#1 Shocking Reason Your Home Will NOT Sell Quickly
You’re all excited, you finished renovating the heck out of your own home or your investment house and then you put it on the market expecting a quick sale. After all, it’s got beautiful flooring, a bright shiny kitchen and bathrooms, fresh paint, new ceiling fans, newer appliances and nice staging furniture.
You list the property with your sister-in-law at xyz real estate agency (doesn’t matter what agency) and she puts it in the local MLS system. And BOOM…nothing happens!
Yeah, a few agents stop by to preview the home and a few even show the home but just your basic looky-loos.
Your wife mentions that she has seen cars drive up and sit outside at the curb for a while and then drive off. It’s been on the market for about 45 days but it’s just not getting the action you, your wife or your agent expected.
Then, another 45 days go by and still little action and no sale. The local market is decent so …
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING WRONG??
The answer may be shocking…from the street your house looks plain-jane, humbrum, run-of-the-mill, ordinary at best and maybe even ugly at worst!
Here’s what is happening: a real estate agent is driving her clients around, showing them homes in their price range and pulls up in front of your property.
The husband sits there and is thinking, “good…no front lawn to mow!”
The wife sits there and is thinking, “this place looks like c%#p…I’d be too embarrassed to invite my family and friends over here!”
The wife tells the agent, “No, let’s move on to the next house, this one is not for me.”
If you haven’t figured out this point yet, wake up: the wife is the primary decision maker in residential real estate!
I learned this lesson years ago. I had just been hired by a big corporation which required that we move to another state. They flew my wife and I to the new city, just for a house hunting trip (the good old days!) and set us up with a local agent. First day, we just met with the agent, discussed our budget and general likes and dislikes.
Next day, we started our tour of several neighborhoods, with the agent pulling up to several homes, ready to show us the property. Unfortunately for her (and us), we never got out of the car!
Even though we were on a fairly modest budget at the time, we wanted something with a little CURB APPEAL!
Several days later, we found the perfect house for our little family. Here’s an actual street view…guess which house we chose?
If you said the one on the right, you are correct! It’s certainly nothing spectacular, but attractive enough to at least get us out of the car to take a look. What was the attraction? It was the diagonal cedar siding that really made the home stand out.
Would you want to look at the green monster next door? Probably not is my guess.
The point is, whether it’s your own home or an investment property you’re selling (or even renting), it is critical that you give top priority to creating something that offers a little “sizzle feature” that is visible from the street and differentiates the house from all the others in the neighborhood.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to get the wife to say, “yeah, this looks great…let’s take a look!”
Ideas for Great Curb Appeal
There are many things you can do to increase the appeal of your property from the street view. Some can get expensive but some are very simple and relatively inexpensive.
It goes without saying that the basic idea of curb appeal is nice, neat, well maintained landscaping in the front yard. Here are a few ideas that I have used:
Upgrade the Mailbox - without even installing a new one (which is another cheap alternative) how about adding some nice bedding soil and colorful flowers?
Install a Water Fountain - another inexpensive idea that can add a nice touch to the front yard.
Add Zero-Scape with Garden - this is easy to build yourself and it doesn’t have to be the entire front yard.
Walkway - A nice add-on to this project is to include a nice stamped concrete or paver walkway from either the driveway or from the front sidewalk.
Upgrade the Driveway - this is probably the most powerful project you can do to drastically create spectacular curb appeal. I have done this several times at my investment properties and have seen an instant increase in real estate agent traffic and significant decrease in marketing time. I like stamped concrete for this due to the wide variety of color and texture options.
This work best if your existing concrete driveway is in good shape i.e. minor cracks. If it’s not in good shape, you will need to have a new driveway poured and the stamped finish added at the end of the process. It’s well worth the expense if it’s in your budget.
Here’s an example of a project we did in the Dallas area this past summer:
Decorative concrete contractors are usually easy to find in most communities. A simple Google search will get you local companies you can contact. Interview them over the phone to get some basic ideas and cost information. An excellent stamped concrete contractor in the Dallas area is an outfit call Custom Concrete Guys: http://customconcreteguys.com They are also very good with stained, polished, and epoxy concrete flooring. I think they are also in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Another good decorative concrete company in the DFW area is Concrete Solutions.
Hanging Baskets or Window Boxes - these look fantastic and add tremendously to the visual picture. These are sure-fire additions that are a great benefit with minimal expense.
Beyond Curb Appeal
Obviously you want to carefully go through the interior and make smart renovation decisions. This will be discussed in future posts. For now, let’s move briefly to the back yard.
It’s important to create an attractive backyard, without breaking the bank. There are usually some existing features that can be enhanced or at least cleaned up if not well maintained. Start with any flower beds or gardens. Get them neat and clean with some fresh bedding and maybe add some new color if it makes sense.
With a quick-flip in and out project I usually don’t go beyond basic cleanup of the backyard. On a buy and hold project where you are looking for maximum monthly rental income, you might consider additional upgrades like a covered patio or even a fire pit. These are nice features that add perceived value and enhance family living.
You list the property with your sister-in-law at xyz real estate agency (doesn’t matter what agency) and she puts it in the local MLS system. And BOOM…nothing happens!
Yeah, a few agents stop by to preview the home and a few even show the home but just your basic looky-loos.
Your wife mentions that she has seen cars drive up and sit outside at the curb for a while and then drive off. It’s been on the market for about 45 days but it’s just not getting the action you, your wife or your agent expected.
Then, another 45 days go by and still little action and no sale. The local market is decent so …
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING WRONG??
The answer may be shocking…from the street your house looks plain-jane, humbrum, run-of-the-mill, ordinary at best and maybe even ugly at worst!
Here’s what is happening: a real estate agent is driving her clients around, showing them homes in their price range and pulls up in front of your property.
The husband sits there and is thinking, “good…no front lawn to mow!”
The wife sits there and is thinking, “this place looks like c%#p…I’d be too embarrassed to invite my family and friends over here!”
The wife tells the agent, “No, let’s move on to the next house, this one is not for me.”
If you haven’t figured out this point yet, wake up: the wife is the primary decision maker in residential real estate!
I learned this lesson years ago. I had just been hired by a big corporation which required that we move to another state. They flew my wife and I to the new city, just for a house hunting trip (the good old days!) and set us up with a local agent. First day, we just met with the agent, discussed our budget and general likes and dislikes.
Next day, we started our tour of several neighborhoods, with the agent pulling up to several homes, ready to show us the property. Unfortunately for her (and us), we never got out of the car!
Even though we were on a fairly modest budget at the time, we wanted something with a little CURB APPEAL!
Several days later, we found the perfect house for our little family. Here’s an actual street view…guess which house we chose?
If you said the one on the right, you are correct! It’s certainly nothing spectacular, but attractive enough to at least get us out of the car to take a look. What was the attraction? It was the diagonal cedar siding that really made the home stand out.
Would you want to look at the green monster next door? Probably not is my guess.
The point is, whether it’s your own home or an investment property you’re selling (or even renting), it is critical that you give top priority to creating something that offers a little “sizzle feature” that is visible from the street and differentiates the house from all the others in the neighborhood.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to get the wife to say, “yeah, this looks great…let’s take a look!”
Ideas for Great Curb Appeal
There are many things you can do to increase the appeal of your property from the street view. Some can get expensive but some are very simple and relatively inexpensive.
It goes without saying that the basic idea of curb appeal is nice, neat, well maintained landscaping in the front yard. Here are a few ideas that I have used:
Upgrade the Mailbox - without even installing a new one (which is another cheap alternative) how about adding some nice bedding soil and colorful flowers?
Install a Water Fountain - another inexpensive idea that can add a nice touch to the front yard.
Add Zero-Scape with Garden - this is easy to build yourself and it doesn’t have to be the entire front yard.
Walkway - A nice add-on to this project is to include a nice stamped concrete or paver walkway from either the driveway or from the front sidewalk.
Upgrade the Driveway - this is probably the most powerful project you can do to drastically create spectacular curb appeal. I have done this several times at my investment properties and have seen an instant increase in real estate agent traffic and significant decrease in marketing time. I like stamped concrete for this due to the wide variety of color and texture options.
This work best if your existing concrete driveway is in good shape i.e. minor cracks. If it’s not in good shape, you will need to have a new driveway poured and the stamped finish added at the end of the process. It’s well worth the expense if it’s in your budget.
Here’s an example of a project we did in the Dallas area this past summer:
Decorative concrete contractors are usually easy to find in most communities. A simple Google search will get you local companies you can contact. Interview them over the phone to get some basic ideas and cost information. An excellent stamped concrete contractor in the Dallas area is an outfit call Custom Concrete Guys: http://customconcreteguys.com They are also very good with stained, polished, and epoxy concrete flooring. I think they are also in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Another good decorative concrete company in the DFW area is Concrete Solutions.
Hanging Baskets or Window Boxes - these look fantastic and add tremendously to the visual picture. These are sure-fire additions that are a great benefit with minimal expense.
Beyond Curb Appeal
Obviously you want to carefully go through the interior and make smart renovation decisions. This will be discussed in future posts. For now, let’s move briefly to the back yard.
It’s important to create an attractive backyard, without breaking the bank. There are usually some existing features that can be enhanced or at least cleaned up if not well maintained. Start with any flower beds or gardens. Get them neat and clean with some fresh bedding and maybe add some new color if it makes sense.
With a quick-flip in and out project I usually don’t go beyond basic cleanup of the backyard. On a buy and hold project where you are looking for maximum monthly rental income, you might consider additional upgrades like a covered patio or even a fire pit. These are nice features that add perceived value and enhance family living.