Stimulating the 5 Senses to Sell Your Home

I've said it before, and I'll said it again: buying real estate is a huge emotional investment. Therefore, an owner wishing to sell or rent an apartment must realize that he or she is not only selling space, brick, and mortar, but also (and most importantly!) emotions. A buyer will choose a smaller space because it "feels right" or an unrenovated kitchen because "I can make it my home." When you're selling real estate, you're selling emotions.

 

Once you, the owner, realize this crucial component to real estate sales, you will be able to use it to your advantage in many ways. One of those ways is to stimulate the buyer's five senses, the gateways into the emotional core. Here are some examples of how one might do this during the holiday season:

 

SIGHT: clearly the most obvious sense to stimulate. Not only should the seller do everything possible to make the space look BIG and BRIGHT, but he or she should also give clues to make it feel like home. During the holidays, scatter a few more reds and greens throughout the apartment with pillow covers or candles. Buy a few novelty holiday items with which to stage the apartment. However, don't go overboard, and stay away from strong religious overtones.

 

SOUND: Some quiet holiday music during the open house is likely to put a few smiles on the buyers' faces.

 

TOUCH: Be sure to keep the apartment at a comfortable temperature, so the buyers will feel a sense of relief when they step in from the cold. If you have a fireplace, light a fire to give not only heat, but a walcoming and warm glow. If your bathroom floors are heated, ask buyers to please remove their shoes when they enter the apartment. Throw a soft rug down in the living room.

 

TASTE: Providing buyers with a cookie and some cider or hot chocolate will not only make them feel more at home, but it will always result in longer visits, and a longer visit means an increased chance that the buyer will feel at home and comfortable.

 

SMELL: Potpourri and candles have significant aesthetic and olfactory benefits. Again, think holiday.

 

Massaging the buyers' five senses will give you the edge over the competition. Think about it. If you went to five houses, and only one was staged, smelled nice, had a warm fire, and offered your cider and holiday tunes, which one would you remember? Which one would you return to? Which one would you send your friends to? With smart pricing, excellent marketing, and a capable broker, you can get the buyers to come, and with a little attention to the softer side of selling, you can get them to stay.

Jake Nicholson | Vice President

Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 East 56th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10022
M: 917.280.4546 | F: 917.522.9687
www.jakenicholson.com

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Do real estate auctions work?

You may have noticed ads in your taxi or on TV for real estate auction services such as Bid on the City, and you may have noticed that starting bids are often quite low, and that someone gets a real steal once in a while. I remember reading last year about how someone bought a 1-bedroom in a new development on the Upper West Side for under $50,000 at an auction. It seems like a great way to buy property at a discount, right? But then why do sellers continue to auction their properties?

I was listening recently to a podcast by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and it discussed auction pricing strategies in different markets. It's an interesting bit, and I recommend giving it a listen. It made several points, but the key point for me was that, given the right conditions, an auction with a very low starting bid can result in a higher purchase price than if the starting bid were closer to the seller's desired purchase price. However, this is only true when there is sufficient demand, meaning the demand significantly outweighs the supply. 

For example, a decade ago in Manhattan apartments were flying off the market because the demand was very strong, and the inventory was finite. A 1-bedroom in the West Village may have benefited greatly from an auction with a low starting bid, because many buyers would see an opportunity to get a great deal, and they would make bids.  That's stage one.

Then, other buyers would see the high number of bids on that property and deduce that this property must be something of exceptional value, which would lead them to place bids as well. Soon, you have a large number of bidders. According to studies, competition then becomes a large factor in driving up the purchase price. Winning has value to the buyer, and he or she is subconsciously willing to pay more to win. Also, when a buyer wins an auction, he or she will be more satisfied with the purchase. 

In sum, both the buyer and the seller stand to benefit from such a scenario. While the buyer could potentially wind up with a great deal, the seller is actually likely to get a higher price than he or she would have otherwise achieved with standard marketing or a higher starting bid. This is the philosophy behind creating bidding wars as well - even without a typical auction, sellers will often price exceptionally low to encourage multiple offers and increase the ultimate purchase price.

Does this scenario apply in today's market? In most cases, no. Until demand rises again (and I don't think it has to rise very far), auctioning a property with a low starting bid might be a bit too risky for the seller, unless, of course, that seller is very motivated to sell the property very quickly. In my humble opinion, however, higher-end properties might still be able to use this tool, because their potential buyers still have disposable cash, and they are often eager to take advantage of the investment opportunities offered by current market conditions.

As with many real estate questions, the answer is on a case-by-case basis. If you are considering an auction as a possibility for selling your home, feel free to reach out for a free market analysis. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!

Jake Nicholson 

| Vice President

Charles Rutenberg Realty

127 East 56th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10022

M: 917.280.

4546

 

| F: 917.522.9687

www.jakenicholson.com

Posted via email from Suite Nothings

11 Reasons to List Your Home During the Holidays

Sure, there are fewer people looking for homes during the holidays, but there are other factors that make it a great time to list your home!

Jake Nicholson 

| Vice President

Charles Rutenberg Realty

127 East 56th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10022

M: 917.280.

4546

 

| F: 917.522.9687

www.jakenicholson.com

Posted via email from Suite Nothings

The Price Adjustment

There's a right way to adjusting the price of a sale or rental listing, and there's definitely a wrong way!

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Information: Your Most Powerful Weapon

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Loft vs. Sleeping Loft (big difference)

NYC real estate uses at least two very different definitions for "loft." Here, I show you the difference and tell you what to watch out for.

Renovations - What Is Too Much?

Imagine your dream home. What kind of appliances does it have. How are the walls textured? Are you walking on oak, bamboo, or concrete? Do glass tiles cover all walls of your bathroom, just the shower, or nothing at all. Backsplash or not? Glass-top range or gas? Stainless steel or white? Granite or marble? Size, location, price... okay, so you have your perfect home all sketched out in your head. 

Second question: how do you find that home? You won't. Whether you're buying a pre-war resale or a new-construction condo unit, any existing home is going to be built to someone else's specifications, and it will rarely, if ever, perfectly match your own. Naturally, this quandary leads most buyers to modify, or renovate their new home. They might switch out the dark cabinets for cherrrywood, or they might install tripple-paned windows to conserve electricity. Chances are you will change something about the next home you buy. The question then becomes, how much change is too much?

The answer depends on your situation. If you are absolutely sure that you are going to live in this home until you die, then you have unlimited freedom to do whatever you want with the space. Make your bedroom a triangle and put mirrors on all the ceilings if you want. It will have no financial bearing on your real estate asset because you will always be the only one living in it.

However, if there is a chance of someone else paying you to live in it, whether that person is a buyer or a subtenant, then your strategy should change. The most common mistake owners make is over-personalization. Sure, you may love the fact that you have your own personal steam room, but most other people might not be willing to pay for that. You may think the $150,000 you've put into making your home the ultimate urban oasis makes it unique and special, and therefore has gained at least as much equity upon resale. Sorry to tell you, but this is rarely true. In fact, over-personalization can really hurt your financial investment. Remember, buyers are looking to purchase their own space - not someone else's. They want to feel as if they have the apartment is their own to run with, not that they have to fit into someone else's custom finishes.

If you're a landlord renovating an investment, or if you could potentially want to rent your home in the future, keep updates clean, simple, and current. Renter's can't change anything about the apartment, so they are generally looking for a good, neutral, updated space - often with some "character" if possible (i.e. exposed brick, beamed ceilings, etc.), depending on the building type and neighborhood. Also, as a landlord, you will probably want to sell the unit at some point, so the above wisdom concerning selling applies to your investment as well. 

In general, when renovating, you want to keep your future buyer/renter in mind. Who will be looking in this neighborhood, who will be looking in this building, and who will be looking in this price range? If, for example, you own a three-bedroom on Central Park South, then you probably won't benefit from installing 50' flat screens in your kitchen and bathroom or a kegerator in your closet. Similarly, turning the living room into a playground or the bedroom into a nightclub is probably not the wisest investment. 

What's safe? Anything that maintains the original essence of the apartment and building, but also makes the space feel cleaner, brighter, and updated. Replacing an old electric stove with a stainless steel gas range is almost always a safe bet, as is replacing carpet with hardwood. Also, try as much as possible to personalize the space with removable furniture and decor, rather than with structural modifications, especially in New York City. This will also safe you the hassle of going through your board with every step of your renovation process. 

As always, feel free to bounce ideas off me, and I'll be happy to give you my honest (if brutal at times) opinion. 

Jake Nicholson 

| Vice President

Charles Rutenberg Realty

127 East 56th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10022

M: 917.280.

4546

 

| F: 917.522.9687

www.jakenicholson.com

/ nyc residential / nyc midtown / nyc chelsea / nyc soho / nyc west village / nyc upper west side

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Quidditch World Cup at 54th and 11th: Check out Day 2 tomorrow!

Download now or watch on posterous

p71.mov (5307 KB)

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Music of Manhattan: Bagpiper on 72nd Street

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_0259.MOV (2275 KB)

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Renter's Insurance - A Very Good Idea

One Tuesday evening you come home from work. Dead tired, briefcase in tow, and sporting a loose coffee-stained tie, you near your house to notice some peculiarities about your building: stationed out  front are firetrucks and you aren't allowed past the caution tape. The windows are charred, the street is flooded, and you are sad. Not only have you lost your Yankees cap and brand new Wii console, but you haven't bought renter's insurance to recoup any of it.

Everyone, please listen up. Get renter's insurance! I can't tell you how many stories I've heard of someone losing all of his or her worldly possessions and having no recourse, and also stories of people who had renter's insurance that saved their livelihood. One former client's building was condemned due to water damage to the foundation, and he was not even allowed in to pick up his things. He had expensive furniture, clothes, and electronics inside, and he couldn't get any of it. Luckily, his friendly insurance agent helped him pay for new things and a swift relocation to a great place (including the broker commission). This was a happy story, and it converted me into a hard-core proponent of renter's insurance.

Plus, it's cheap - usually under $200/year. And considering the true value of that policy if tragedy ever does strike, that's quite a bargain. Many landlords are even requiring it these days. I've heard good things about Allstate and StateFarm, so feel free to contact me if you need references. Until then, be safe, and protect yourself.

/ nyc residential / nyc midtown / nyc chelsea / nyc soho / nyc west village / nyc upper west side

Jake Nicholson 

| Vice President

Charles Rutenberg Realty

127 East 56th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10022

M: 917.280.

4546

 

| F: 917.522.9687

www.jakenicholson.com

Posted via email from Suite Nothings