Real Estate Market

How To Make Buyers Want Your Home

You love your home but when it comes time to sell, you have to share the love. In the other words, you have to make your home be seen in the eyes of potential buyers as their home. That can be tricky.

But if you do some of the basic things such as clearing clutter, creating light, bright, and open space, adding curb appeal, removing personal items (family photos, trinkets), fresh paint, and clean or new carpet -- you'll be on your way to attracting serious buyers.

Let's look at specific areas that create widespread appeal inside the home.

Here are some of the top areas to improve: countertops, flooring, built-in furniture, and old-style attached fixtures such as those big sheet mirrors in the bathroom. However, when making these improvements, there's one important consideration.

Functionality is the greatest concern cited by homeowners, according to the latest poll conducted by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).

"The functionality of a home is very important, especially over the long term, as many homeowners in this economy have opted for remodeling over moving to new homes," says NARI National President Paul Zuch, CR, president of Capital Improvements.

So let's explore the areas I mentioned earlier and see how improving these items can lead to greater interest in your home. Countertops are fixtures in homes. So making sure that you select the best material to endure the daily wear and tear is important. If we're talking about the kitchen, for instance, there are many options: granite, tile, recycled glass (for a green option), solid steel, composite stone, butcher block, laminate, and even concrete. Yes, that last one sounds surprising but concrete is being used for countertops and laminate isn't necessarily trying to mimic other materials anymore. Instead, homeowners are embracing laminate's own unique high-tech look. The popular trend is a mixing of several styles creating a blended custom look for the kitchen. But in the end, functionality will rate highest for potential buyers. All of the countertop materials mentioned above have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to maintenance and usage; make sure you completely research the material before selecting it for your home.

Fixtures are an important area to improve. "People know a lot more about design," Laura Kirar from Larua Kirar-TRU Design told the Alexandria Times. These days, quirky, eclectic styles from international trends are becoming more prevalent in the United States. However, push the envelope too far with quirkiness and you just might lose a potential buyer. What's important to know is that buyers are paying attention to fixtures. If you have damaged or worn out faucets or lighting, it's best to replace them before showing your home. Also, replacing those big, nothing-special sheet mirrors with some framed mirrors can add a unique look without costing very much. While you don't want to have to spend a lot just before you sell your home, remember that these seemingly small items can have a great impact on improving buyers' interest in your home.

Flooring is a big interest for buyers. Wood floors are still very popular. Many Realtors say buyers are looking for hardwood floors. That's partly because they endure and don't go out of style. However, if they're damaged it can be a drawback because buyers may focus on how much work it will take and cost to do the repairs.

Built-in furniture can improve a home. Built-in bookcases and entertainment centers can save space and help make the room look larger. However, there's a downside. Built-in furniture isn't easily movable. So, potential buyers will have to really find the furniture useful and suitable for their needs. "It's all about personalization—homeowners want to know that their space can be converted easily into a different space in the future," Zuch said in a press statement by NARI. And that's what buyers want as well—the ability to make your home theirs when the sale closes.

Choosing The Best Home

After weeks of searching for your next home, you now have it narrowed down to two great options. One offers a shorter commute, but the other offers more square footage for your growing family. How can you make the best choice?

There are several strategies you can employ in your decision making process. Above all, be confident in your decision making abilities. "The fear of making serious decisions is a new kind of fear, called decidophobia," proclaimed by Walter Kaufmann at Princeton University in 1973. Worry and procrastination do nothing to aid the process, so buyers, be confident that you will make a sound choice.

Pro/Con list: In this case, you are deciding between two houses as your prospective home. For each house, divide a sheet of paper into two columns: pro and con. Be realistic about what the positive and negative factors would be for each purchase. Considerations could include: price, location, schools, repairs, square footage, floorplans, street noise, neighborhood value, comparables, and gut intuition.

Brainstorm scenarios: Chances are, whatever house you decided upon will be your residence for many years to come. Try and think ahead to situations that may arise in the future, and how each residence would affect those situations. Do you have aging parents that could move in? If so, then which house provides the best floorplan for this? Planning on having children? Check out ratings on local schools.

Do the math: Business executives might call this the "cost/benefit analysis." Buying a home is a huge financial decision, and while personal preferences (e.g. location, schools, square footage) all come into play in homebuying, many purchases are based on what makes the best financial sense. Discuss numbers and neighborhood comparables with your real estate agent. One home may be a smaller dollar amount, but the other may be a better deal in the long run. Some neighborhoods are up and coming, while others have come and gone. Are either homes overpriced or underpriced for their neighborhoods? Do either homes need repairs or updates?

Priorities list: Yes, you know you want the pool, landscaping, granite counters, close proximity to work, extra bath, and the list goes on. But when push comes to shove, and it might, what items are your priority, really? For some, driving a longer commute is worth having a larger house or a cheaper price. For other buyers, the exact opposite can be true.

Change perspectives: Sometimes you simply must step out of your own shoes to see a situation clearly. There are many different ways to approach this decision. You can look at it from an emotional point of view (which home do you love), an intuitive view (what does your gut tell you), and even a devil's advocate view (what if). Experts consider this the "Six Thinking Hats," introduced by Edward de Bono in a book of the same title, where you put on six different hats during a decision making process. Try and see the buying process from the perspective of your spouse, your children, friends, and even your worst enemy.

Finally, be realistic in your own abilities. While the final decision rests on your capable shoulders, you should rely on the professionals that are by your side. This includes your agent, lender, attorney, and even your family. And while you are the final say, remember that you have a team to help give you information to fuel that sound decision.

Canadian Homeownership Rising as Seniors Stay Home

The age at which you're most likely to own a home in Canada? You might think it's about 50, when your earnings are at their peak, but it's actually age 65 – more than 75 per cent of Canadians are homeowners at that age. But those seniors are not selling off their houses and moving to retirement. The rate of homeownership stays about the same and may even increase a little until age 75, when health or financial issues generally prompt seniors to sell their homes.

A new study by Feng Hou at Statistics Canada says, "The pattern of homeownership after age 65 is consistent with the hypothesis of a 'ratchet effect' in housing: households tend to adjust their house consumption upward but seldom reduce it. One implication of this pattern is that there is not likely to be a spike in the demand for rental housing and a massive increase in the number of houses for sale as the annual population reaching age 65 rises from 320,000 to 570,000 within the next 20 years and the size of this population gradually levels off."

Hou says most boomers will likely keep their houses for at least 10 more years after reaching age 65.

The study used data from eight Canadian censuses conducted between 1971 and 2006 to see when in their lives most Canadians are homeowners. It found that age continues to rise. Seventy-three per cent of those born in the early 1910s were homeowners, compared to 78 per cent for those born during the Second World War. And based on current trends, since those born in the 1950s are already ahead of earlier generations when it comes to homeownership, it looks like the number of senior homeowners will climb to about 80 per cent, says Hou.

Another international study shows that Canada isn't unique in having large senior homeownership numbers. The study, by Italian researchers Tullio Jappelli and Maria Concetta Chiuri, says homeownership in Canada falls more in the 65 to 80-year-old age group than in the U.S. and the U.K. But Hou says this finding was based on those born in the late 1910s and early 1920s, and "is not consistent with subsequent cohorts, where there is less sign of a decline – perhaps resulting from the higher lifetime earnings of these groups."

Hou says that between 1951 and 2006, the life expectancy of Canadians increased by 12 years, so a person aged 65 could, on average, expect to live for another 20 years. With that longer life expectancy has also come more financial stability. Since 1976, full government pensions have been available to those 65 and over, and private pension funds have also become common. It's easier for seniors to maintain their homes or purchase a new home than it was in the past.

"Since the 1980s, homeownership among seniors has risen gradually; this likely reflects the rise in family incomes, particularly at the bottom end of the income distribution. The low-income rate among seniors aged 65 and over declined from 30 per cent of this population in 1980 to 14 per cent in 2005 as a result of the increased direct effect of government transfer income," says Hou's study.

Homeownership generally has been rising for households where the head (whoever pays the bills) is over age 20. From 1971, the ownership rate rose from 60 per cent to 69 per cent. The study found that homeownership rates rise quickly before age 40, and then continues to climb but at a slower pace before it reaches a plateau near age 65.

People who have children are more likely to be homeowners than those who don't. Single parents are more likely to be homeowners than single people without children, but income plays a big factor – single women with children have a low ownership rate because of their low average income.

Some other interesting facts to come from the study:

• The rate of homeownership of those aged 20 to 34, in the highest income group, has grown from 12.5 per cent to 60.4 per cent in the last 35 years. Couples with children in the same age and income group have increased ownership levels from 65.4 per cent to 93.6 per cent.

   

• People aged 20 to 24 are living with their parents longer. "Over the last 35 years, more people in this age group lived with their parents," says the study. "The share of people in their early 20s living in owner-occupied homes rose from 31 per cent to 56 per cent for women and from 52 per cent to 66 per cent for men." This trend of adult children living with their parents is highest in high-income families.