As the saying goes, “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” The saying is truer when it comes to selling your home than skinning cats since we don’t advocate doing that. Home buyers in Columbia have different needs; preparing your sales strategy accordingly helps increase home showings and makes for faster sales. Here are 4 ways to attract interested home buyers in Columbia.
4 Ways To Attract Home Buyers in Columbia
1. Declutter Inside and Out
Decluttering your home can feel overwhelming, especially after years of accumulating belongings. Items pile up in closets, on bookshelves, kitchen counters, and eventually spread to garages and bathrooms. At Columbia Cash Home Buyers, we’ve seen how clutter makes spaces feel cramped and uninviting to potential buyers.
Since you’re planning to sell and move anyway, use this opportunity to be proactive. Start sorting items for donation or disposal now, rather than after closing. Consider packing non-essential items you won’t need in the coming months and renting storage space if your garage isn’t sufficient without appearing cluttered.
Once the space is cleared, give your home a thorough deep cleaning. With counters, bookshelves, and floors free of clutter, you can sweep, mop, and disinfect everything. This creates the open, flowing atmosphere that attracts serious buyers and helps them envision their future in your Columbia home.
2. Make Necessary Repairs
If you’re aware something needs fixing, address it now. While this seems like common sense, many South Carolina homeowners think they can wait to see how buyers respond. The reality is that buyers will inevitably discover non-working appliances, leaky roofs, and problematic plumbing issues.
How? First, you’re legally required to disclose known issues. Second, even if you’re not aware of a problem, the home inspection will likely reveal it. Buyers will request repairs or credits – meaning you’ll end up paying one way or another, often with added stress and delays.
It’s far more effective to disclose completed repairs, maintenance, and upgrades during the showing process. This streamlines the escrow timeline by preventing lengthy repair negotiations and reassures potential buyers that you’ve been a responsible homeowner who has properly maintained what might become their new home.
3. Stage the Property
Real estate professionals frequently encounter resistance regarding staging. Unless selling a luxury property, many Columbia homeowners question investing in staging services, seeing it as an unnecessary expense rather than a strategic investment.
Remember that staging doesn’t always mean removing all your belongings and renting new furnishings. Sometimes it simply involves working with someone who has a trained eye to rearrange existing furniture and remove personal items like family photos, heirlooms, and distinctive artwork.
All that decluttering was an excellent start. Now it’s time to transform the space into a home where anyone can picture themselves living. This approach maximizes your potential buyer pool, which is exactly what our family-owned business has seen work consistently throughout our decade of South Carolina real estate experience.
4. Set a Market Price Just Under Expected Fair Market Value
This strategy might seem counterintuitive: set a lower price than what the market suggests your house is worth.
When buyers search for homes, they filter by size, location, condition, and price. When the first three factors are comparable between properties, price becomes the deciding factor. In competitive markets like Columbia, SC, a slightly lower price attracts more potential buyers to view your property.
A skilled agent then hosts open houses where crowds of visitors “ooh and ahh” over your clean, decluttered, and well-staged home. These scenarios frequently generate multiple offers, giving you leverage to negotiate prices upward – often exceeding what you might have initially listed for. We’ve witnessed this strategy work repeatedly throughout our years helping homeowners across South Carolina.