Open-House Secrets and Your Weapons will be needed To Defeat A Big Contingency.
Open-House events are springing up like mushrooms everywhere in Central Florida. House hunting season is in full swing. We see the spring symptoms of it in the fluttering multi-colored pennants and neighborhood signs and Food Trucks. Food Trucks? What a great idea! More on that later…
One Tough Contingency
Sell Your Home Fast with the Most Profit-
Use Special Ammunition (Tips by Palm State Mortgage)
Now, we don’t want you to think Palm State Mortgage is a real estate company. And we don’t want to step on any toes. However, one of the toughest mortgage situations happens when your loan to buy a home is contingent on selling the home in which you currently reside. And that is the reason we occasionally post hints and tips to sellers as well as buyers.
If you are working with a real estate agent, then by all means, listen to their method of preparing, organizing, and surviving an open-house. Among their suggestions, we have a feeling you will find some of our tried and true methods for conducting an amazing open-house. Likewise, you will definitely find a use for these tips if you choose to list your home without an agent.
More than a Digital Event, and Less: Open-House
Experts at Money, say that whether you or your agent hosts the Open House, you must try to maximize the number of people who come and see the house. This will “ncrease the possibilities of selling fast and at a better price.”
Keep Your Eyes On the Prize:
With a better price, you can buy your “new” home and hopefully cover a few extraneous expenses. “While technology has changed some aspects of open houses, others – such as the importance of making a good first impression – remain the same.”
Digital Technology vs. the Open House
Clearing away Un-Needed Items inside and outside for an Open-House Event Can Make You Money
What confuses some of the sellers we know is the choice between digital technology and the more traditional forays into the housing market. There is no doubt that the tradition of the Open House has been highly affected by the use of the Internet.
Moureen Hardy, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services California Properties in Irvine, California states it this way. “It’s changed quite a bit with the Internet.” And she added, “Years ago, you’d put an ad in the paper and put a few signs around. Now it’s like a pop-up store. They find out about us on the Internet. A lot of people who come to open houses today do not follow the signs in.”
Why? There really is an app for that. Your smartphone can tell you about nearby open house events. Plus you can check out the updated “sale prices for comparable homes and competing listings.”
He advises sellers to publish both listings and dates for their Open-House events on their social media. As with any purchase, your own family and friends could be your best resources to find home seekers.
Likewise, P.J. Mitchell, CEO of Fizber.com, stated, “Home sellers today are missing the boat if they’re not promoting their homes online. It doesn’t really matter how prepared you are or how beautiful your house is if you don’t tell people about it.”
Awareness of the Preliminary Back Story: Do Your Open-House Home Work!
For example, did you know that the usefulness of the Open House event is highly debated among real estate agents?
“NAR has reported for years in its annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers findings, that 10 to 15 percent of people find the home they purchase via yard signs open houses.”
• This leads us to tell you that there is an age-old debate between groups of real estate agents who believe in the power of the Open House and those who do not.
• And in between those two groups are some agents who say the Open House won’t sell a home, but it will help find new clients.
So here are our top Open House suggestions with more to come in next week’s blog:
1. Curb Appeal Plus: Open-House and First Impressions:
Spruce up the landscaping and touch up your paint. Check out the details! Some wise choices for a little shopping trip include repair or replace your garage door, fresh house numbers, and spruce up the mailbox. How about that front door? Are your walkways and driveways clean and in good repair? Achieve Pristine Clean Before the Open-House Event.
2. Super Clean Up:
“The property has to be in pristine condition when you have the open house,” Moureen Hardy says.
We hate to break the news but super clean means windows must be washed outdoors and indoors.
3. De-clutter and Stage the Home for your Open House
Did you know less is more? Less clutter and less furniture will make your house look its best. Get rid of clutter.
Move out the furniture and knickknacks that block the architectural features of the home.
4. Step Away from the Cell Phone…
Whether you or your real estate agent is in charge of the event, be sure the host is not on the cell phone. The host’s job is to be accessible to visitors at all times. And yes, refreshments help. Never underestimate the power of a vanilla cookie! And baking them makes the whole house smell good.
Our Terrific Take-Away
Whee – I Just Sold My Home – Thanks to Tips from Palm State Mortgage.
The special event of an Open House is not out-dated and old school. You might not have the kind of turn-out such events commanded in the 1950’s because we have digital media to assist sales. One of the things we like about the Open House is it creates a neighborhood buzz.
And remember, you have to accomplish the sprucing up anyway as you prepare to sell the house. The Open House gives you a deadline for accomplishing the improvement of details.
Thank you for reading our Palm State Mortgage Company Blog. We’ll bring you more details soon, with 5 more suggestions to make your Open House Event amazing, in Part II of our coverage of the value of the Open-House.
