Knowing the Neighborhood: How to Add Value to Home Listings

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One simple trick can make your home listing much more valuable: sell the neighborhood. This means getting to know the area and learning how to highlight all its best features. There’s a reason real estate agents and brokers place so much importance on location—every nearby attraction and neighborhood amenity is a huge factor in boosting your listing.

The Boise market has had a lot of success showcasing its downtown amenities in addition to the nearby recreational opportunities, making housing in the area a big draw for those looking to escape more crowded, urban areas. When you add features like this to the neighborhood attractions and statistics, you have the tools to make your home or rental listing much more competitive.

So what are some resources you can use to create a compelling narrative for your area? Here’s where to start:

Live Like a Local

Understanding the area means finding the shops and restaurants that locals will love. These simple businesses could grow to mean a lot to potential home owners, and showcasing them as features of the neighborhood will help perspective buyers or renters envision their life in a new place.

Walk around a few blocks. Go for a short drive. Read reviews online of the shops and eateries that stand out to. Not only will the perspective tenant be grateful that you turned them on to their new favorite haunt, helping them understand the area can be immensely beneficial especially for someone moving from out-of-state.

You can help ease a buyer’s anxiety about living in a new area while gaining client appreciation and enhancing the appeal of the property.

Map the Commutes

A major factor in choosing a new home is the commute. With many drivers looking to move out from behind the wheel and into more eco-friendly, cheaper methods of transportation, prospective buyers want to know what their options are.

Find out what the bus routes are in the area; where do they pick up? Can your client get to work conveniently that way? Also find out if the roads in the area have bike lanes that a perspective buyer can use in their commute or recreation.

Knowing all their options for a variety of transportation options can make living in the neighborhood much more appealing, allowing your clients to imagine thriving in your property.

Tell a Good Story

Looking through the history of the neighborhood can be an excellent source of inspiration when constructing a sales neighborhood. Stories are powerful, and the ability to craft a compelling one around the property you are listing can be extremely useful. Your clients will appreciate more detail than just the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

When was the property built? Who built it? What happened historically in the area? Giving your clients all the neighborhood details—from architecture to important figures in local development—will help them see a narrative they can be a part of, a community they can engage in.

The more details you can give your perspective buyers or tenants about the neighborhood, the better. With knowledge of local attractions, options for their commutes, and a narrative around the life of the area, your clients will be drawn to your property. This will build value for the home, as all these features make for a more desirable, competitive listing.

Clients need to know important information like schools in the area and local property values, but having a narrative that they can attach a sense of community to will be invaluable in getting buyer attention.

For more on adding value to your property listings, contact 208.properties today.