By Bill Daprano
President,
Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia
Trying to sell a house during the winter months in a down market can be difficult, but there are several things you can do to improve its marketability. By expending a bit of effort before it goes on the market, you can ensure that your home presents well, stands out from the crowd and doesn’t turn off potential buyers so that you can sell quickly…and at the best price.
Tone Down Personality
Your bookshelves may be filled with Pulitzer-Prize winners and your collection of Americana figurines may reflect your personal interests, but to home buyers, it looks busy and cluttered, and may distract them from truly seeing your home’s unique architectural features and spacious rooms. Also consider whether family pictures help or hinder a sale; future homeowners may not be able to look past your kids’ smiling faces plastered all over the walls and see themselves building their own future in your home.
Since you hope to move soon anyway, go ahead and box them up and put them in storage in advance of the open house or showing.
While that red accent wall opposite the lime green fireplace perfectly ties in with your ultra modern furniture, a potential buyer at your open house may be turned off immediately and decide that the entire house doesn’t reflect their style. Consider painting walls a neutral color such as beige or taupe.
Don’t Burden the Buyer with Repairs
If there are problem areas in your home, get them fixed before the showing. When prospective buyers tour the house and see leak stains on the ceiling or peeling paint, they will also see future work and assume that bigger maintenance and repair issues are lurking behind those small problems.
This is particularly true in kitchens and bathrooms, which are often the two rooms that make or break a sale. The expenses you incur on the front end sprucing up your home will be cheaper than the profits you could lose by having to lower the price to meet buyer demand.
Maximize Exposure
Lastly, take advantage of new technology to find unique ways to market your house. Use YouTube.com, a video sharing Web site, to introduce yourself and your house for free. Take home shoppers on a virtual tour and tell them about its uniqueness and strengths from a first-person point of view.
Use Internet social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to create a Web link with a profile of your home. Include pictures and a description of your home’s features. E-mail the link to your friends and ask them to forward it on to their network of contacts.
Be sure that you are using traditional marketing techniques to your best advantage. When photographing your home for promotional purposes, invest in a wide-angel lens for your camera so that rooms appear bigger and in proportion when they are displayed on Internet home listing sites or in marketing flyers. If you decide to create a virtual tour, look for professionals who will be able to film and upload your video using the best techniques and technology.
For more helpful hints, contact The Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia at (770) 716-7109. The HBA of Midwest Georgia serves over 700 businesses in the building industry in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper Counties.
Showing posts with label association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label association. Show all posts
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Speed Up the Sale of Your Home in a Slow Market
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Home Building Brings Millions into the Local Economy
Reports from a national level senior economist show that building just 100 new homes in the Midwest region of Georgia generates over $43 million dollars in local income and over $8 million dollars in local taxes over a 10 year period.
Dr. Elliot F. Eisenberg, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders, spoke at Fayetteville First Baptist Church last Thursday night at an event on the economic impact home building has on our local economy.
Organized by the Home Builders’ Association of Midwest Georgia and the Fayette County Board of Realtors, Eisenberg’s presentation covered two areas: how monies generated from building new homes flow in the local economy and the costs to the local area to support that growth.
Eisenberg analyzed the impact of new home construction in three phases: the construction phase, the ripple effect and the occupancy phase, and then compared it to the cost of public services like roads, education, fire, police, hospitals and, of special concern, water. Using data supplied by the federal census, the numbers show that new homes in our local region actually pay for themselves in just 7 years.
Eisenberg reports the first year’s impact during the construction phase of 100 new homes generated over $9.2 million in local income, $818,000 in local taxes and created 140 local jobs. But the effect doesn’t stop there. Eisenberg explains that an ongoing economic ripple is created as those who profit from the home building industry spend that money in the local economy.
“The ripple effect lasts for a year following the completion of the home and is approximately 50% of the construction phase,” states Eisenburg. “The occupation phase lasts as long as the house is occupied.”
Eisenburg reports that the first year impact of the ripple phase generates an additional $4.4 million in local income, $499,000 in local taxes and 70 jobs. The occupancy phase produces $3 million in local income, $727,000 in local taxes and creates 52 local jobs.
“These numbers are impressive,” said Lynne Bride of Harry Norman Realtors. “We want people to know that this area is a great place to be and that new growth doesn’t have to cause problems.”
New homes do require fire, police, garbage collection, new parks, roads, schools and they also create new demand for water and other utilities. But findings show that by the end of the 7th year, the cost to support every 100 new homes is fully paid for with an ongoing surplus of $166,946 thereafter. This is the equivalent of municipalities paying off entire sewer systems, schools and more in only 7 years.
Eisenberg asks to contrast that kind of pay off with “car loans lasting 5 years” and asking the question “How fast did you pay off your student loans?”
Eisenburg further explains that without the economic stimulus from new home construction, local economies start to decline pointing to other areas of the country where home construction is stagnant.
“This is an exciting area,” said Eisenberg. “Home ownership is still affordable here and has the ability to pay for itself in seven years.”
Dr. Elliot F. Eisenberg, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders, spoke at Fayetteville First Baptist Church last Thursday night at an event on the economic impact home building has on our local economy.
Organized by the Home Builders’ Association of Midwest Georgia and the Fayette County Board of Realtors, Eisenberg’s presentation covered two areas: how monies generated from building new homes flow in the local economy and the costs to the local area to support that growth.
Eisenberg analyzed the impact of new home construction in three phases: the construction phase, the ripple effect and the occupancy phase, and then compared it to the cost of public services like roads, education, fire, police, hospitals and, of special concern, water. Using data supplied by the federal census, the numbers show that new homes in our local region actually pay for themselves in just 7 years.
Eisenberg reports the first year’s impact during the construction phase of 100 new homes generated over $9.2 million in local income, $818,000 in local taxes and created 140 local jobs. But the effect doesn’t stop there. Eisenberg explains that an ongoing economic ripple is created as those who profit from the home building industry spend that money in the local economy.
“The ripple effect lasts for a year following the completion of the home and is approximately 50% of the construction phase,” states Eisenburg. “The occupation phase lasts as long as the house is occupied.”
Eisenburg reports that the first year impact of the ripple phase generates an additional $4.4 million in local income, $499,000 in local taxes and 70 jobs. The occupancy phase produces $3 million in local income, $727,000 in local taxes and creates 52 local jobs.
“These numbers are impressive,” said Lynne Bride of Harry Norman Realtors. “We want people to know that this area is a great place to be and that new growth doesn’t have to cause problems.”
New homes do require fire, police, garbage collection, new parks, roads, schools and they also create new demand for water and other utilities. But findings show that by the end of the 7th year, the cost to support every 100 new homes is fully paid for with an ongoing surplus of $166,946 thereafter. This is the equivalent of municipalities paying off entire sewer systems, schools and more in only 7 years.
Eisenberg asks to contrast that kind of pay off with “car loans lasting 5 years” and asking the question “How fast did you pay off your student loans?”
Eisenburg further explains that without the economic stimulus from new home construction, local economies start to decline pointing to other areas of the country where home construction is stagnant.
“This is an exciting area,” said Eisenberg. “Home ownership is still affordable here and has the ability to pay for itself in seven years.”
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