Advice for selling your home: How to attract buyers during the fall season
Though cooler weather is quickly approaching, the local real estate market is predicted to remain hot. Buyers will continue to compete for fewer homes, many looking to seal a deal before the holiday season kicks into high gear. Fall can be an attractive time of the year to put a home on the market, according to local real estate agent Samantha Lusk. A shortage in local inventory has formed a sellers market in the Calhoun area, but that should not deter sellers from ensuring their home is appealing and inviting.
Lusk, a Realtor of 15 years and owner of Samantha Lusk and Associates Realty, Inc., suggests going the extra mile to increase your home’s curb appeal and make it feel inviting and welcoming. She suggests raking the yard and cleaning out gutters before putting a home on the market. Sellers should go the extra mile to show potential buyers that the home has been well maintained. A few festive display items, such as a front-door wreath, displayed in a tasteful manner, can go a long way in making the home feel welcoming and fresh.
Upon entering your home, buyers should feel warm and invited. During the fall months, Lusk said that her clients enjoy soft, elegant music playing in the background. The thermostat should be set to a comfortable temperature and opened curtains and the glow from soft lamps can warm up the rooms’ appearance. The slight aroma of baked goods, whether by candle or air freshener, can also be appealing to potential buyers; however, the smell should not be too strong and scents should not be mixed. This could deter a buyer or persuade them to wonder what the homeowner could be trying to mask.
Suzanne Ross, also an agent with Samantha Lusk and Associates, said that, if possible, pet owners should take pets off the premises or put them up. Pets often become a distraction to those viewing the home and some potential buyers can become nervous or may even be allergic to them. Viewing a home should be a relaxing experience; sellers should go out of their way to ensure potential buyers feel at ease when visiting their home.
Inside your home, the agents suggest that sellers de-clutter and remove personal items. Collections should be minimized. Once again, this helps the potential buyer be less distracted and makes it easier for them to envision items from their own homes in those areas.
“It may also be a good idea to have your home professionally cleaned— baseboards scrubbed, windows washed, a deep, deep clean— before putting your home on the market,” said Lusk.
An aggressive, knowledgeable agent and fair market value price are crucial to getting potential buyers to your front door. Agents with Samantha Lusk and Associates Realty use social media marketing when putting homes on the market.
Before online listings became the norm, buyers did a drive by of the homes they were interested in. This allowed the home’s exterior character, charm and neighborhood to make a first impression on the buyer. Today, photos of the homes listed on websites make those first impressions.
When preparing a home to be put on the market, sellers should be sure that it is photo ready; both sellers and agents should pay attention to details when this time comes.
“I would say that sellers have to be a lot more particular when we go in to take photos of their home than they do when the home is being shown,” said Lusk. “While a toothbrush container or dish towel would be acceptable in a home that is being shown, those things do not need to show in photos; it takes away from the integrity of the home.”
If the home will be vacant while on the market, homeowners should have the properties winterized by a qualified professional. This requires the draining all of plumbing and aids in the prevention of bursting pipes as the temperatures continue to drop.
According to the agents, there is currently a shortage of homes available in the local market, which can mean that those available can quickly be sold and removed from the options.
The fall is an important time for buyers. Many who are looking for homes have hopes of being settled before the rush of the upcoming holidays. Lusk says that choosing the right Realtor, one with experience and knowledge of the local market, and having a letter of preapproval are crucial to the buying process.
“Be preapproved immediately before you go look at the first home,”said Lusk. “You may be well qualified and looking at a home well below the amount you qualify for, but if you don’t have that letter, and someone else does, they will get the house and you could lose a home you love. We see it happen every single day.”
According to Charley Perry, of SWBC Mortgage, buyers should understand that it is currently a sellers market and make offers accordingly.
“You can’t go in and offer 15 to 20 percent less than the listing price,” said Perry.
Samantha Lusk and Associates Realty is located at 204 North River Street. For more information, please call 706-629-3007.