Selling Your Charlotte, NC. Home--Does It Feel Warm And Like Home?

All the time sellers ask the question on what can I do to help get my house sold in Charlotte, NC? I receive a lot of showings and the feedback is good but I am not receiving any offers on my home.. One thing I have noticed lately with both buyers that I have shown homes to and sellers whose homes I have listed is that the feeling you get when you walk into the home sets the tone for the whole house and the showing. How does the house feel when you walk into it? Does the home give a feeling of warmth or like home feeling? Or does it give a dark and cold feeling or one that is distant? I have been thinking about this post for a few weeks to write it and I decided that every time I walked into a house for a listing presentation or with a buyer I was going to make a conscious effort to see what I felt. i was not passing that information on to anyone; just collecting the data of the different charlotte area homes I viewed to see what; if anything the perception does for me. I was a little surprised that walking into some homes that from the outside had nice curb appeal and met the buyers criteria for their wants and needs in the house; felt different when we actually got through the front door. That feeling tended to carry on throughout the house and it felt like the house was fighting an uphill battle after that. The home did not present the wow factor when they walked in. How do you change it and what can you do to give your home that warm feeling as prospective buyers enter your house depends on the layout of your house. But one thing is certain, first impressions are crucial. When they enter the house if they are turned off you are fighting to keep them interested. I am telling everyone that i list a house for to take a picture standing in the front doorway and take it on different angles and views. Then sit down with your realtor and some friends and ask for honest answers on how you can make the entrance into your home feel a little more comfortable or warm for the buyers when they walk in. I viewed a house the other day with a buyer that had that feeling. it was nothing special that they did; it was the neutral colors and the scented candle on the table at the entrance way to put your keys on with the bright light shining in and the cleanliness of the house that instantly grabbed my buyers. Every house we have looked at since has been compared to that one. Even to the fact that we all could not remember some of the features that distinguished that house form the rest anymore that we have to venture back to look a second time before we put an offer in. As sellers you are competing against a tough buyer market right now and the pendulum is beginning to swing back in your favor. A lot of buyers know that the market is beginning to swing and are looking for that right house still. It seems to be that they want certain things in a house and do not want to settle for something that they are not going to be completely happy with. so, as sellers you need to appeal to all of their senses when they are looking at your house and the easiest way to engage a buyer is through the first impression they receive when they walk into your house.... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com

Attractive Buyer Incentives To Enhance Showings And Offers

In today's housing market the biggest complaint I hear from sellers looking to put their house on the market is how I am going to drive traffic to their house to generate an offer on the house. I recently read an article that addressed some of the main things buyers looked for when looking at homes last year and purchasing homes. First, pricing a home strategically correct is the most crucial item to consider. if you price a house too high for the market or the neighborhood you are not going to attract buyers to your home. But what if the house is priced right and staged correctly. What is a seller to do to gain an edge in this housing market? One of the biggest things that buyers are looking for besides great pictures and videos are incentives that will help entice them to buy your house over your competitor down the street. Some of the most common incentives that attract buyers to a house are: Paid home warranty for the first year. Every new builder offers a free one year warranty and an extended warranty on other items and structural parts. When reselling a home offering a buyer a one year home warranty will give them an added peace of mind when buying the house. A lot of buyers are cash poor after closing. If something breaks they may not have the money to fix it. The home warranty gives them a peace of mind of knowing that after a small deductible of usually $100.00 or less the items can be fixed with a simple phone call to the service provider. Another popular incentive among home buyers is closing cost assistance. With the economy struggling home buyers are finding it increasing hard to save enough money to cover the down payment and the closing costs on the purchase of a house. by offering to pay a percentage of the sale price toward closing costs or a fixed amount you are giving the buyer a little more breathing room and maybe putting your home into the consideration pool because of that as well. I have a lot of buyers over the past couple of years that struggled to get the down payment saved and needed the assistance of sellers toward their closing costs to purchase a house. That added incentive I know made a lot of buyers happy and able to purchase a house they normally would not have been able to buy.... Coupling the free one year home warranty with paid closing costs is a win win for buyers and sellers alike. For buyers there is the peace of mind of knowing that if anything breaks they are covered for the first year and that the closing will be paid in full or partial from the seller. For the seller it allows for a quicker closing and more motivated buyer coming through looking at their house. In addition by factoring those costs in upfront the seller will have a better idea of where the net number is going to be and how much they will have to negotiate knowing what concessions they are already giving up. If your home has not sold or you are not getting the showings you think you should be getting and the price is right; photos are good and the house is staged for showings then consider offer some incentives to the buyer to entice them to visit your house...it could be the difference between the words looking and SOLD. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com