In Williamson County, real estate is still an essential business and many sellers have chosen to continue showing their homes. As you might expect we have seen the number of in person showings dramatically decrease over the past few weeks.
My expectation is once the shelter in place ordinance has been lifted, we will see showings increase but likely not to the same level as pre-Coronavirus. The reason I say that is I expect buyers will be choosier about taking a perceived risk to enter your home. Previously our goal for our listings was to make it into the top 5 homes a buyer would want to visit. Going forward I anticipate buyers will reduce the number of homes they visit in person from 5 to 3. What that means for you if you are selling a home is the online presence is really your first showing and if the marketing isn’t enough to make an emotional attraction the buyer will choose to skip over your home. Less qualified showings result in less offers and less offers may result in a lower price for your home.
Something that confuses buyers is when they see an empty home or rooms where a buyer can’t tell the purpose of the room. With any type of marketing a confused buyer won’t buy. In my experience that is especially true of large purchase like real estate and I expect for the near future confused buyers will skip in person showings if they’re on the fence about a house.
Everyone knows home staging is important for in person showings. What you might not realize is home staging is even more important in pictures since seeing a home online is the first showing. Buyers want to picture living in your house. A home appropriately staged will allow buyers to understand where their furniture will go, where they will watch tv and where their kids will play. Being able to understand how large rooms are also helps a buyer picture how they will live in your house. It’s counterintuitive but having a room staged actually makes a space appear larger in pictures and in person. Since more buyers want more space not less, even buyers downsizing want large living areas, with home staging you are appealing to the largest pool of buyers. If we are expecting less in person showings you want to take advantage of every marketing advantage you can.
Whenever you are ready to talk about a marketing plan for your home in today’s market call/text 512-791-7473 or email eric@koparealestate.com.
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