Brooklyn Real Estate Q&A and Info

Selling any type of real estate during a recession is not an easy task, but you can get a jump on the competition by appealing to potential buyer’s senses when selling your Brooklyn, New York home.

As human beings, our senses can play a large part in our mood and how we perceive the environment around us.  A smell can trigger a found memory, a song can make us happy.  As someone who wants to sell real estate you can appeal to buyer’s five senses in the following ways:

Sense of Sight - Of course you’ll be taking your furniture, accessories and family photos with you when you move, but appealing to any potential buyer’s sense of sight by having a handsomely decorated and uncluttered home, that has been depersonalized so that the buyers can visualize themselves living there, can be the difference between getting an offer and having buyers walk away. 

Sense of Smell - Our sense of smell has the ability to effect mood. A whiff of apple pie or cookies baking can bring up fond memories of a happy childhood effecting how we feel.  Appeal to any potential buyer’s sense of smell and effect his or her mood by making sure that your home smells clean and fresh.

Having cookies baking during an open house seems a little passe to me, and might make buyers think your trying to hide something (like the smell of mold), so easy does it.   A clean home with subtle hinds of fragrance will go a long way.

Sense of Hearing - There’s nothing wrong with your home being quiet during an open house or showing, but soft background music can be soothing and give your place a homey feel.  If its within your control loud music vibrating the walls, televisions blasting, children screaming and crying, and dogs barking should be avoided.  A nice quiet and peaceful atmosphere may not guarantee your house will sell, but it surely won’t be a hindrance like a lot of noise can.

Sense of Taste - Having food available to potential buyers during an open house is something some Realtors(r) like to do, but truthfully its not really necessary.  Most of the time, the goodies aren’t eaten, but if you do decide to have something for buyers to eat I suggest individual wrapped candies or cookies, something that can be eaten on the go and makes very little mess.

I’m very fond of Hershey’s Kisses or bite-sized Hershey’s Chocolate Bars and I might have a bowl full of them set up by my informational materials at an open house (it is to be noted that I eat most of them myself).

Sense of Touch – Most people would object to potential buyer’s touching their stuff, but you do want them to open up closet doors and otherwise feel free to view your property without feeling like they’re intruding.   A great way to accomplish that is by not being at home (or making yourself scare) when your property is being viewed.  It puts buyer’s more at ease because they won’t worry about hurting your feelings if they have a negative comment about your home, and truthfully, I want them to make negative comments so that I can counter them. 

Will appealing to buyer’s five senses guarantee your home will be sold?   No, but any thing that can help is something you should want to do.  I hope you find this article helpful and if you are looking for a forward thinking Realtor(r) to help you sell your property, please give me a call at the number below or send me an email by clicking here.

Conventional wisdom tells you that the winter months are the worse time to list your property for sale, especially if you live in Brooklyn or any place located in an area where snow and bitter cold temperatures are the norm.

However, there are some advantages to listing your property when the weather outside is frightful, and here are 6 of them:

1. Any buyer who comes to see your property when there’s a foot of snow on the ground, and the windchill is in the single digits is a real buyer, not just a shopper or a time waster who just likes looking at houses.



2. Many times, sellers will take their property off the market for the holidays, decreasing the competition.
3. Less competition means that you might be able to get more for your property.
4. More homes are sold then listed in the winter months (again that limited competition thing).
5. The Home Buyer Tax Credit, for First-Time Home Buyers and new Existing Home Buyer has increased the pool of buyers who have to buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy by April 30th and close by June 30th 2010.
6. If you’re planning on buying a new home once the one you currently own is sold, you have an opportunity to buy during the spring, when many homes are on the market.

As you can see, there are six really good reasons to put your house up for sale during the winter months.  However, keep in mind that pricing it correctly so it won’t just languish there is part of making sure that your property is not only listed when its cold outside, but also sold.