Homes Manual

Selling Houses: Cutting Edge Design Tips for Selling


In this article, you're going to discover new techniques for marketing houses, and you'll find that these fresh, new interior design ideas will help sell your home faster, and for a higher price than the competition!

Buyers' physical senses respond to a home's design, and what a buyer feels is based upon their psychological reactions to sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste. Design Psychology employs new strategies in interior design to entice buyers.

What do buyers want? They want a home that meets their needs, and they'll eventually buy the home that makes them FEEL happy and will impress their friends, because they also want to be proud of the home they've chosen. Your choice of decorating colors, patterns, textures, and furnishings will influence the way a prospective buyer feels, and the buyer's feelings will impact their choice of housing.

Design Psychology, unlike traditional interior design, brings into play:

Color instead of bland white walls
Furnishings for feelings
Props to entice buyers

COLORS help you sell your home to your target market. Usually, highly-educated and wealthy buyers prefer complex muted colors, while buyers in the lower price range prefer pure primary or pastel colors. Also, your color choice depends upon the selling season. Use warm-color accents if selling in fall and winter and cool colors if selling during spring and summer.

One mistake many realtors make is to tell sellers to paint everything white. White may look clean, but it does little to make a buyer feel as if they "just can't live without the home." White walls also don't create cheerful feelings, and even worse, white walls don't make most people look good. Buyers will ultimately buy the home that makes them feel happy while making them look great at the same time.

As for FURNISHINGS, use cozy-snuggly pieces in cooler weather and fewer furnishings during hot, steamy months, in order to encourage a buyer's emotional response. When a buyer sees your home as a sanctuary from the hectic and harsh world, you'll sell that home.

PROPS include things such as paintings, to add depth and make the rooms feel bigger; flowers or plants, in the right emotional colors for the season; and the primary "prop," mirrors, which psychologically reinforce the buyer's presence in the home. Buyers literally get to see themselves in the home and become emotionally ready to live there.

Costs of Transforming Your Home into a Buyer's Dream House

Most home sellers can invest about $500 to spruce up their home for a quick sale, and a little paint and a little sweat will go a long way. To save some money, check out Restore, which is Habitat for Humanity's thrift store, for building supplies. They carry "oops paint" and lighting fixtures for next to nothing. If you decide to replace carpeting, appliances, and other big ticket items, transformation costs for completely going through a house can cost up to $8,000.

Using Marketing Psychology to Sell Faster for More Money

Always consider your target market and their emotional needs. First-time buyers want shelter and security, while moving-up buyers desire prestige and peace.

After you've cleaned and shined your home, set the stage. Add a few props, carefully selected to encourage a prospective buyer's desired emotions and paying special attention to happiness, joy, serenity, and security. Putting a little extra effort into the marketing your home will pay off with a faster sale and a bigger paycheck at closing.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Jeanette Fisher, Design Psychology Professor, is the author of "Sell Your Home for Top Dollar-FAST! Interior Design Secrets for Optimum Selling in Any Market," and other real estate and interior design psychology books. For more articles, Jeanette's various newsletters, and help with "Creating a Sizzling Sales Flyer," visit http://www.sellfast.info


MORE RESOURCES:

Speculation swirls around ailing US mortgage giants (AFP)

People walk by Fannie Mae headquarters in July 2008 in Washington, DC. Speculation about the stressed financial health of US mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac swirled Wednesday as their share prices further plummeted.(AFP/File/Karen Bleier)AFP - Speculation about the stressed financial health of US mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac swirled Wednesday as their share prices further plummeted.



Fannie and Freddie shares hit 18-year low (Reuters)

The corporate logo for Freddie Mac is seen at its headquarters building in McLean, Virginia, July 23, 2008. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dove to their lowest levels in more than 18 years on mounting fears of a government bailout that would wipe out shareholders of the two U.S. housing finance giants.



Insight: Is the UK market undervalued (FT.com)
FT.com - More UK fund managers, it seems, think their home market is cheap than at any time since the dark days of 2003. And despite that, they are sitting on record levels of cash. Or so the latest Merrill Lynch fund manager survey tells us.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac shares plummet (AP)

The headquarters of mortgage lender Fannie Mae is shown in Washington in this file photo from October 3, 2006. (Jason Reed/Files/Reuters)AP - Shares of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued their plunge Wednesday as investors are increasingly convinced that the stocks will drop to zero if the government bails out the troubled companies.



Mortgage application volume hits multiyear low (AP)

The headquarters of mortgage lender Fannie Mae is shown in Washington in this file photo from October 3, 2006. (Jason Reed/Files/Reuters)AP - Mortgage application volume fell last week to its lowest levels in nearly eight years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.



Consumers face rising medical debt: survey (Reuters)

Beds lie empty in the emergency room of Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans February 14, 2006. REUTERS/Lee CelanoReuters - A growing number of U.S. adults are struggling to pay their medical bills, tapping into savings accounts, home equity and credit cards to cover health care costs, according to a survey released on Wednesday.



Americans think worst of 2008 oil spike over: poll (Reuters)

A New York City cab driver fills his taxi up with gas at a Hess station in New York July 2, 2008. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)Reuters - Most Americans think that the worst of the fuel price spike that pushed gasoline above $4 per gallon has passed, but they have little hope that the housing market will stage a swift recovery, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.



Fannie, Freddie capital raising options uncertain (AP)

In this May 2, 2007 file photo, the Fannie Mae building in Washington is shown. Whether or not the government is actually on the verge of taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investor fears that a bailout is imminent could turn such a worst-case scenario into reality. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)AP - As mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac struggle with continuing credit losses, their ability to raise needed capital is uncertain and, analysts say, is complicated by the possibility of a government bailout of the two companies.



California home sales surged in July, prices fell (AP)

Pat Seymour with Neighborhood Realtors places a 'sold' sign on a home in Riverside, Calif., Tuesday Aug. 19, 2008.  A research firm says home prices in the San Francisco Bay area plunged 29.3 percent in July to a 53-month low. MDA DataQuick says in its report Tuesday that the median price for new and resale homes and condos stood at $470,000 last month, down from $665,000 in July 2007. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)AP - California homebuyers sprung to life in July, pouncing on foreclosed homes and deeply discounted properties but largely ignoring pricier homes that have been languishing on the market, a research firm said Tuesday.



Euro comes off six-month lows after weak US data (AFP)

US dollar and euro bank notes. The euro rebounded from six-month lows against the dollar after a spike in inflation and weak US housing market figures stoked fresh concerns about the US economy.(AFP/File/Philippe Desmazes)AFP - The euro rebounded from six-month lows against the dollar after a spike in inflation and weak US housing market figures stoked fresh concerns about the US economy.



Inflation pressures mount as home building slows (Reuters)

A woman shops at at a mall in a Denver suburb, May 16, 2008. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. wholesale prices shot up in July at the fastest annual rate in 27 years, while home builders cut back on construction as they worked through a glut of unsold homes, government data showed on Tuesday.



Russia 'makes 1 bln dlrs' on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bonds: reports (AFP)

The Freddie Mac headquarters in McLean, Virginia. Investments in the bonds of struggling US home-loan financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have earned Russia more than a billion dollars in the past six months, press reports said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Paul J. Richards)AFP - Investments in the bonds of struggling US home-loan financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have earned Russia more than a billion dollars in the past six months, press reports said Tuesday.



Euro comes off six-month lows after weak US housing data (AFP)

US dollar and euro bank notes. The euro rebounded from six-month lows against the dollar after a spike in inflation and weak US housing market figures stoked fresh concerns about the US economy.(AFP/File/Philippe Desmazes)AFP - The euro rebounded from six-month lows against the dollar after weak US housing market figures stoked fresh concerns over the outlook for the US economy.



Home Depot's 2Q profit drops 24 percent (AP)

Department signs hang at a Home Depot story in Chicago, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. The Home Depot Inc., the nation's largest home improvement retailer, reported a 24 percent drop in second-quarter profit, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, but beat Wall Street expectations. The company reiterated its downbeat outlook for the year amid a weak housing and home improvement market that shows no signs of recovery. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)AP - The Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit sank 24 percent and reiterated its downbeat outlook for the year amid a weak housing market that shows no signs of recovery.



American Home to pay fraction of bankruptcy claims (Reuters)
Reuters - American Home Mortgage Investment Corp , which was among the largest U.S. home loan providers before seeking bankruptcy protection a year ago, said it will pay unsecured creditors no more than 5.9 cents on the dollar as it liquidates assets.
Fannie, Freddie fall on renewed bailout fears (AP)

A AP - Whether or not the government is actually on the verge of taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, investor fears that a bailout is imminent could turn such a worst-case scenario into reality.



IBD's Top 10 - Monday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - 1 Shares of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell 25% and 22%, respectively, both to new lows, amid reports that the Treasury Dept. might have to bail out the 2 gov't chartered companies. The move likely would wipe out existing shareholder equity in Freddie and Fannie. Other financials sold off. Lehman Bros. fell 7% on a report it might post a big Q3 loss.
Economy - Monday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Gov't-insured mortgages accounted for more than 29% of all loan applications in July vs. 8.4% a year earlier, said the Mortgage Bankers Assoc. The gov't market share hit a low of 5.8% 3 years ago. Demand for home loans backed by Federal Housing Administration has increased as private funding has dried up and the gov't has expanded the FHA's scope. FHA loans are insured by the gov't in the event of default, but the actual mortgages are made by major lenders.
'Liar loans' threaten to prolong mortgage crisis (AP)

Salvatore Fucile, 82 and his wife, Clara, pose for a photograph in the kitchen of their Springfield, Pa., home, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008. The couple wound up in an Option ARM from IndyMac after consolidating two mortgages on their suburban Philadelphia home. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)AP - In the mortgage industry, they are called "liar loans" — mortgages approved without requiring proof of the borrower's income or assets. The worst of them earn the nickname "ninja loans," short for "no income, no job, and (no) assets."



Bailout concerns slam Freddie, Fannie shares (Reuters)

The corporate logo for Freddie Mac is seen at its headquarters building in McLean, Virginia in this July 23, 2008 file photo. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - Investors dumped shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.


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