Selling a cookie-cutter house can be a challenge because you’ve got to go the extra mile to make it unique enough to stand out from the rest. But what about when your home is so unique and quirky that buyers find it downright strange?
A unique property can definitely come with its own set of challenges when it comes to selling. A home that’s unique is one that is unlike any others in the area. Whether it’s the exterior elevation, the interior layout, or the flamboyant fixtures, a unique home can be tough to market successfully.
That said, there are still some things you can do to effectively prep and market your home to make it more attractive to buyers looking in your area. While it may take a little more time to sell, there’s no reason why you can’t find the right buyer who will appreciate the rarity of your home as much as you do.
Here are some tips to marketing and selling a unique home.
1. Hire an Agent Experienced in Selling Unique Properties
First things first: get yourself a seasoned real estate professional. Selling a unique property on your own is highly discouraged, as takes a certain amount of skill and expertise to effectively market the property to attract the right type of buyer. In fact, it’s extremely important to work with an agent regardless of whether or not the home is unique.
2. Understand Your Target Buyer
Unique homes typically attract a much smaller pool of buyers compared to traditional style homes, and as such, it’s critical to identify exactly the type of buyer who would be interested in making on offer on such a property. Once this demographic is identified, the next step is to come up with an effective strategy to market the property specifically to this group of buyers.
Knowing precisely how to reach these buyers is essential, and your real estate agent will know exactly how to target them.
3. Go Crazy With Home Staging
Professional home staging has been known to help homes sell faster and for more money, but this process is even more important when it comes to selling a unique home. Buyers of unique homes are obviously looking for more than just your average home decor, so give it to them.
For instance, adding an element of Feng Shui or “Vastu” can up the ante in your home staging efforts, which are ancient Asian interior design systems that are meant to maximize the flow of energy (“chi”) through careful spatial arrangement and orientation. After all, it doesn’t hurt to have some good energy flowing to make a prospective buyer feel more at home.
4. Throw in Some Lavish Goodies
The design of a unique home already provides some sort of a ‘wow’ factor, so why not continue that trend with some extravagant extras to throw into the deal?
These days, any incentives you can offer buyers can go a long way at the negotiating table. Sellers are topping up their deals with all types of freebies, such as all the furniture, 6-months’ worth of mortgage payments, and even vacations. If you can swing it, throw in an unexpected and highly valuable goodie to entice buyers to take a step closer to putting in an offer and sealing the deal.
5. Use High-Quality Video and Aerial Photography
Having a professional photographer come in and take shots of your home is extremely important to attract buyers. But when it comes to a unique property, you’ve to pull out all the stops. Many homes are unique because of their setting or where they are located, so having an aerial shot of the property and surrounding area can works wonders at highlighting the majesty of the property.
Having a video taken of the property is also very helpful, and in fact, it’s come to be expected from buyers. This is especially true if the unique home is considered a luxury property. In this case, a high-quality video is an absolute must.
6. Make Your Open House a Festive One
Instead of holding an average open house, infuse some energy into it and turn it into a party. Vamp up your open house by having live music, food, wine and spirits, and other elements that go into a festive gala. Advertising a shindig like this will certainly get buyers’ attention and can generate a lot of interest in your home.
7. Give Buyers a Trial Run
While an unconventional tactic when marketing real estate, you may want to be open to allowing buyers who have expressed serious interest in your home to actually spend the night. This will give them the chance to really get a sense of what life would be like for them if they lived in the home. If a certain buyer is on the fence about buying, perhaps spending 24 hours in your home is enough to nudge them in the direction of sealing the deal.
8. Give it Time
It’s important to understand that selling a unique home will almost certainly take longer to sell compared to your average home. With a smaller pool of buyers to depend on, you can expect the property to sit on the market a little longer until the right buyer comes along. Keep that in mind to prevent you from becoming discouraged if the home is not sold as quickly as would have hoped.
The Bottom Line
Selling a unique home is certainly unlike selling a conventional property and definitely calls for some out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to effective marketing. In today’s housing market, it takes a lot more than just planting a For Sale sign on the front lawn and throwing up some photos on the internet to attract the right buyers, especially when your home is unlike any other in the neighborhood. Be sure to hire a real estate professional who is well-versed in the art of selling unique homes and follow their advice in detail.
