"Slices of 30A"

5 Steps to Prepare Your 30A Beach House or Condo For Sale

We all want to be good neighbors. But when it comes to selling your home, it's not just about "keeping up with the Joneses." It's about outshining them at every opportunity!

With new listings hitting the market locally each week, the right strategy has never been more important to win over buyers and achieve the highest possible sales price. Here are five proven steps to set your property apart from the competition.  

STEP 1: Stage Your Home to Show Its Full Potential

Home staging is one of the hottest trends in real estate—because it works! According to the Real Estate Staging Association, professionally staged homes spend 73% less time on the market.

So, what exactly is staging? In a broad sense, staging is the act of preparing your home for the market. The goal is to highlight your home's strengths, minimize deficiencies, and help buyers envision living in the space.

Staging will allow buyers to see your home in its very best light, and it helps illustrate what the property has to offer without requiring a complete makeover. 

When staging a home, you might rearrange the furniture to make a room feel larger or remove heavy curtains to make it appear brighter.

Some sellers hire a professional home stager with specialized training and experience to maximize the appeal of their home to the largest number of potential buyers. Others may opt to do it themselves, using guidance from their agent.

We can help you determine the appropriate budget and effort required to push your home ahead of the competition in your neighborhood. The good news is an investment in staging pays off. According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), twenty percent of both buyers' and sellers' agents said home staging increased the dollar value offered by between 1% and 5% compared to similar homes on the market not staged. 

STEP 2: Draw Buyers in with High-Quality Listing Photos

You only have one chance to make a first impression with potential buyers. And many buyers will view photos of a listing before they decide whether to visit it in person. In fact, according to NAR's survey, 85% of buyers find photos "very useful" in their home search. Poor-quality or amateur-looking listing photos could keep buyers from ever stepping through your door. 

Since good photography is essential in getting your property noticed, we only work with the top local professionals to photograph our listings. But we don't just rely on their photography skills when showcasing your home.

We go the extra mile to ensure your listing photos showcase the true essence of your home. We're always on-site during the photo shoot to help the photographer capture the best angles and lighting and tell them about unique or compelling selling features they should photograph. The extra effort pays off in the end. In fact, listings with high-quality photography sell 32% faster than the competition … and often for more money!

STEP 3: Price It Properly From the Start

Even in a strong real estate market, some homes will sit unsold for months. This can be the "kiss of death" in real estate, as buyers tend to imagine that something must be wrong with the property, even if it's not the case.

But why are those houses still on the market in the first place? It's because they are often priced too high.

Every buyer has a budget. And most will be viewing listings within a particular price range. If your property is overpriced, it can't properly compete with the other houses they may be considering that are priced correctly, meaning it'll sit on the market until you're eventually forced to drop the price.

Alternatively, if you price your home aggressively, it can be among the best options buyers have seen within their budget. This can lead to emotionally attached buyers, who are often willing to pay a premium or settle for fewer seller concessions. And in certain markets, it can lead to a multiple-offer situation or a bidding war. The end results? More money in your pocket.

We can help you determine the ideal listing price for your home in the current market. Pricing it correctly initially is the best way to ensure a fast and profitable sale.

STEP 4: Put on a Good Show at Each Showing

When marketing and selling your primary 30A residence, the first step is to make your home readily available. Most of our clients are willing to work with a 4 to 24-hour notice, but if you set too many restrictions on when it's available, busy buyers will skip over your listing and move on to the next one.

Making your home available means keeping it relatively show-ready as long as it's on the market. Most of us don't live picture-perfect lives, and our homes reflect the day-to-day reality of our busy (and sometimes messy) families. But a little extra effort spent keeping your home clean, fresh-smelling, and ready for buyers will help it sell faster … which means you can get back to your regular routine as quickly as possible!

Before listing your property, decide if you will be selling the home furnished or not. But remember, offering a furnished property doesn't automatically justify a higher price. If the buyer decides to replace all the furniture, they'll consider the cost and effort of having the furniture removed in making a purchase offer. 

When marketing and selling a 30A vacation rental,  highlight unique features representing untapped income potential, such as a separate or connected mother-in-law suite with a separate entrance. And think beyond the numbers to explain the "secret sauce" that led to any past success with the property, such as a hidden pathway that leads straight to the beach or proximity to local dining and shopping.

Regarding showings, you can continue bookings while your property is for sale. Potential buyers can view the property while vacant or between when a renter checks out and the next check-in.

Buyers of vacation properties along 30A are typically investors seeking a cash-flow opportunity. In that case, you'll likely need to prepare in advance evidence for your profit-and-loss statements, vendor contracts, and any financial models and projections you've put together. 

STEP 5: Use a Proven Promotion Plan

Over 90% of buyers start searching online, yet only 51% reported finding the home they purchased online. This trend similarly exists in our 30A real estate market. That's why we invest in the latest technology to ensure your listing appears in the places where buyers are most likely to look. 

Our dual-level promotion strategy includes pre-launch activities designed to seed the marketplace and post-listing activities to ensure your home stays top-of-mind with potential buyers. 

By utilizing online and social marketing platforms to connect with consumers and offline channels to connect with local real estate agents, your property gets maximum exposure to prospective buyers.

LET'S GET MOVING

Are you thinking about listing your home? Get a head start on your competition! Contact us for a copy of our Home Seller's Guide, which offers a complete guide to the home selling process. Or call us to schedule a free no-commitment consultation. We'd love to put together a custom plan to maximize the sales potential of your property!