The Story of Your Home – Happily Every After

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The story of your home; selling your home; marketing your home; the right real estate agents

Marketing a home is not like marketing a commodity, such as bottled water. While everyone needs shelter, it would be a serious oversimplification to say that’s all a home offers.

Many agents take the perspective that a home is the right home for a buyer simply because they happen to be selling it. The truth is it can be a real waste of time and effort convincing people that a home’s qualities are exactly what they’re looking for. It’s far more efficient to market the home’s qualities to the segment of buyers who have a natural lifestyle fit for the home.

Profiling and segmenting buyer lifestyle is an excellent way to optimize the budget for marketing a home. Rather than taking a shotgun approach, I like to tailor the home’s story as much as possible to the types of buyers who best represent the projected buyer for a specific listing.

Analyzing the specific qualities of the home is a natural first place to start. Is it close to an organic farmers’ market? Next to a country club with a legendary golf course? Does it have a garage fit for two BMWs, or is it a one-Prius sort of place? Has it got natural family sprawl or bachelor appeal?

We also like to talk with the sellers about what originally drew them to the home. What caught their eye? Why was it the right place at the right time? What is encouraging them to move on now?

All of this adds up to the story of a listing. This story can then inform the marketing plan for the property, staging decisions, open houses, and even the way photos/videos are shot and presented online.

We’re no longer looking for a convenient cave for shelter from the elements. We live in homes. Our homes should reflect our lifestyle. Keeping this in mind throughout the entire listing and marketing process is what makes us good at matching properties to buyers for our clients each and every week.

Let’s get started selling your home’s lifestyle today! Contact us for a no-obligation meeting: Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com 904-477-5278

Botox for your Home!

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curb appeal; front door tune-up; fresh paint

When you’re preparing your house for the market, almost every agent will explain how valuable curb appeal is when it comes to marketing your home. Curb appeal can mean a lot of things, of course, ranging from wholesale replacement of the roof, paint, and landscaping, to a few tidy details designed to spruce up the place.

One of the best (and most cost-effective!) tune-ups you can make works both from the curb and from up close. It’s kind of like Botox for your home’s face. It’s a little something I like to think of as the “Front Door Tune-up.”

The front door is a focal point on your home, both from a distance and up close. Here’s how to leverage it for maximum impact:

1) Paint the door with an appropriate, fresh, contrasting color. Not only will this draw the eye (possibly even away from the crack in the driveway!), but it will go a long way to creating the impression of a new paint job.

2) Replace faded, small address numbers with classy, visibly new hardware. Long gone are the days of tacky decals. Even a modest investment at an upscale home accessories store can add a touch of luxury to your entryway.

3) Replace knob/handle and lock hardware. The feel of the doorknob, the click of the hardware, and the sense of security the door conveys matters hugely. It’s a front-line sensory experience for potential buyers. A sticky, weak, degraded set of locks only hurts your first impression.

4) Upgrade the door, if possible. Sometimes paint and hardware won’t do the trick. If you have an older home in a subdivision where many of the same styles of door were used, this could be a good time to differentiate your home while upgrading the aesthetic.

Will a door save your home from significant cosmetic problems? No. But I’ve seen it work again and again: The “Front Door Tune-up” is a subtle but effective listing tool.

We have lots of resources on curb appeal! Contact us for more: Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS 904-477-5278 Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners http://www.HanleyHomeTeam.com