Comments on: How We Pick The Home We Buy

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:10:29 +0000

One thing that we did that I think may have helped was we put one of those digital picture frames out on the table with the other info about the house. Then on the digital picture frame we loaded it up with a bunch of pictures of the house throughout the seasons so the potential buyers could look at the pictures while touring the house. So instead of putting them all online in the listing to see, we put about 6 teasers online and then the balance on the digital picture frame. This way the buyers could linger in the house some after touring and visualize even more.

It took a lot of effort and research to sell the house. It was a really nice house, in mint condition, in a desirable location. At the end of the day it still comes down to price, location, presentation and a good realtor. Our Realtor knew the neighborhood as she lived there and thus knew the competition well and what the price needed to be to sell it. We worked out a pricing strategy and then let her do her magic.

And ironically, the house we bought was not close to what we really envisioned when we set off house hunting. The house we bought met some of the criteria, but it just felt right when we walked in the door.

By: Kelley Koehler

Kelley Koehler — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:50:39 +0000

Scott – I think the article also speaks to where people should focus their energy and money, given limited resources, when selling their house. If we know first impressions are so important, than money is better spent on the front yard and entrance rooms than on the back.

Mat – Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s always interesting to be both a seller and a buyer in a short time span – we reason totally differently depending on what side we’re on at the moment.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:56:22 +0000

Having just bought and sold a house in the last 6 months I totally agree. We had a list of must, shoulds, and mays that we were using while house shopping, but at the end of the day it came down to those first 5 minutes of looking at the house. The remaining time was just to confirm our initial assessment.

Also, I can’t agree more about what the buyer agent should be doing. The agent should help the buyer remove the emotion from the purchase decision and to think about the things that they may have overlooked.

The perception and presentation are key. It has to allow the buyer to easily visualize their own possessions in the house and what it would be like if it was their house. I was amazed at the number of houses that we looked at that were pigstys. And we weren’t looking at cheap houses. So i don’t know what the sellers were thinking. But when I look online, they are still on sale. The houses that seem to sell are the ones that show well.

The same was true for the house we sold. Our listing agent was so excited when she got the listing for our house as she knew our house would show well and told us so. The house sold in 7 weeks for the price we listed it at. There were and are still houses in that neighborhood that are still for sale.

At the end of the day its all about price and creating the perception that matches the price.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:59:26 +0000

I kind of agree with the article, which I interpret as saying “the job of the realtor is to eliminate all the obstacles to the house selling itself”. That means competent marketing, so potential buyers don’t bypass the house listing without ever visiting it because of a too-high price or an unappealing picture. It means hopefully getting the seller to take advice (good luck with that) and make needed changes.

The realtor baits the hook. The fish decides whether or not to bite.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:51:57 +0000

Any agent can list a house. It takes a true agent that is plugged in and has the ultimate outcome in mind; to “Sell a house”.
Marketing, presentation and perception will all dictate whether or not the property commands top dollar and sells in a timely manner.