How To Sell A House
In today's housing market, it takes a bit of effort to get your house noticed
and stand out from the crowd. Gone are the days when an address in a hot
neighbourhood, 6 grainy pics on an MLS listing, and an open house were enough
to draw the buyers and the multiple bids. Buyers have their choice of product
today. So what can you do to catch their eye?
I think Kit over at DIYdiva has an answer. I'm a fan of Kit's... she is a no-holds-barred, tool-wielding, barefoot badass DIYer. Just try telling her she can't do something (like learning how to drive a tractor and install fence posts) and she will prove you wrong and leave you in her sawdust. Over the past two years, I've enjoyed reading about her renovation of her 80-year old house in Toledo, Ohio on her blog. She has done a ton of work - renovated the kitchen, built a pergola, remodeled the bathroom etc. And now that house is up for sale and she has created a website to sell it. But this isn't any old real estate website. She's included a bit about the history of the house, great info about the surrounding neighbourhood, photos and descriptions of the renovation work done, and even a breakdown of how the asking price was calculated.
Its quite a unique approach to selling a house. As a DIYer myself, I would appreciate knowing about the work done on my house by previous owners... was the quality any good? Did they know what they were doing? Or are there 'surprises' hiding behind my walls, things that weren't done right and will cost me a small fortune to fix in future? Kudos to Kit, the care and effort she put into her home shines through on the real estate site and on her blog.
But then there's another thought... by writing about our houses and the tearing down and building up we put them through, do we expose too much to future owners? I mean, isn't home-buying an emotional thing? If I don't know what's behind the walls, then all I see are the pretty paint colours, your staged furniture, the way the place glints in the sunlight. If you tell me your dirty reno stories, you appeal more to my practical head than to my starry-eyed, illogical, heart. Will that entice me to bid over asking? I'm not so sure. What do you think?
I do hope she gets wayyyyyyy over asking for her home; its quite a steal, if you ask me. I'll have to keep this approach to selling a house in mind for whenever we decide to sell Casa HandyLuster. Not that that is happening anytime soon - there's still much to tear down and build up around here.
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