Get Exotic With Selling Your Home!

Cookies? Fresh flowers? New TV? It's time to step these home selling tactics to something more clever and exotic, than what worked 20 years ago. No, you don't need a (insert favorite African animal here) in the front yard, but these ideas are defiantly not the normal selling tactics.

Let's start at the beginning, well as close to the beginning as modern home selling goes anyhow, there's an old tradition out there that people swear by. They say that burying a medallion or statuette of St. Joseph (I've heard you want him upside down) in your yard is the key to a quick home sale. There's no economical or psychological reason this works but it's fun and gives you hope.

Now for the things that take a little more work and may seem more realistic.

Go online! Whether listing with an agent or selling your home on your own, get on social networks (Facebook, Twitter & Linked In) and make sure everyone knows you're selling! Post pictures of your home, links to the listing, great things about your home & neighborhood. Your immediate contacts may not be looking for a home themselves, but it is a network so you never know who might know someone that is shopping for a home, so get your contacts to like, share and re-tweet your posts!

Another exotic tactic is overnight showings, this may be just the time the buyer needs to “sleep on it”. Giving them time to “live” in the house lets them get the full experience of the home. Depending on the situation, you may want to stay in the house with them, just make sure they have the master bedroom and you make yourself scarce. You'll probably want to save this one for the buyer that's looked at the home multiple times and needs that little push, after all you aren't running a bed & breakfast!

Staging your home is something you've probably heard of, but adding the technique of Feng shui gives flow to the layout of your home. The flow and openness makes it easier to walk through the home and gives the space a more inviting feel.

If your home has great entertaining space, offer it up as a party venue for groups that fit your buyer's demographic, such as charitable organizations. Have your agent attend the party to offer answers to questions about the home.

Here's the last one, for this blog anyhow. How about a brand new car Bob?! That's right many sellers are throwing in a new car in the form of a 2-year lease. Depending on the sale price of your home this could be equal to paying the buyer closing costs, so dollar wise, it's not that much of a financial risk and a new car is an amazing incentive for a buyer.

All of these ideas may not be winners for everyone, but they do help get the creative juices flowing and I'll be keeping an eye out for more unique selling ideas and pass them on to you here.