Your home, your lifestyle!

Your Home….Your Lifestyle !                                                                                                            By: Terri Ditty, Realtor®,Broker Associate

Marketing a home is not like marketing a commodity, such as bottled water. While everyone needs shelter, it would be a serious oversimplification to say that’s all a home offers.

Many agents take the perspective that a home is the right home for a buyer simply because they happen to be selling it. The truth is it can be a real waste of time and effort convincing people that a home’s qualities are exactly what they’re looking for. It’s far more efficient to market the home’s qualities to the segment of buyers who have a natural lifestyle fit for the home.

Profiling and segmenting buyer lifestyle is an excellent way to optimize the budget for marketing a home. Rather than taking a shotgun approach it’s best to tailor the home’s story as much as possible to the types of buyers who best represent the projected buyer for a specific listing.

Analyzing the specific qualities of the home is a natural first place to start. Is it close to the beach? Next to the golf course? Does it have a garage fit for two BMWs, or is it a one-Prius sort of place? Has it got natural family sprawl or bachelor appeal?

What originally drew the sellers to the home. What caught their eye? Why was it the right place at the right time? What is encouraging them to move on now?

All of this adds up to the story of a listing. This story can then inform the marketing plan for the property, staging decisions, open houses, and even the way photos/videos are shot and presented online.

We’re no longer looking for a convenient cave for shelter from the elements. We live in homes. Our homes reflect our lifestyle. What story does your home tell?