How to Show Your Home – Are You Staged and Ready?

This is a blog series on preparing for a successful showing of your home for sale.  In a slower real estate market, sellers cannot afford to ignore any part of the marketing process.  Price, preparation, and presentation must be compelling in order to attract a buyer. 

The price must be set realistically.  Preparation should be complete – with paint touched up; space de-cluttered; floors clean or updated; and glaring repairs handled.  And, presentation should be meticulous – with drapes open; lights on; interior immaculate; and lawn mowed. 

 

Now you are ready to show your home.  This is the final step in winning the heart of a buyer.  A call for a showing is an expression of interest in your home.  The potential buyers are clearly interested in your neighborhood, and have most likely seen your home on line.  They are willing to invest their time for a visit.  It is worth the effort to make each showing one that will be remembered.   

Are you staged and ready? 

Sellers often ask if it would be best to show their home furnished or vacant.  Of course this depends on how the home is furnished.  If your home is dirty, messy, and poorly decorated, you have a serious impediment to marketing.  Unless you improve your presentation, you will receive a low offer, if you get an offer at all.  It is amazing how much a reduction in stuff will improve the look of your home.  Consider renting a storage unit or stack clean boxes in the garage.  There are staging services that can do wonders with your furniture and accessories. 

 

For some folks it is best to move out during the marketing process.  Rather, than leaving it completely vacant, some furniture and accessories will help to soften the interior and show it in an optimum way.  For example, soaps and towels in the bathroom, and kitchen accessories give an occupied feel.   

 

In an occupied home, it is important to keep the buyers’ focus on the property, and not on you.  Put away most of your personal collections and family photos.  Of course, some framed photos, magazines, flowers, and art pieces should be used on tables or walls.  Light is a very important part of the showing process.  Open blinds and curtains to bring in light, enlarge the space, and show views.  In addition to natural light, lamps add a warm glow.     

 

I remember one house with a bedroom that was painted very dark, and had one covered window and a large snake asleep in his container.  Fear and anxiety are not emotions you want to illicit during a showing of your home.  Avoid displaying things that are going to distract or offend some people (political statements, guns, nude art, posters, animal heads).  These distract from the important mission that brought the buyer into your home. Keep the focus on the best aspects of your property. 

 

The buyer must establish a sense of trust of your home.  Messiness and confusion send a deeper message that the home is not well cared for.  It speaks volumes about how maintenance has been handled.  You only have a few minutes to communicate that your home is the right one.  Make sure the visit to your home is a pleasurable experience that keeps the buyer’s focus where it needs to be – on the features of your home.  

 Austin Texas Real Estate Guide  

How to Show Your Home – Do You Have Emotional Appeal?

This is a blog series on preparing for successful showings of your home for sale.  In a slower real estate market, sellers cannot afford to ignore any part of the marketing process.  Price, preparation, and presentation must be compelling in order to attract a buyer. 

The price must be set realistically.  Preparation should be complete – with paint touched up; space de-cluttered; floors clean or updated; and glaring repairs handled.  And, presentation should be meticulous – with drapes open; lights on; interior immaculate; and lawn mowed. 

 

Now you are ready to show your home.  This is the final step in winning the heart of a buyer.  A call for a showing is an expression of interest in your home.  The potential buyers are clearly interested in your neighborhood, and have most likely seen your home on line.  They are willing to invest their time for a visit.  It is worth the effort to make each showing one that will be remembered. 

 Does your home have emotional appeal?

 Keep in mind that your potential buyers are there to make a big decision.  They will be comparison shopping.  When they come into your home they are in a state of heightened awareness.  Their job is to eliminate homes and reduce the list of choices.  Buyers use all of their senses to experience your home.  A dark interior, unpleasant smell, barking dog, or uncomfortable temperature can take the home off the list.   

 

I see this happen all the time.  The simple experience of being in the home during the showing is a key indicator of whether the buyer will enjoy living in the home later.  Builders know this very well.  Their model homes are very light and fashionably decorated, with soft music and pleasant scents.  This sends a message to the buyer that the home has been prepared for him, and he is welcome to enter.  People are often sold when they walk in.

 

Some tips:  Take off some screens, open blinds, increase bulb sizes, play some light music, and make sure the temperature is perfect.  Be careful that your scents are designer quality.  Don’t use plug in scents that remind people of a public bathroom.  Create a good mood with natural and lamp light.  Use pillows, framed photographs, books, fresh towels, and flowers throughout the home.  Avoid having the TV on.  Be careful about cat little boxes and other pet odors.  As you prepare your home for a showing, appeal to buyers emotions through all of their senses. 

 Austin Texas Real Estate Guide  

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Real Estate Market

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How to Show Your Home – Is Your Home Easy to Show?

In a slower real estate market, sellers cannot afford to ignore any part of the marketing process.  Price, preparation, and presentation must be compelling in order to attract a buyer. 

The price must be set realistically.  Preparation should be complete – with paint touched up; space de-cluttered; floors clean or updated; and glaring repairs handled.  And, presentation should be meticulous – with drapes open; lights on; interior immaculate; and lawn mowed. 

 

Now you are ready to show your home.  This is the final step in winning the heart of a buyer.  A call for a showing is an expression of interest in your home.  The potential buyers are clearly interested in your neighborhood, and have most likely has seen your home on line.  They are willing to invest their time for a visit.  It is worth the effort to make each showing one that will be remembered.  This is a blog series on preparing for successful showings of your home for sale.

 

 

Is your home easy to show?

 

If possible, schedule showings in the same way that is used by a majority of the homes in your area.  This may be by special appointment or by a lockbox system.   Remember that this will be the buyers’ first contact with you.  Your response should set a positive tone.  Go out of your way to make the buyers and their agent feel welcome.  Some home sellers set out a plate of cookies or small bottles of water and soft drinks.  This sends a wonderful message that visitors to their home are welcome and appreciated. 

 

Be as flexible on timing as possible.  Consider that buyers may be viewing many homes over a large area.  They may be dealing with traffic, children’s needs, etc.  It is often difficult to make precise appointments.  If extra timing flexibility is needed, you could wait until they arrive before leaving your home.  Welcome them at the door, and then leave by car or take a short walk.

 

 

You may get an occasional last minute call for a showing.  The buyers and agent may already be in front of your house.  If this happens, start by thanking the agent for the interest, and discuss how to proceed.  You have three choices:  Welcome them in right then; ask for some time to get ready; or let them know that the time simply will not work.  The important thing is to keep a friendly, professional attitude. 

 

I can recall instances in which the seller came to the door in a hostile way and demanded to know why we were 30 minutes late.  Or, the buyers sensed that they were inconveniencing the seller or their agent by asking to see the house.  Most people have a strong reluctance to intrude or bother other people.  Remember that the decision to buy a home is emotional response.  Don’t create a negative response before your potential buyers come in the door.  Make your home easy and pleasant to show.

 

Austin Texas Real Estate Guide 

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Austin Real Estate Market

The  Austin real estate market is considered one of the best in the country.  Our real estate market is supported by a fundamentally strong job market.  Job growth is driven by an educated work force, reasonably priced housing, and the overall desirability of  as a great place to live and work.  Over the past year, several studies have confirmed this: 

First, the Milken Institute, an economic think tank, placed Austin-Round Rock #4 on their list of top performing cities.  They looked at where jobs are being created in America, plus salary growth, high tech output, and other factors. 

Second, Forbes Magazine said:  “This state capitol is a hip area on the rise.” Forbes placed Austin #2 on their list of Best Cities to Buy a Home, and #3 on their list of Most Recession Proof Cities. 

And, third, American Business Journals analyzed employment trends in the nation’s 100 largest labor markets, and placed  in the #2 spot.Austin

Fortunately, Austin did not have the escalation in home prices that happened over the past five years in many cities.  In the years from 2000 to 2004,  was recovering from the dot.com bust of 2000.  The dot.com implosion was fairly localized, and many parts of the country did not experience it.  However, the  real estate market suffered through loss of jobs, reduction in demand for homes, high inventory levels, and little appreciation during that time. AustinAustin

When the Austin real estate market began to gain momentum in 2004, builders responded by increases in inventory.  This kept demand and supply in balance in suburban areas where lots were available.  In central Austin, an area where the supply of homes is traditionally tight, we did have some double digit appreciation.  This led to a surge of new construction by small home builders and remodelers.  However, for Austin as a whole, home price appreciation in the peak year of 2007 was about 7%.  This is up from our usual 5%-6%.

During 2008, in response to the national credit crisis, the  real estate market slowed down.  Home sales dropped by about 20% in 2008, compared with the previous twelve months.  This is not a bad thing.  A reduction in momentum will bring demand and supply back into balance.  And, a market with balanced supply and demand forces will have price stability.  Builders have slowed construction, and are selling their existing inventory.  Of course, neighborhoods where there is a current oversupply of homes will have longer marketing times during the next year, as their inventory whittles down.     Austin

A true picture of the condition of the market is revealed by the number of months of inventory on the market for sale.  Currently, we have about 6 months of inventory on the market, averaged for the Austin area as a whole.  This means that, given the sales rate of the past 12 months, it will take about 6 months to sell the current inventory.  Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market.  Since 1990, the inventory of homes for sale in Austin has been in the range of 4 – 6 months, most of the time.  In the peak of the dot.com boom (early 2000) we were down to about 2 months of inventory, and in the worst of the dot.com bust (mid 2003), we averaged just over 7 months of inventory. 

Of course, inventory levels vary throughout .  There are localized differences by neighborhood and by price range.  Areas that have high numbers of homes for sale are often the more popular neighborhoods where builders anticipated strong demand.  These neighborhoods are going to be buyer’s markets in the near future, but they will eventually lower their inventory.  When this happens, builders will come back, and start the cycle again.  This has happened before.  Austin has a resilient real estate market. Austin

Certainly, the financial uncertainty on Wall Street has created a lull in the real estate market.  When the national economy stabilizes, we will see some pent up demand for homes.  The important thing is that Austin has good market fundamentals.  This has been acknowledged by study after study.  Market slowdowns have happened before, and the Austin market has come back strong.  Today we are down from a couple of peak years.  We are settling into a normal, balanced market.  And we know that there are lots of folks who have jobs, good credit, and cash for a down payment who want to enjoy living and working in Austin.   

Austin Texas Real Estate Guide 

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Solar Panels Not Pretty?

I recently wrote a guest editorial for the Statesman regarding a City of Austin task force that was considering how to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.   A good friend, with a great sense of humor, sent me this email:

“Very well written.  It’s scary how our “leaders” would propose something so drastic that would have a HUGE affect on the housing prices/market. Did they not think it thru at all??????  Kinda like building EVERY house to ADA standards??  Great idea Betty.  :-/
 
Another very interesting thing is that most HOA’s don’t allow solar panels on the roof where they can be seen.  So we want to save the environment, but only if it’s “pretty”?  The City has the same rule for commercial development…..they force us to hide any solar panels that are put on the roof.  Why add cost to an already expensive but environmentally smart idea?????”

I enjoyed his email, and was very surprised to hear about the solar panels.  Homeowner Associations opose solar panels that can be seen?  Whoa, we need to talk!  

Solar panels are an important part of Austin’s energy future.  In 2007 the City Council of Austin passed amendments to the building code that will require by 2015 that each new home to be “zero energy capable.” 

 

This means that new homes must consume no more energy in one year than could be produced by a moderately sized solar array or other renewable system currently available.  We may also begin to see some wind powered generators installed on homes.   

The Green Building Fair held last week in Fredericksburg, Texas, demonstrated a variety of new alternative energy sources.     

By converting sunlight into electricity, solar panels will reduce the demand for electricity through Austin Energy.  Austin Energy makes electricity mostly by burning coal and natural gas.  Solar panels are a way to reduce energy consumption by individual homeowners and by the community as a whole. 

They are functional, they are fashionable, and I guess we could say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Solar Panels

 Austin Texas Real Estate Guide 

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Green Building Project

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