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How can you get a Buyer to love your home?

Address: 3200 N. Military Trail Ste 110, Boca Raton, Florida, 33431, US
Telephone: 954-464-1100

Great question! Sweeping a Buyer off their feet is just what you want to do when selling a home: A FAQ in Real Estate when Sellers want to know how to attract Buyers. There’s no better way to illustrate just how to sweep a Buyer off their feet than to share a story on how it’s done! How will you grab a Buyer to attract them to the home you’re selling?! Olivia and Jacob decided to sell their home. This is their story on how they attracted the most Buyers and swept them off their feet.

Choose the right Realtor to sell your home

After careful research, Olivia and Jacob found what they thought to be a top Realtor to sell their home. Even though Jacob’s mother recommended a co-worker friend from her office who sells homes part time, they had decided to search for a more qualified Realtor to sell their home. Jacob’s mother wasn’t too pleased with them for not taking her suggestion of her co-worker, but Olivia and Jacob understood the importance of having a skilled, professional Realtor going to bat for them so they searched on for the right Realtor.

They had begun their search over the internet. When Olivia could, she snuck in a few peeks when she got a few spare minutes at her office, however most searching began at home after she returned from her office where she managed a busy advertising agency. Jacob was just too swamped at his office to help in the search, as his responsibilities of preparing his company’s IPO was very demanding of his time and by the time he arrived home late each evening he was just too beat and by the time the weekend rolled around they were busy with the kids running from soccer practice to soccer matches. Their kids are still at the young age when they had the ball at their feet they didn’t know where to kick it to score a goal; which end goal would they run towards?! What fun! So Olivia had taken the lead for searching for a Realtor to sell their home.

Starting her search on Google, she entered selling your home in Coral Springs. There were a number of Real Estate sites that popped up on the first page of Google’s search results and she noticed that there was one Realtor that seemed to be quite visible appearing a few times. Olivia clicked through on some of the sites where this Realtor was shown. She wanted to find out what this Realtor was all about. She then continued her search visiting a few other sites in search of that just right Realtor. She finally discovered a few possibilities and was leaning towards one but she wanted to speak with a few first before making her final decision.

She spoke with the Realtors she had found online, setting up appointments to meet with them to get a better feel for them and to find out more about how they’d sell their home. When Olivia and Jacob had met with the Realtors at their home they asked them the important, typical questions such as; how long have you been selling homes, what will you do to get our home seen by Buyers, how fast do you sell homes, how close to the list price do you sell the homes, what type of communication can we expect from you and how’s your sense of humor. Yes, they did, they wanted to find out about a Realtor’s sense of humor, as Olivia and Jacob thought a good sense of humor is always an admirable trait; admirable yes, but not your typical question that a Real Estate Agent is asked!

After they met with the different Realtors, the decision to hire one had become quite clear. The obvious choice was her knowledge for selling homes, which was revealed beginning with the moment when Olivia and Jacob had walked her through their home. The Realtor pointed out great features of their home that Buyer’s will love and she also made recommendations of what could be done to make the home even more appealing to a Buyer – great, they thought! This Realtor, they recall, had an impressive internet presence and seemed to be quite knowledgeable and experienced in selling homes as was evident in her many Real Estate articles. The Realtor was everywhere online; she had her own website packed full of useful home selling Real Estate information, was active on many of the Social Media networks such as; Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and many more. Olivia imagined if she was able to market herself as she did, she surely would be skilled at marketing their home for sale to attract the most Buyers. And her customer testimonials were amazing – you should have read what some of what her customers had said about their Real Estate experience, she sounded like someone you could trust! Great, they thought!

Price your home right

What price would they sell their home to attract the most Buyers, they had wondered. Olivia and Jacob had discussed what they thought they should sell their home for and also discussed it with Jacob’s mother, along with looking at values on Zillow, so they thought they pretty much knew at what price they would list their home. They were anxious to hear from the Realtors in regards to their recommended selling price.

There seemed to be a few options for pricing their home after speaking with the different Realtors. A few of the Realtors agreed with them on their price, one was a quite a bit lower and the Realtor they selected was just below what they had thought they should sell their home for to get it sold. The Realtor who wanted to price the home just a bit below what Olivia and Jacob had thought, presented her reasoning well regarding her pricing strategy by reviewing recently closed sales in the area of their home, homes that were currently pending/under contract and those that were active for sale. She showed them through these comparisons what the fair market value of their home would be based upon their home’s condition, updates, special features, size and location. It was also explained to them on how important it is to price their home right, the minute it is listed for sale in order to attract the most qualified Buyers to their home during those first few weeks when a new home listing gets all the buzz. She explained how they can really miss the boat, so to speak, when they price the home too high to begin with, as the Buyers that are really qualified to buy their home won’t even see it because their home had been priced too high, so they’ll be looking at their home’s competition who are priced correctly. She understood the attachment that Olivia and Jacob might have to their home with all of the memories, but gently reminded them that it’s the home’s specific features that prospective Buyers will be reviewing and considering.

She also mentioned the mistakes that so many homeowners make when they take Zillow’s Zestimates as gospel and even showed examples of actual homes sold in Coral Springs and how the Zestimates were off from the final sales price. They didn’t even realize either that Zillow even mentions on their site that their values aren’t set in stone, yet that mention seems to be covered up where one has to really dig in to try and find it. By the way, the Realtors that easily agreed with them on their list price, they came to find out, were simply trying to “buy their listing” – talk about a complete lack of integrity!

Get your home ready to sell

Now it was time for Olivia and Jacob to prepare to sell their home under their Realtor’s guidance. Prior to getting their home ready, their Realtor had asked them specifics about their home, such as were there any needed repairs that they were aware of; what’s the condition of the roof, the A/C, any plumbing or electrical concerns or anything that she needed to be made aware of to avoid any later surprises. She even said they could have a home inspection prior to actually getting their home listed for sale. They really didn’t think that was necessary as they had been very diligent in maintaining their home and knew of no known issues.

Make your home’s exterior pop with excitement

They started with their home’s exterior. They hadn’t cleaned their driveway since last year, so they hired a company to come and power wash it, cleaned their roof, along with the home’s exterior walls, windows and doors. The trim was a bit faded so they freshened it up with a fresh coat of complementary color. The landscaping was spruced up by trimming back all the bushes and trees, including the removal of a dying bush that they’ve been meaning to get rid of for a several months now. Fresh bags of mulch were added and new summer bright flowers replaced the wilting flowers currently lining the home’s entry way. And lastly, the rubbed out, faded front door handle and knocker were also changed out. Now they were ready to welcome Buyers in the front door. Olivia and Jacob truly grasped the concept of grabbing those prospective Buyers at the curb with all the enhancements that they made! Their home’s exterior shouted “come inside”!

Get your home’s inside in tip top shape

Olivia and Jacob weren’t a total disaster in keeping a home clean – just a tad messy. They understood their Realtor’s recommendation to get their home’s inside sparkling clean and neat. They decided to take a Friday off and plan for a long weekend of getting their home really clean and clutter free. And it was a weekend, miraculously of no kids soccer matches, so it worked out just perfect. They thought of some of their friends who would have to plan for more than a long weekend to get their home ready to sell when that time comes. They packed up and removed the clutter that was piling up in corners of the home’s rooms and in their closets. They removed the clutter from their Kitchen and Bathroom countertops leaving out only decorative items and in the Kitchen leaving out only the necessary daily appliances such as a Coffee Maker. Thank goodness their Realtor didn’t say the Coffee Maker had to go!

The final tidiness made to their home was under their Realtor’s recommendation to move the furniture around to allow for more inviting living spaces and easy flow. They had a large sofa that was blocking a gorgeous outdoor window view of the lake and golf course and another that was blocking the flow of the room, so they made those adjustments. Even though it wasn’t a necessarily optimum space for their family, they made the change so their home was more suitable to Buyers.

Require high quality photos and video

Olivia and Jacob’s sweat equity paid off, their home was now ready to get sold. Send the Buyers in they said! Hold on, their Realtor said! First, high quality photos and videos must be taken. In order to sweep a Buyer off their feet, they first want to see photos, lots of photos. In fact, over 90% of Buyers will search over the internet before they actually getting in their car to view homes. With this in mind, why do we see so many homes listed for sale without photos, with just a few photos or with low quality photos? And what’s worse is that most home Sellers have no idea of these photo nightmares. Sellers should always ask to see the many photos and videos taken by their Realtor. In fact, they shouldn’t have to even ask. These should be presented to the Sellers upon listing their home for sale. I know I do! Sellers should be raving about the photos and video. In fact, they may be wondering if they really should be selling their home as it’s presented so well in the photos! No, that doesn’t happen, yet they should be very happy with the resulting photos.

Blast home for sale across the Internet and Social Media networks

Now Olivia and Jacob had the right price, homes neat and clean as a whistle, and their photos provided Buyers with enough visuals to really get a good feel for their home. Buyers will likely be champing at the bit to get in to see their home, as their home is now being blasted across the internet and various Social Media networks that their hired Realtor subscribes to and actively participates in, including her weekly Real Estate blogging. Olivia and Jacob remember this part of the home selling process very well when they had initially searched for the Realtor they ultimately selected. It seems as if everywhere they looked over the internet, their Realtor was there; a very good sign they thought particularly after their Realtor had advised that over 90% of Buyers start their home search over the internet. They knew they wanted to make sure their home was everywhere to be found and be seen!

Make showings easy for prospective Buyers

It seems to have been a long road to get to this point, Olivia and Jacob thought, but they made it. They’re now ready to open the front door and welcome prospective Buyers. They both work and they thought it would be easy to schedule showings for Saturdays and Sundays so they could be at home when the Buyers arrived. When they expressed this idea to their Realtor, their Realtor quickly pointed out that showings must allow flexibility for a Buyer’s schedule and it’s very important to be accommodating to their schedule. When you don’t allow this flexibility you’re allowing the Buyer to go and see your competition’s home that were accommodating to their times. She understood that it’s not easy to have Buyers marching through your home all the time, however the quicker the Buyers march in, the quicker an offer will come and the showings will stop. They understood and agreed to showings being given by an hours notice. They knew that when they left the home that the home would have to be tidy and clean for viewing Buyers. Their Realtor also offered some peace of mind to them to let them know that an electronic lock box would be attached to the exterior of their home where the showing Realtor’s identity and time of arrival/departure would be recorded. This way, they knew exactly who was coming to view their home and at what time and never would a Buyer come on their own. That was good to know Olivia thought as she was more concerned about the showings than Jacob was. They were now ready to have their home be shown.

Check off these 8 points that were detailed in the story that will sweep a Buyer off their feet. Did you see the importance of ?

Choose the right Realtor to sell your home

Price your home right

Get your home ready to sell

Make your home’s exterior pop with excitement

Get your home’s inside in tip top shape

Require high quality photos and video

Blast home for sale across the Internet and Social Media networks

Make showings easy for prospective Buyers

After Olivia and Jacob went through this process in getting ready to sweep a Buyer off their feet, within 9 days, they had a full price offer on their home. They were able to check off these 8 points by listening to their Realtor and indeed had swept a Buyer off their feet! You’ll now see Olivia, Jacob and family enjoying life in their new larger home that they relocated to after the sale of their Coral Springs Florida home.