I feel like this post should have a soundtrack because it is Very Important to our trip.
The Final Countdown by Europe, perhaps?
Photo by Warren Talbot
The last big step – financially and materially – is to sell our house. It goes on the market in 2 weeks, and we have a bit of competition from other townhouses in the area as well as a recovering but still down market overall.
Our house is in great shape, and we have some perks that are not common, especially the private rooftop deck with views of Mt. Ranier, downtown Seattle, and Lake Union. It really is stunning.
But how to get people in the door to see the house when so many others are for sale? How can we make our house stand out online so people will put it on their list of homes to see?
We’re asking for your help, readers.
Below is a list of what we are doing and considering. What would you add (low-tech, high tech, staging, advertising, etc.)? We are open to every single sane/crazy/brilliant/stupid idea you’ve got to sell quickly and for a reasonable price. We’ve already made peace with the fact that we’ll be losing money no matter what. <sigh>
- Warren put together a website (you know he does this on the side, right?) with videos, pictures, and fun facts about the house. You can see it here.
- We made videos from each room in the house with our Flip camera.
- Warren posted it at work.
- Our house is on Twitter, and she’s a saucy little tweeter. You can follow her @fremonthome if you are into the Twitter thang.
- I’m putting together a Facebook page for the house.
- We have a banner on our homepage that says “help us sell our house.”
- We are considering partnering with some of the great restaurants in our neighborhood for “year of meals” kind of deal for the new buyer. Luckily we have some great restaurants in our neighborhood.
- We currently have a $1000 bonus to someone who refers a final buyer to us before the house officially goes on the market.
- A Feng Shui expert has gone through the house and made a few recommendations to get it show-ready and improve the flow.
- We will have professional pictures taken.
- We have a Realtor and plan to list it on March 10.
- We have a loan officer on the website to help buyers with any mortgage questions.
- The cat is moving to my mom’s house in New Mexico next week.
- We are approaching Microsoft, Google, and Adobe’s human resources departments to see if they are interested in publicizing the house to their employees. Google and Adobe are within walking distance, and Microsoft offers an employee shuttle run that picks up across the street.
What else can we add to the list?
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About Betsy
Betsy, you have the most robust house selling plan I’ve ever seen!!
I especially like the work with Adobe, Google and Microsoft. I don’t know how much this is done in the corporate sector, but the government, from the Dept of Defense to Dept of State, will occasionally buy and sell real estate for their employees that rotate locations often. Why not try to sell your house to Google/Adobe/Microsoft, the COMPANY? They could use it as an executive retreat, a house for VIPs visiting the plant, a reward to headquarters for employees of the month that live in other states/countries.
A separate idea is to contact local media and share your story: selling dream house to pursue other dream! This kills two birds with one stone, attracting interest to your house AND to your blog.
Good luck!
Great idea, Brook. As my friend Nancy likes to say, Alert the Media! I like the idea of trying to sell it directly to a company as well. Good thinking. Thank you!
This is fantastic! Very comprehensive…and I love Brook’s idea of using the media. I’m sure someone would love the angle of selling your home on Twitter!
Wow. What a stunning view.
I can’t imagine you won’t sell it with all those incentives and exposure. I love the idea of the meals for a year, sad to say that would definitely influence me.
I would definitely do the mass email, especially to Seattle friends, just to make sure anyone you know who knows anyone… etc.
Good luck!
What about a fun video montage (with fun music, think One True Media) of everything that makes your house and neighborhood so great? You could show the restaurants and shopping, nearby activities, the view from your deck, etc.
Good call, Angela. I have been posting occasionally on Facebook, but I have neglected the good “old-fashioned” email. That will go out tomorrow.
Amber, you are so creative! We should get the Flip out and take some video. Warren has taken lots of neighborhood photos, but that would definitely give it more dimension. Plus we could interview people on the street (that could get really interesting!)