Selling Your Home - Why Should Buyers Choose Yours?

Assuming certain factors are the same - such as location, amenities, approximate price range, features - what would entice a buyer to put an offer on your house instead of another in your subdivision?

It’s been my experience that most buyers lack imagination when it comes to looking at properties. They are effected by your decorating, your taste and how your home makes them feel. Only about 20% can detach themselves from your decorations and imagine their home in its place.

So how do you appeal to the 80% of buyers who want to walk into your house and feel at home?

The first step is to de-clutter your home. Any clutter translates into a read-between-the-lines detractor of “not enough storage space”. If you truly don’t have enough storage space for all of your possessions, treasured though they may be, then rent a small storage space. Go through your home and remove everything except the most flattering and visually appealing items. Your home does not want to look bare, but it needs to give the impressions of elegance and space.

The next step is to take care of any maintenance issues before you put the home on the market. You may be temped to say, “I’ll fix anything their home inspector finds”, but in my experience, your initial offer will be lower (or even non-existent) if the impression the buyers get is that you have not taken care of the home. So replace rotten wood, fix and paint damaged or grubby walls, replace torn or damaged flooring, service HVAC units before you call your real estate agent.

The final step is to thoroughly clean the home. Hire someone to help you do a deep spring cleaning - clean baseboards, polish mirrors, shampoo carpets. Make your home sparkle. Buyers will notice on a subconscious level that the home is clean. Why do you think new homes are so attractive to buyers? It’s because no-one’s dirt is there - it’s virgin and pristine.

Once you have listed the home, keep it clean and tidy. Make beds and put away dishes before you leave in the morning. So often I’ve tried to make appointments to show a home, and the seller has said that we’ll have to come back another day because they left the home in a mess that day. Normally there is no “another day”. So if there is a day you’ve had to run out in a hurry, take a deep breath and let it be shown anyway and hope that the buyers are the 20% that can imagine the dishes in their right place!

About Chris Kaufmann
Chris Kaufmann is affliated with Mel Foster Co. Kimberly Road, which is located in Davenport, IA. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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3486 Big Sky Dr, Muscatine IA

Local Information for Davenport, IA

Latitude: 41.542982 -- Longitude: -90.590745

ZIP Codes for Davenport, Iowa	52801 52802 52803 52804 52805 52806 52807 52808 52809
Area Code for Davenport, Iowa	563
Time zone for Davenport, Iowa	CST

Other Area Cities: Bettendorf, IA East Moline, IL Davenport, IA Rock Island, IL

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Davenport is a city in the American state of Iowa that borders the Mississippi River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 98,359. A 2005 estimate tells that the city had grown slightly to 98,845. The city is part of the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois. Davenport is the home of Palmer College of Chiropractic, the birthplace of chiropractic medicine and wellness technique. Saint Ambrose University is also located in Davenport. Davenport is the county seat of Scott County. Davenport often makes national headlines when the Mississippi River floods. It is the only city over 20,000 people bordering the Mississippi that has no permanent floodwall or levee. Davenport prefers the open access to the river for parks and vistas over having access cut off by dikes and levees. Davenport has adopted ordinances that any new construction in the floodplain must be elevated above the 100 year flood level or protected with walls. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Davenport	Iowa	United States
Population	98,359	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	33.6	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	32.2	35.2	34
Median age for Female	35	38	36.5
Households	39,124	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	95,482	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.44	2.46	2.59
Families	24,811	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	3.03	3	3.14
Housing units	41,350	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	39,124	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	2,226	83,235	10,424,540

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