The “for sale” sign has been on your lawn for weeks. The roof is repaired, the house has been painted, but not a single nibble has come your way. What’s a home seller to do?
Eighty-five percent of all sales are based on emotions, says Art Godi, vice president of the National Association of Realtors. To tap into feelings that can influence real estate decisions, turn on the sense appeal, say Godi and other real estate experts.
Sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing can be used as subtle selling tools, real estate players agree.
“The subliminal side of selling is critical,” says Ray Ivancic, broker-owner of a Help-U-Sell franchise in Palatine. Not only for evoking emotions, but also to bolster memory, he says, because house-hunting can be downright confusing.
After just one day of looking at houses, most buyers become rattled about where they’ve been, Ivancic says. Multiply that by the four or five months that most people take to find a property and you’ve got even more margin for memory lapse.
“It’s paramount we imprint on buyers’ memory the event of being in a house,” Ivancic concludes.
Light up your life
Making sure your home has sense appeal is relatively easy and inexpensive.
Proper lighting is one of the first things experts recommend, with natural light being a big plus. So pull those drapes back and let the sun shine in. Unless, of course, there’s a view you’d prefer not to call attention to-a brick wall, for example, or a garbage dump next door.
Mirrors can be used to help reflect light and make rooms look larger. But make sure whatever is being reflected in the mirror is attractive. Don’t waste it on a view of the radiator.
Color can have a big impact on emotions, design experts say. Godi recommends light, inoffensive colors (which he dubs “Monet colors”) for interiors.
Light peach is at the top of Millicent Gappell’s color chart. The Los Angeles interior designer explains that when light bounces off peach walls and onto people’s skin, the effect is extremely flattering. And, she says, it never hurts to have people look good when they peek in the mirror.
Sellers with a culinary bent can send enticing aromas wafting through the house by baking bread or cookies.
If you can’t bake, potpourri is always good. “But get the good stuff,” Gappell advises.
Another warning: Be selective with scent, for what may be pleasing to one person is pungent to another. Stay away from heavy musky smells; light florals are safer. Lemon is always good, Gappell says, “but be careful with pine . . . it can be too masculine.”
Aromatherapy research indicates that spiced apple perpetuates a sense of well-being for most people, Gappell adds.
Sellers are often unaware of unpleasant scents in their homes, say real estate agents, because they have become immune to them. This is especially true where the house is shared with four-legged friends.
Hounded by the smell
One agent recalls a house in which prospective buyers were overwhelmed by “eau de canine” the instant the front door opened, although the owners didn’t think anything was wrong. Frustrated, the agent went over to the house one day armed with two cans of Lysol and sprayed everthing-even the pets. When the prospective buyers showed up a couple of hours later, their first words were: “My, everything smells so fresh.” Even better, they bought the house.
Pets present a plethora of sensory problems: the smell, the noise, the friendly paws groping at you in places you’d rather not be groped. Whatever the reason, it’s smarter not to have animals on the premises, agents say-goldfish being the exception to this rule.
Music can be a powerful mood-setter, say experts, who suggest home sellers turn the radio on to an easy-listening station or put a CD on the stereo system. Classical music is a good choice, but the selection should be something bright rather than somber. Piano solos are recommended over heavily orchestrated works that may be too overpowering.
Music moved one Chicago home hunter into buying-although it was the vision of music that persuaded rather than actual noise. After viewing 20 other properties, the buyer was taken to a downtown high-rise. The woman’s initial perception of the condo was “a very nice box in the sky.” But then turned the corner and confronted a baby grand piano in one room. “It just knocked me out,” she said. “It added elegance to the room that otherwise would have been very plain.” The woman bought the condo with the piano included in the contract, despite the fact she didn’t play.
Sensual selling is not a total panacea, caution experts.
Though it doesn’t make a significant difference in the price your home will fetch, sense appeal will make your property stand out within its price range, Godi says.
Siren song
Indeed, sensual selling can work wonders in a cookie-cutter property.
Ivancic recalls a condo he sold in a building with 600 units, most of them identical floor plans. Before listing with Ivancic, the owner had his unit on the market for a year with another realty firm.
Ivancic suggested the owner get a photo of Marilyn Monroe-the famous shot where she stands over a street grate with her skirt billowing. Then Ivancic told the seller to have the picture blown up to almost life-size proportions and framed in gold. The photo was positioned strategically near the front entrance. The condo sold within two weeks, with the buyer requesting Marilyn be included in the deal.
Some shortcuts to sensory appeal:
– If you don’t want to paint the entire exterior, give the front door a facelift with a contrasting color that sets the entrance apart from others on the block.
– Use a flowering plant by the front door for curbside appeal, hang a bird feeder or wind chimes on the porch.
– Clean out the clutter so people can see the home.
Many experts ascribe to Shakespearean philosophy: All the world’s a stage.
If sellers have a formal dining room, put china out as if you were getting ready to serve dinner. If there’s a deck or porch, set up refreshments outdoors.
“What you’re doing is showing them how they will live in this house,” says Gappell, who likes the idea of placing fresh vegetables out on a cutting board, as if the seller were getting ready to prepare a meal.
If there’s a fireplace, build a fire. Some experts suggest this even if it’s summer, as long as there is air conditioning. Besides the ambience created, you can demonstrate both fireplace and air conditioning are operative.
Godi encourages buyers to reach out and touch the property-feel the carpet, touch materials. If there is one particular room they seem to like, have them sit down for a while. “I want to get them involved with a property,” says Godi, who besides being head of the NAR, has his own Stockton, Calif., real estate firm.
When showing a property with fruit trees in the back yard, Godi would pick a piece of fruit and hand it to the prospective buyer. Of course, something like this has to be cleared with the owners first, he warns.
But, sometimes people can get carried away. One hot day, one of Godi’s associates was showing buyers a property with a pool. When the sales agent waved to the pool and pointed out how refreshing it would be, the buyer, clad in shorts and a tank top, decided to test it out himself and dove in. Refreshing it must have been, for he bought the property.
A caveat to mood makers: Don’t create a cliche.
So much has been made about the bread baking that it may seem trite, points out Jim Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties in Chicago.
Kinney also cautions home sellers “not to try to make the home something it’s not.” In other words, if you’re trying to sell a modest starter home, don’t haul out the crystal. “Make sure it fits,” he says.
Sensual selling is designed to enhance the property, not distract from it. Sellers want to make prospective buyers feel that this is a good place to be. “Nothing should be overwhelming,” Gappell says.
