We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

About Me

We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

I’m Harvey James, thanks for stopping by my website. My wife and I thought it would be easy to sell our house without the help of a realtor. We live in an affluent residential area where homes sell quickly. Our house is in excellent condition inside and out, so of course it would be easy to sell, right? Wrong! We found that there’s nothing simple about selling your own home. We put a sign out front and did a bit of advertising. Five months later we still had our house on the market and had only had one very low offer. My wife suggested we contract with a broker, so we decided to give it a try. Three weeks after the agent listed our home, we had accepted an offer and were in escrow. There are many reasons to list with a realtor. I hope you benefit from my story.

 

Selling An Older Home? 3 Tips For Marketing It

10 October 2017
 Categories: Real Estate, Blog

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Are you done living in your older home and ready to move to a new place? It's understandable to look at the home at its current age and feel like there is a big challenge in front of you to sell it. While some buyers will have a problem buying a home that is up there in age due to the feeling that it needs a lot of work, others may find it appealing. Here are some tips for marketing an old home.

Mention the Unique Features

One of the advantages that you will have with an older home are the unique features that it comes with. Modern homes these days are constructed with a basic layout, which doesn't allow for many unique features that help it stand out.

Think about all the features that could be unique to your home and mention them in the real estate listing. For example, you may have a huge crawl space that can be used for storage, an unexpected room, or aspects of the home that are still original due to being maintained over the years. These are the features that will help your home stand out.

Watch Your Wording

While you want to point out features that are original to the home, you need to be very careful with the words that you use in the description. Calling a feature of the home used or worn can immediately turn a buyer off to a home, even if it is still in great shape.

Stick to using words like retro or vintage when describing older features that are still performing just fine. This could be used to describe original hardwood flooring, a kitchen that seems outdated, or designs that are no longer in style. A buyer may appreciate the features and actually seek out a home like yours for this reason.

Mention the Modern Upgrades

Don't forget to mention anything that is modern and has been upgraded, since it will be a feature that buyers look for when they visit the house. This could be something as simple as a recent upgrade to the HVAC system and hot water heater, new windows, or refinished floors.

Still not sure about the best way to market homes for sale? Work with a real estate agent in your area. They have plenty of ideas on how to market a home like yours to potential buyers that would be interested.