How show houses remain the most effective form of all the estate agents 'tools'
Category Weekly Advice
Certain residential property estate agencies, says Rowan Alexander, Director of Alexander Swart Property, have recently been propagating the idea that holding show house days is a tiresome waste of peoples’ time and are no longer needed to bring about a satisfactory sale of a home. However, he says, he simply cannot go along with, or understand, this thinking.
“We all know that a high percentage of home buyers today have probably come to the agency after initially checking the stock lists of several firms on line and we recognise that the ability to give a virtual reality and augmented reality tours has been of huge benefit to estate agents, including ourselves.
However in the end we still find that show houses are by far the most effective ‘tool’ an estate agent has-- and I would question the motives of any agent who disagrees with this. At Alexander Swart, 90% of our sales come as a direct result of holding show days.”
One big advantage of show days, says Alexander, is the fact that the visitor gets a ‘feel’ not only for the house but also for the neighbourhood and the neighbours. This is especially true if the home is visited over a weekend.
Another advantage is that show houses attract the drive-by or walk-in potential customer who sometimes is very impressed and becomes an enthusiastic buyer.
A further big advantage of such days is that they give the visitor the opportunity to look for structural and other defects.
“It is important,” says Alexander, “that the visitor to any show house checks the home for cracks and damp stains. In particular, he should examine the condition of ceilings, cornices, melamine cupboards and laminated floors.
These components are more seriously affected by damp than other building materials and, if wet, deteriorate faster.”
Here, however, he says, a warning is necessary. Hairline cracks which occur quite often in plaster are in many cases not serious and probably not indicative of a genuine structural problem.
They should be inspected to see just how deep they go, but can often be accepted as they are.
Similarly, says Alexander, the damp stains which people identify and worry about are almost invariably NOT caused by the much feared “rising damp”, i.e. moisture coming up from the foundations. The more likely cause is water penetration from elsewhere, e.g. a plumbing fault or blocked gutters.
These problems occur most often when a house is on a slope or a water shed area but, unlike rising damp, are mostly easily remedied.
“All in all,” he says, “the show house plays an important role in helping to enable the potential buyer really to get to grips with the home, to understand its advantages and weak points and to assess whether it is what he wants.”
For further information contact Rowan Alexander on cell phone number 082 581 3116 or by email rowan@asproperty.co.za.
Author: Independent Author
