Make your ‘previously-loved’ home stand out from home builder competition in 2024

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Published Date 12/28/2023

In these times of high(er) interest rates and home prices, home builders are the ones cleaning up. Whether it’s the latest in home technology or helping buyers with financing, builders have an advantage. And if you add the “newness” and the model home component into the equation, it’s easy for homebuyers to simply sign on the dotted line and wait for their home to be complete to their specifications.

So as a potential seller in 2024, what can you do to compete or even win out against a newly built home? Well for one, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. All you have to do is head to the nearest new home model home parks and take a look at what they’re pushing, then adjust a few things about your own house to make it just as attractive.

First off, focus on your strengths. Features and benefits sell homes best, so what are yours? Larger square footage? Bigger front and backyard? (How about fully landscaped yards with mature landscaping?) Larger bedrooms? A deck with an outdoor kitchen? Some new homes don’t even include a fireplace. Or paneled doors. Or beamed ceilings.

Next, sell the amenities buyers would get if they bought your home. Schools, parks, community centers, bike paths, or golf courses. Savvy buyers look at the entire package – not just the home itself – and if the area around your home is more vibrant than areas where new construction is taking place, you will have a far easier time closing the sale. And don’t forget how much they may have to pay in homeowner’s dues and supplemental taxes for lighting and landscaping their local property taxes no longer cover.

You can’t get around the comparison without going into decor, plain and simple. Trying to compete with brand-new homes means your house and property will need to look as crisp as possible. Spend some time and money on high-impact upgrades to the front of the house, bathrooms and bedrooms. That might mean new faucets and fixtures, replacing an old shower curtain with a glass door, or ripping out a toilet that sits too low and looks too old. For a bedroom that might mean removing those old tri-fold closet doors and installing modern sliders.

Of course, professional staging is encouraged. Builders hire stagers with unlimited choices of case goods and furniture that suit the size of each room and carry a core theme of colors. Walk through a few model homes and take lessons. If you’re staging ‘in place’ – meaning that you’re going to live in the home while you sell it – you’ll need to ensure that your furniture and art look as fresh as possible. That might also mean packing some of it up and placing it in storage until you can move, as many homeowners simply tend to display too much “stuff.” Staging a home means de-personalizing and merchandising it. If you schedule an appointment with a stager, they can explain it all. There are levels of staging services – from a mere consultation with recommendations for a DIY staging job to a partial staging job to a whole-house staging effort. It’s likely there is at least one option that might fit your pocketbook.

Of course, price is always a consideration. So be sure to point out the size of the gap between your listing price and the price of a comparable new home nearby. If you can’t find homes that are of a similar size, an effective pricing method is to use the ‘price per square foot’ metric which typically favors older homes over new construction.

Regardless of where you’re located, it’s likely the price of your home will be a major draw to potential buyers, so be sure to hammer this point home.

And lastly, there’s terms. While you might not be able to compete with a homebuilder offering attractive financing (interest rate buy-downs), you can offer buyers credits in escrow for financing or move-in — perhaps to pay down their mortgage points or replace some landscaping. You can also offer a quick move-in if you’re willing to get out of town sooner than any builder can get a house built for them, and even offer to rent back the house after close of escrow to give them more time to move. Talk to your Realtor about all these options and more.

TBWS

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