Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Use The Power of Logic To Sell Your Home Faster

Those of us who have worked in sales have been trained to get a series of affirmative answers from prospects, starting small and working to the big one (the sale). And that is what you want to do as a home seller, too. The difference is your sales pitch is a series of images. Those images happen really quickly in the head of the home shopper. Guess what? They decide quickly, too.





Here is a way to dramatically improve the responses from prospective buyers and improve your odds of a quick sale. Use Logic, not on the buyer but on your product, your home. What I mean is to take an unemotional view of your property in a logical manner in order to get a "yes" from the buyer at each step of the viewing process, just like you would do in trying to make any other sale.





Start with the first logical step, the front of your house aka curb appeal. Take a look at it as though you were a buyer. What does it look like? Do whatever cleaning, trimming, painting, etc. is needed so that when a buyer looks at it they say to themselves, "yes" I would like to see more of this home.





The next logical step in the viewing process is the entry or foyer. Do you know what they will be looking at when they step through the door? They do not want to trip and fall so they are looking at the floor, of course. What does it look like? Does it look good? If it does not, it is a problem. Fix it. As the buyer looks up from the floor, is the rest of the entry light, open and appealing so the customer again says "yes" and is drawn further into your magical pictures.





You see where we are going here? If you get a number of yes answers from the prospect and the buyer finds something not quite to their liking (that you really can't do anything about such as the size of a bedroom, despite staging it the best you can), they will most likely minimize this negative in their mind and hopefully move on to more yes answers.





All of these logically presented images are the pictures or visualizations of the buyer living in your house that will help you make the sale.





So what is the next logical area a buyer will be looking over and hopefully giving you another "yes". For many it is your family room, dining and kitchen. Not all buyers will want the same things but many want open floor plans in these areas and light and airy spaces that seem inviting. Make sure your lighting and windows are giving them what they want.





Notice something? The specific decorating choices matter less than the overall picture of the dream of folks together in these spaces. Just do not let your "decorating" spoil the picture. Make it neutral. Also, many people do not know how to arrange furniture in groupings that encourage conversation. This type of arrangement usually makes a room seem bigger too. You want groupings that can seat about 4 people who can face each other, not the AV equipment.





Isn't it just amazing that people might want to talk? They might even want to talk about buying your house!





The next important "yes" you want is the a reaction from the buyer to the first image they see when they go through the master bedroom door. What will they see? If they are seeing a room crammed with furniture and stuff instead of a peaceful place to rest. You probably know that clutter is stressful. Be sure your bedroom, including the closets are clutter free or you may just get a "no" for that room and maybe the entire sale.





And so you draw them through the house with picture perfect images that attract them and make them want to say yes to your house.





The dream or visualization of the buyer needs to be picture perfect but not necessarily created at such expense that you may never get that money back at resale. In this kind of housing market it is better not to just throw money at reselling your home. Clean ferociously and maybe do a little painting.


Ron Stone has a note buying business. His company buys mortgage notes and help home sellers offer owner financing and sell their private mortgage note at a simultaneous closing. Learn more about note selling at his websites, Sell My Note and Private Mortgage Buyer

bend oregon real estate: Bend Oregon Real Estate

bend oregon real estate: Tetherow

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Home Staging 5 Essential Steps

Home Staging can be broken down and analyzed into it's component parts that should all come together to create the desired and needed final outcome.The first step is to see the home as a potential buyer will when they make their first visit. This will probably mean some minor conflicts with the owners of the house that are already emotionally attached and have the house "the way they want it". Sometimes it will require a fair amount of tact and diplomacy to convince the home owner that the 217 pictures of their only Grandchild need to be boxed up for the move.





Step -1: Develop ability to see homes through "Buyer's Eyes"





First impressions are just that and formed instantly when the home shopper arrives and enters the property. They actually get their first impression when they arrive at the property before ever getting out of the car (actually, before that- as they appraise the neighborhood but that is out of your control). Next, they will always form a very strong impression of how they feel about the house the moment they enter the front door. Think about it for a second; don't you do the exact same thing when you first enter a strange house or even a place of business? Of course you do, we all do. The home shopper will then spend the rest of their time mentally validating and confirming that first impression.





Step 2: Develop Objectivity





You need to develop the ability to look at everything with a critical and even judgmental prospective while asking yourself what a stranger might think or feel when seeing for the first time. A good Home Staging Course will go over all of these types of evaluations.





Step 3: Identify the Home's Faults





The sellers may not be especially eager to discuss these but if you truly want to do your job as a professional Home Stager that will in turn benefit the seller by getting their house sold quicker and for more money then you have to be brutally frank about identifying the problem areas. Are the interior walls dirty and in need of paint? Are counter tops chipped or broken? Is the lawn overgrown and poorly maintained? Too much clutter and junk laying around? (almost 100% on that one!!) Whatever, make a list and go over with the seller. Most Home Staging courses will have standard evaluation and checklist forms for you to use.





Step 4: Identify the Home's Good Points





This is a lot more fun for all parties and can always be done. Every home, no matter how bad usually has some especially good features. Does it have a great fireplace or extra nice Bay window? A huge living room that would be perfect for entertaining? Perhaps an eat-in kitchen that can be made to look especially charming and cozy. Find the good points and then decorate or stage the home around them.





Step 5:Turn the Negatives in to Positives .... or at least Neutrals





Walls can be painted, old carpets replaced (and you might even find some great hardwood floors underneath). Lawns can be mowed, weeded and perhaps even some minor landscaping with some plants. Heavy, dark drapes removed and furniture rearranged. You don't have to be an interior decorator to be a success at Home Staging but you do need a firm understanding of the basic skills that are learned in Home Staging classes.


Kelly is associated with the hit TV show, "Staged to Sell" and you can read more about Home Staging at her website.

bend oregon real estate: Tetherow

bend oregon real estate: Central Oregon

Article Source: www.articlesnatch.com