Unique Ways to Sell a Home

In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of homes for sale. How are you going to get yours noticed? How are you going to get yours sold?

In today’s market, it will take more than painting the walls and trimming the bushes to get noticed, to stand out, to make your home memorable. Dropping the price is something everyone’s doing. What can you do that other sellers aren’t? What can you add that’s different?

Here are some ideas I’ve tried:

1. Get lighted signage that’s illuminated even after dark.

2. Serve light snacks at open house and hand out something your lookers will remember. You want something that will be a positive reminder of your home. I make sure to at least have pens and key chains with our name and contact information on them. I  hand out seasonal gifts. In the Spring, I’ll have packets of herb seeds or small herb plants to hand out.

3. Create an information flyer with all the local conveniences you can find: shopping, schools, universities, hospitals, malls, restaurants, gas stations and attractions in the area, local police and fire stations, even school bus pick up locations. Assume your lookers don’t know the neighborhood.

4. Hand out comp information on your home as well as information on the other listed properties in the area showing that your house is the best value.

5. Do some staging to make sure your home looks its best. Add seasonal touches. Sit out potted plants. Have lemons and limes in bowls or in vases. Fresh flowers are always a nice touch.

6. Offer incentives, any and all you can think of!

• Give gift certificates to local home improvement stores.
• Pay for a free session with a landscape architect.
• Offer $1000 landscape allowance.
• Pay a year’s homeowners fees.
• Offer $1000 for new appliances or any home improvement. Let buyers spend it on what the choose!
• Offer new carpet allowance. Let buyers pick their own.
• Give free lawn service for a year.

7. Paint the garage floor (concrete paint)
Of all the renovation tricks we’ve used, this one gets the most “ahhhhh”s! It makes the whole house feel newer when the garage looks clean and fresh.

8. Offer owner financing or to carry back a second.

9. Send letters to all the neighbors inviting them to “pick their neighbor” with information about your home and your open house. Give them an incentive to talk about your home to others (ie. $200 gift card if they find your buyer).

10. Is your home For Sale by Owner (FSBO)? List your home on the MLS which gets it seen on a lot of the multiple listing web sites.

11. Put signs in the yard and as many directional signs as the neighborhood allows.

12. Put out flyers in surrounding shopping areas.

13. Video your home and put a virtual tour on the web.

14. Put ads on Craigslist and on any free online listing site you can find through Google.

15. Email HR departments at local companies. Many employees prefer to live close to their jobs but don’t make time for house-hunting. Make it easy for them to find yours!

Let me know any additional ideas you come up with and how these work for you!