Are you trying to help a client sell their unique property, and is it becoming difficult because there are no true comparisons in the neighborhood, or because the home might only appeal to a niche set of buyers?
It might be difficult, but it’s certainly not impossible. Here are our tips for pricing, and ultimately selling, unique homes.
Traditional marketing techniques may not be effective
One-of-a-kind homes oftentimes require a different marketing approach. You should post the home on online portals like Zillow, Trulia and Redfin, but you’ll also need to get creative.
Could you stir up some media buzz around the home? Realtor Magazine offers some excellent advice on selling unique properties, and one of the stories shared in this article is particularly inspiring.
Bonnie Bevans, a sales associate in Connecticut, was tasked with selling a red, white and blue home aptly nicknamed the Flag House. So, Bevans got creative. She invited the town to vote on whether the home’s exterior should remain the same. Ballots went around town and the house started getting more and more attention. Major newspapers even picked up the story.
The eventual buyers ended up having the home repainted, but Bevans knows, “The amount of press the Flag House received was a blessing!” She’s using similar techniques to bring attention to and sell other properties.
There’s a lesson to be learned from this story: Draw attention to the home’s most unique characteristics and use them to tell the property’s story. Did something interesting happen on the property? Is there any historical significance? Are there some really neat, modern features?
Securing financing for a non-traditional home
This can be the trickiest part of the entire sale. You’ve found an interested buyer, but now they need to secure financing, and there aren’t any comparable properties to guide the appraisal.
Pricing a unique property
Our Realtor Magazine article from earlier also provides some useful tips for this situation:
- Make sure the appraisal report is as detailed as possible. The more information, the better, and no detail is too small. A detailed report will make it easier to negotiate with both buyers and lenders.
- Calculate the costs of building the house, plus the value of the land it’s built on. These hard numbers and factual costs will help make the case.
- Search for homes with similar square footage that are on similarly sized lots. It’s a better comparison than nothing!
- Be willing to adjust the price to make the sale. It’s not an ideal situation, but it may become necessary if the property just isn’t selling.
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