When I was a full-time real estate agent, I found myself with an unusual niche... Vacant Homes!
I was "Denver's Vacant Home Specialist!"
I LOVED it! I could do (or not do) an open house whenever I felt like it. Show up when it suited me, leave when I wanted, no worrying about small-talking with the homeowner who was trying to get her toddler ready, her dog penned up and her lunch dishes washed at 2:20 (for my 2-4 open house). I could show my listing at any time, without calling ahead. No dealing with seller complaints about agents who showed up early... late... or not at all.
Is marketing vacant homes brain surgery? Nope. But believe it or not, marketing vacant homes IS a valid specialty!
Here are just a few of the problems I offered solutions to:
~ Vacant homes don't photograph well (bring in the home stager!)
~ Light bulbs burn out with astonishing frequency
~ Who's gonna shovel the snow?
~ Mow the lawn?
~ Clean up the dead bugs?
~ Unused toilets get nasty, fast!
If you have a vacant listing, you'll be dismayed by how quickly things deteriorate into chaos. Shower curtains fall down, lockboxes jam, sprinkler systems mis-fire. Strange smells permeate the home from any number of mysterious sources. SOMEONE has to solve these problems... why not YOU?
I fell into my niche because of all the fix-n-flip investors I worked with in the late 1990's. In response to the fix-n-flip craze, I started one of the first full service home staging companies (www.stagingdenver.com) and offered free staging to my investor clients. Ahhhh, the good old days.
But, I digress. If you're an introvert and looking for a niche suitable to your personality, think about the vacant home market. Hook up with a home-stager (who offers furnishing services, not just redecorating), pack a little tool kit (lightbulbs, dusting clothes, trash bags, etc.) for your car and put your antenna up for vacant home sellers.
They're out there... and maybe they're looking for YOU!
copyright Jennifer Allan 2007
More great points Jennifer! And your comment about the light bulbs.... you couldn't be more accurate!!! :)
a local article said that Savvy Sellers are turning away from the open houses in favor of online virtual tours. I think the vacant house stands the most to gain from this... as do stagers.
a stager can come in with furniture and props for a single photo shoot and therefore needs to spend much less money on equipment.
still list the house as vacant but if people are buying from tours, large pictures can show AFTER.
Yeah,
Those toilets do get nasty in a vacant home! Someone told me if you leave the lid up all the time that this doesn't happen, ever heard of doing that?? Does it work?
I happen to love to list vacant homes - You don't have to feel uncomfortable (like you are invading someone else's space), buyers can stay as long as they like and investigate things about the home that they wouldn't normally feel like doing in occupied houses.
The thing that I don't like about the vacant homes is that a lot of the times it means that the sellers are making two house payments and their stress level is higher than someone who is only making one payment.
Bob Mitchell
ValueList
Jennifer,
That is a great idea. Most homes that are vacant in my area are usually newer homes which makes showings even better. I think it helps though having it staged than just showing it empty.
Jennifer,
This is where the foreclosure market it also good for introverts. They are vacant!!! I am still reading your book and I love it, btw:)
Sounds like a great idea...looking for sellers whos house will be vacant. Did you market yourself this way?
In my opinion vacant homes don't show as well, so yes staging required.
Have a great day!
Maria
I didn't really market myself to the general public (although I could have); but it was definitely helpful in my listing presentations with investors and retail sellers who had vacant homes. Also, I owned a staging company, which put me in front of more vacant home sellers.
Vacant homes are definitely nice because of the flexibility of scheduling. Great ways to market yourself!