A way to can entice a prospective homebuyer into giving a home more consideration would be to offer to buy down 2pts on the buyers mortgage allowing them to qualify for a higher loan amount with same payment than they had anticipated or even better, a lower payment.
Seeking out a local mortgage company to pre-qualify your prospective homebuyers can also reduce the traffic thru your home. It's a way to make sure that anyone coming in your home CAN buy it.
This service is free at any mortgage company and many supply free supplies including lawn signs for you.
Prepare your home ahead of time for showings. Remove many of the items in your home and use a minimalist approach to decor. Less is more when showing a home. For example, a bedroom with a bed and a small dresser with 1 or 2 pictures looks reasnably sized. However, a bedroom with a bed, a dresser, a TV stand, a desk, a coat rack, and 8 posters looks small.
Also, shoppers may not share your hobbies and interests. For example, your "hunting room" with your collection of mounted animal heads may leave some people with negative feelings about your home. The same would be true of a teenager's room with violent heavy metal or video game posters.
Remember, your primary goal is to sell your home for as much as possible. The more people your home appeals to, the better.
Many local mortgage companies will offer marketing assistance such as signs, flyers, 800 phone numbers and website postings. Please do not be afraid to accept their help. The old standard of placing a generic sign in the front yard and an occasional ad in the newspaper rarely offers enough exposure to sell a home in today's market. Again, don't be reluctant to accept this free help. The mortgage company has no other agenda than to assist you to market your home. Their reward for doing this is that they will be exposed to a number of potential borrowers who look at your home. It is a win-win for both of you!
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