Five Points to Remember When Selling Your Home

The two-story blue house looked appealing from the street. But once inside, visitors saw that it was crammed with collectibles.

China figurines populated shelves and tables in nearly every room. Dried-flower arrangements abounded. And everywhere, there were items reflective of the owners’ fascination with American history, such as antique baskets and witches’ brooms.

“The clutter was overwhelming,” said Linda Cutter, the Re/Max agent who listed the property.

Try as she could, Cutter could not persuade the homeowners, a nurse and an engineer, to place many of the items in storage. They were simply too attached to their belongings. As a result, it took double the usual time to sell the house, Cutter reported.

Displaying a large number of collectibles distracts the buyer’s eye from the property itself and makes it hard for the prospect to envision living there. That’s because the display of a wide array of decorative items has already defined a lifestyle, Cutter said.

“Too many collectibles can be devastating to the overall attractiveness of a house and make it look smaller. You don’t want to hide your home,” she stressed.

Removing superfluous items, such as the photos and personal notes often attached to the refrigerator doors, is a key point to the successful marketing of a home. Here are four others:

No. 1: Hire an agent who is responsive by phone.

The lifeblood of home-selling is communication. And the phone remains the leading way humans relate, despite the rise of such computer communications such as e-mail.

Your house could sell more slowly--and possibly for less money--if your listing agent is slow to respond to inquiries from prospects or other agents, said Patrick J. Fortin, who owns and operates an office in the Century 21 chain.

A listing agent, or someone covering for that agent if he is away, should reply to phone messages by the end of the same business day and preferably within a matter of a few hours, Fortin said.

“I don’t believe that everyone in the business has to have a cell phone or a pager. However, an agent really needs to be accessible throughout the day and to check his voice mail constantly,” Fortin said.

What’s one good sign of an agent who is responsive by phone? He should return your own messages swiftly both before and after you engage him to sell your place.

No. 2: Avoid tired or misleading phrases in your advertising.

To be sure, print advertising is a plus in marketing a home. But by simply repeating the same old phrases, you diminish the impact of your advertising, said Michael McCann, a broker-associate who sells property through the ERA chain.

What are some hackneyed phrases often seen in print advertising? McCann mentions two that he suggests avoiding: “must be seen” and “looks like new.” Americans are awash in real estate advertising, and the best ads catch the attention of the reader in unusual ways that draw word pictures.

For example, a home in a garden-like setting might be called a “Garden of Eden.” Fortin, of Century 21, likes to see print advertising changed each week to highlight various selling points and, therefore, appeal to different market segments.

“One week, your place might be called a ‘spacious family house’ and the next week, ‘a gleaming entertainment center,’ ” Fortin suggested. That way the same property could appeal both to a childless couple that likes elegant parties and to a family with several children.

“We try to make the house look different every week by not dwelling on the same highlights, such as a new kitchen. A new kitchen might be important to one buyer but not another. And many times it’s the same people reading the ads week after week,” Fortin said.

McCann also cautions sellers against ads that make grander claims for a property than are truly justified. They can backfire on a seller by giving his property a bad name in the local real estate community.

It’s rare for an agent to write an ad that misrepresents a home, but it sometimes happens. For instance, McCann recalls how he recently showed prospects a property that was touted as offering “three bedrooms.”

When the would-be buyers arrived, however, they discovered that the purported third bedroom was really just a small den off the living room. The prospects were miffed, and the listing agent soon changed the ad.

No. 3: Use a “for sale” sign where one is permissible.

Granted, there are condominium communities and new-home developments where “for sale” signs are prohibited, and the homeowner has no alternative but to heed the rules.

Still, among owners of houses in neighborhoods where yard signs are perfectly acceptable, about half refuse to allow the agent to use one, Fortin estimated.

Why do they refuse? Some owners fear their home will be less secure if passersby realize it’s up for sale. Others worry that their neighbors will think something has gone wrong in their lives, such as a financial problem or divorce.

Generally, such fears are without basis, according to Fortin. And by declining to use a yard sign, a seller can greatly reduce full exposure of his property to the buying public. Though it’s a low-tech marketing tool, the yard sign remains a highly effective way to get your message across.

No. 4: Tap into the marketing potential of your neighbors.

Whenever someone in Fortin’s office conducts a public open house at a property, he makes sure that 20 to 100 calls go out to those living in the home’s immediate vicinity.

“Of course, the odds are minimal that the guy next door is going to need a second house in the same neighborhood. But he’s got relatives and friends who have seen the neighborhood and like it as much as he does. He could easily call them and spread the word,” Fortin said.

Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.