controlled by their emotions. A home has to “feel right” for them to be interested. The economics and practicality are of far less importance to them. Indeed, it is the emotional buyer that you are most likely to be able t sell to in a downturn because so long as your house speaks to them and they have the money, they will be interested.
It is the emotional buyer who will pay thousands more than the logical buyer. Of course the difficulty is that different things appeal to different people so you can’t ber certain all your efforts will hit the spot, but we can have a reasonable hope.
You see, there are two keys to winning with an emotional buyer. Firstly make your home appeal to that buyer, and then when they come for a viewing, try to point their attention in the right directions.
To make your home appeal to emotional buyers, ensure it is more of a home than just a house. You want them to feel that it is *their* home. You want them to feel comfortable and welcome.
In order to do this, ensure your home smells welcoming. Smells like fresh fruit, flowers, coffee, bread etc. will all help to do this. Equally, ensure there are no unpleasant smells around. Turn on the heating so it is a comfortable temperature. Ensure it is tidy and clean at all times (no matter how annoying and impractical this may be for you!).
When the buyer comes for a viewing, try to find out what they are looking for in a new house by gentle questioning, then point out how your house meets that need.
For example if they have kids, mention how good the local school is, or how close it is.
If they want peace and quiet perhaps explain how *far* away the school is!
I’m not suggesting you lie to any potential purchasers but just tailor-make your sales pitch to hit just the right buttons. In a way you will be helping the potential buyer because they will be able to see how close your home comes to their dream house.
The other buyer is the logical buyer. They will look for possibilities, for problems. They will think about finances.
You best protection here is to consider anything that a potential buyer might complain about. What might they use as a reason not to buy? What might they try to use to negogiate the price down? Once you have your list, just come up with reasonable solutions to each one to any potential negative aspect can be explained away at the drop of a hat if necessary.