Selling your house in Chicago doesn’t have to be all hard work and seriousness with a good measure of nail-biting anxiety. But no longer is an open house with a freshly baked batch of cookies and some fresh-cut flowers enough to do the job. In today’s markets, you have to get a little inventive, maybe even a bit zany. So we offer you 7 fun ideas for selling your house in Chicago.
1. Take Staging to the Next Level
You know you should stage your home to present it as appealingly as possible, but there’s a lot more you can do than just de-cluttering and re-arranging the furniture. A lot of sellers now are taking staging to the next level by using a system or philosophy. Some, for example, are doing Feng Shui staging to improve the home’s chi (energy) so that buyers will feel more welcome.
2. Cozy Up to St.Joseph
A lot of people do this and claim it helps, so don’t reject it outright. Burying a statue of St. Joseph, the patron saint of family and household needs, in the yard has been practiced by home sellers for a long time. They claim it helps the home sell faster, so why not give it a whirl?
3. Hold an Extreme Open House
The standard open house has become pretty dull, and, besides, it’s really more of tool for agents to make contacts with buyers and generate leads. So now the trend is to hold an extreme open house – one that includes catered food, wine, live music, and door prizes. An all-out party like this can generate some real buzz for selling your house in Chicago.
4. Throw in Extravagant Extras
Throwing in freebies and deal sweeteners has been going for as long as humans have conducted business. Now it’s getting pretty extravagant, but it can work for selling your house in Chicago – if, that is, you can bring yourself to part with these items. For example, some sellers, for the sake of sale incentive, are throwing in extravagant goodies like free cars, vacations, and home upgrades.
5. Hold a Contest
Contests are always fun, and they can work for selling your house too. Some sellers are holding raffles or essay contests, and the winners are the ones who get to buy the house or even win it outright. (Just be sure to check your local and state laws.)
6. Let Your House Speak for Itself
Sure, you need a for sale sign, an ad in the local paper, and online listings, but you can take it a little further and have a little fun along the way. Agents and sellers both are now using the Talking House radio transmitter to broadcast a customized message extolling the features and virtues of the home, which buyers can hear on a dedicated radio station as they drive by.
7. Have a Sleepover
Maybe it’s a little crazy, but people are doing it. And that is allowing serious potential buyers to sleep in their home. It may seem like a risky way of selling your house in Chicago, but it does work as a way to let buyers actually experience your home and get them off the fence. You can test drive a car before you buy it, so why not a house?
Are you sold on selling your house in Chicago the fun way yet? And there are even more way-out-of-the-box tactics you can try – after you’ve done all the necessary things like using professional staging, enhancing curb appeal, and using a real estate agent. All of these things will influence how long your home is on the market and what price you get.