Make the First Impression Count

Today’s real estate inventory in the greater Albuquerque area is the highest it’s been in the past ten years. Sellers are experiencing the inconvenience of having their perfectly-good homes on the market for longer than anticipated. Builders are offering various deep-pocket incentives to buyers. Speculative investments have curbed below previous years’ levels.

If you are selling or are planning to sell your residence, there is no time like the present to sharpen your competitive edge. Today’s type of marketplace is an excellent time for buyers to buy! Just as you would, these buyers are navigating right past the overpriced homes and then choosing to make an offer on the one that is presented best.

Have you ever visited a model home and thought about just how tempting it is to live in that floor plan? If so, this is certainly no coincidence. The home has been professionally staged and presented to encourage this outcome. Nest to correct pricing, the best thing you can do to sell your home is presentation.

People buy homes every month in all price ranges. Even when it is a buyer’s market, your home could be classified as a seller’s market home and even receive multiple offers if it is priced and presented properly. Consider the following factors when preparing your home for sale:

• Sharp Curb Appeal: Whether a prospective buyer finds your home online or bumps into the “For Sale” sign when driving down your street, the exterior front of the home will leave a lasting impression. A well-manicured exterior is usually a sign of a well-manicured interior. A home with overgrown weeds, non-edged flower beds or lawns, chipping paint, a dented garage door, or tired-looking stucco is likely an indicator that the inside is maintained in a similar fashion. Additionally, the main photo you or your real estate professional uses to market your home online and on flyers is usually the exterior front photo. Make somebody want to come inside!

• Delight the senses: The five senses include seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting. Buyers will see your home upon touring it. Visually enhance it with tasteful décor, updated features, clean (i.e. little to no clutter) and sanitary surfaces, and no signs of deferred maintenance. Leaving easy-listening music on a very low volume inside will likely soften the atmosphere thus encouraging your prospective buyers to relax and really absorb the atmosphere your home offers. Pleasant aromas are welcoming, unpleasant aromas are offensive. Both will leave an impression and increase memory – make sure you leave a pleasant one! The sense of feeling mainly targets the home’s temperature. Keep it not too cold, not too hot so that a buyer will want to stay to look around. Taste should only be used in the form of cold waters or light hors d’oeuvres and is most important for events such as open houses. Once all of these are tweaked to perfection, the goal result is for the buyer to feel an emotional connection or sixth sense that your home is the best one for them.

If you make a conscious and successful effort to present your home well, you will rise above the competing properties and reach your objective! Contact a local real estate professional for a customized consultation regarding what you can do to make your home most marketable.

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About the Author: Sean Remington, CRS, ABR is a licensed Realtor(r) with Keller Williams Realty and can be reached at 505-271-8200 or on the internet at www.NMHomesOnline.com