It’s no surprise that it is hard to sell a home these days. No matter how amazing your home is, the real estate industry is a drag-down, winner-take-all competitive market. Even in the best areas, homes can sit on the market for months and even years. It takes true ingenuity to steer prospective buyers through your front door.
While this is great for home buyers because they have their pick of homes, home sellers need to work extra hard to make a sale. And the longer a house is on the market, the more it costs the seller. Of course, when you can’t sell your own house, you might lose out on your own home buying opportunities; or could lose more money – especially if you have already purchased a new home, or need to get out of a home that you can no longer afford.
Here are some creative and crazy juices for offbeat sales tactics that daring homeowners and real estate agents have tried. Hope they could work out with you as well.
Most people use social media like Facebook and Twitter. Nowadays, keeping in touch with friends or share photos is just with a touch of your fingertips. You can also use it to share the news that you’re selling your home. For example, one Canadian family decided to offer a $1,000 reward for any share that led to the sale of their home. Not sure how it went out, but it can make a big difference with the sale. Who wouldn’t want a fast cash right?
Have an over-the-top open house
The goal is to promote, to market, and to generate a buzz that will showcase all the top quality features the home offers. Real estate brokers are holding open houses with disco and cocktail parties that help forge strategic alliances as well as sell homes. Basically, open houses on human growth hormones complete with live entertainment, caterings and such.
Of course, with bigger and upscale parties comes with a big price, but they don’t have to be one. Try to make it sound unusual and fun.
Just ask Wendy Flynn, a Realtor in College Station, TX, who spent a mere $200 to hire a snow cone truck to park in the driveway of a home she was trying to sell. “Instead of the typical two to five visitors, over 50 adults and countless kids attended the open house,” she recalls. “Of those who visited, five demonstrated some serious interest in the property—proof that creative marketing can help garner attention for a home.”
Create your own reality show
Have you ever thought about creating your own show for your business? Turn on a camera, set up a channel, and let people peek into your home, just to help prospective buyers imagine what it would be like to live there in the future. It sounds a bit crazy, but live-streaming is a great way for them to see the inside of your property without leaving their own couch. Some emerging sites for this kind of strategy are Facebook Live, YouTube, Blab, Periscope and Meerkat Streams.
If you feel a little awkward being a “star,” you can have an event instead such as a live show, or maybe hire a local stand-up comedian to do a short skit in your home that you can publicize. The more eyes looking at your property, the better. But please tell them to keep the adult humor to a minimum as to not to get unwanted ratings.
Has any celebrity been in your house? Maybe slept there, or it served as a backdrop for a movie at one point, or maybe it evokes a certain TV show or movie? Whatever makes your property special, use it to your own advantage. But if you have no celebrity history, then might as well hire actors to set the scene. Just like what Jaisa Bishop from Partners Trust did. She employed her family members to dress in period costume and be in character. “They sat in the garden while a local artist painted and brought a few of his pieces to sell. It was a great success,” says Bishop. “Guests were able to sit and have tea in the garden and eat finger foods with the characters while taking in the home. ‘Downton Abbey’ meets real estate!”
Lost hope with everything else? It might be time to call in some help from invisible fairies. As bizarre as it is, it won’t hurt if you believe and it might just help.
According to Ellen Shaikun, a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Parks & Weinberg Realtors, burying a statue of St. Joseph upside-down in your yard is supposed to bring a quick sale. “I had a client who did it. When the house was still on the market two weeks later, my seller kicked into desperation mode and dug up the statue—having determined that it was buried in the wrong place for maximum impact—and moved it next to the mailbox. My seller was correct: We got an offer almost immediately. As we all know in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location!”
Source: realtor.com, abcnews.go.com, nytimes.com, therisetothetop.com
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Weird Way to Sell Your Home It’s no surprise that it is hard to sell a home these days. No matter how amazing your home is, the real estate industry is a drag-down, winner-take-all competitive market.
