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Sunday, October 15 2006 @ 05:07 AM Central Daylight Time
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A new poll conducted by Maritz Research for Royal LePage reveals that the odor of a home has a huge impact on emptors’ decisions of buying a home. The idea of “staging” a home to make it look alluring to buyers has become popular during the last decade, as manifested by the proliferation of numerous home staging companies offering advice about how to make the house more attractive to buyers.
The poll says that while appearance and cleanliness are significant, 53 per cent of buyers said strong odors such as those that emanate from pets, cigarette smells, and kitchen rubbish had a stronger impact on their impression of a home than overall tidiness and cleanliness, strong wall colors, or an outdated façade and landscaping.
The way you live in your home is not the way to sell your home. Oftentimes, homeowners who smoke or who have pets are so habituated to the odors that they do not notice how repulsive these are to other people, especially buyers. The way to get around this trouble is for sellers to solicit a second opinion, perhaps from their neighbor or from a pre-inspection professional, in order to determine how prospective emptors may see their home.
The Royal LePage poll also revealed that renovations can ameliorate the value of a home, especially in the Sarasota housing market today with such a rising inventory. But not all renovations are created equal. Style and décor are especially important with large renovations, as these features will be relatively more expensive for a buyer to change. Thus, they can be a considerable factor in buying decisions.
The poll also indicate that men were more concerned than women about the décor, with 41 percent of them saying that they would be willing to pay a bounty for an updated décor, as compared to only 30 percent of women saying they would. On the whole, more than a third of prospective emptors said they would pay more for a home with an updated décor.
The poll also shows that 79 percent of buyers said they would be willing to pay more for a home with a renovated kitchen. But when asked if they would still pay a premium if the kitchen was renovated in a style that was not to their taste, less than 50 percent of those who originally said they would pay the bounty were still likely to do so.
As the Sarasota housing market begins to decelerate and transition towards a buyers’ market, the need for buyer appeal becomes even more pressing. The poll suggests that a combination of the right renovations with modern and tasteful décor is the most efficient way to acquire that much sought buyer appeal.
While it is quite ordinary to see houses undergo major renovations shortly after a new owner moves in, most buyers in the Sarasota housing market say that they would prefer to buy a house that does not need major overhaul. Of the poll respondents, 63 percent said that they would buy a higher-priced home that does not require renovations, rather than a lower-priced one that is begging for substantial inspection and repair. But the poll also found that 65 percent of buyers thought it would cost more than $5,000 to update a newly purchased home to their tastes, and 57 per cent said they wanted it done within six months from the time they move in.
Another issue that raises concern regarding buyer appeal is that sellers in the Sarasota housing market often mistakenly think that viewing empty properties will give the buyers an accurate sense of the space available. On the contrary, it is more difficult to really judge the size of a room without furniture and other objects as reference points. An empty room even allows buyers to focus on negative details instead of getting a sense of the overall space and the flow of each room to the next. Therefore, staging really helps buyers envision themselves in the space.
Earl Juanico
http://sarasota-realestate.biz |
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