When buyers are house hunting, sometimes they’ll be perusing in an area that’s new to them. It might be because of a new job, or they simply fancy a change of scene. They therefore won’t be as informed about the area as perhaps they’d like, and might have a visual check list that they need to cover in order to make sure your house and its location are ideal for their requirements.
What sort of things might they be looking for? In a new area, house hunters will be looking for not only places of convenience, but amenities: good schools for their children, the local hospital, a shop for small items, distance to public transport links and parks, or a local service that can deliver milk to them. You or your estate agent may be able to answer a few prospective buyers’ questions, but if you don’t have children or never use the local bus, a few questions might leave you stumped.
To be prepared for questions out of the blue, do your research beforehand. Google Maps is an invaluable tool. Enter in your postcode, and then use the ‘Search nearby’ tool. By entering in any keywords – school, hospital and so on – it will instantly show you what is the nearest to you.
Make a list of anything you might think is important, and jot it down. It doesn’t hurt to leave your laptop open while the viewers are around; a quick search on the spot will answer their questions straight away, and give your house a few more plus points. Give them a copy of the list as they’re leaving; it’ll make your home and their visit extra memorable, especially if their entire check list was ticked.
If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.
That’s a brilliant idea Sam. I just Googled my postcode and used the search nearby for schools. I’ve recently acquired Adobe Acrobat Pro XI which lets me save a web page to a PDF file so I then created a PDF of that search. The links stay live too, so I’m now thinking of creating something similar for the villages we cover and the City of Ely too. My negotiators can e-mail the required PDF along with the property details, or, in fact, anything that may be relevant to that particular applicant’s needs.
Hi David, glad you liked the idea! And what a brilliant idea for your PDF for buyers, great! It is such a great little tool, and fantastic for finding out what is local. Hope your idea works well for you, do keep us updated!