Aerial View of Lake Minnetonka!
Many people look for Lake Minnetonka area homes for different reasons. Young families come here for the great schools in Mound, Orono, and Wayzata. Empty nesters want a Lake Minnetonka home to retire in and call their own. Others enjoy recreational sports on the lake and what the surrounding business’ have to offer. There is something for everyone in the Lake Minnetonka community to enjoy and builders are capitalizing on this opportunity.
Over the past few years builders have purchased surrounding golf courses and large acreage lots to build new homes in the Lake Minnetonka community. This is great news for the area as it creates an expanded tax base, feeds local business’ and shows overall healthy suburban growth. From a real estate perspective these new homes have affected some existing home owners values. Buyers have the option of purchasing new vs used for close to the same price, the former will usually win out. Many buyers want prefer the turn key new home and its energy efficient qualities. So what can you do as an existing-home seller to make your home appealing to today’s buyer? The Lake Minnetonka Home Team has a few ways of combating these new homes to net you the most money possible in our current market.
Advertising
You don’t have to take a marketing class to know that the more people who see your home the better your odds will be to find the right buyer. Call us old fashion, but we still do paper advertising in the Lake Minnetonka Magazine (which mails to 15,000 homes), Star Tribune Homes Magazine, and the local Laker paper. Although, we definitely don’t stop there, as our private website ranks high on google and we actively market on Facebook, Zillow, Trulia, LinkedIn, and Twitter. From the newspaper reader to the person who never sets down their phone, we advertise to them all! Our job is to have your home seen by as many people as possible and stay one step ahead of big construction advertising.
Promote Your Strengths
To net top dollar on your home you need to stand out from the competition and the best way to do that is capitalize on your greatest assets. New construction homes in developments are nice but are often times the same build throughout, leaving little room for unique features. In many cases the lot and landscaping can cost tens of thousands of dollars in new construction. On an existing home the mature lot and landscaping is already in place. Does your existing home have a four season porch, a sauna, built in home theater, front porch, or custom patio? These are all big ticket items on a new construction. Whether its a great neighborhood or a unique home feature, you most likely have an asset that the new construction is lacking. These are some of the features that we focus on when a buyer comes into your home and starts to make comparisons to new construction.
Sell Your Surroundings
Buyers who choose new construction will have the newest kitchen, energy efficient mechanicals, new paint, and carpeting but will be lacking in features you cannot build overnight. Existing homes have matured, quiet neighborhoods while in a new development you may be living in a construction zone for years to come. Also new construction can be further from community buildings, grocery stores, and schools. Again, don’t forget about landscaping costs which can get into the tens of thousands on a new home!
You may not have the newest home but beautiful landscaping goes a long way!
Ultimately most people will know what they are looking for when it comes to buying their next home. Do they want a bigger kitchen in the new build or the custom woodwork in an existing home? Explaining the facts, informing buyers, and giving buyer the proper information can make or break getting a deal done and that is what The Lake Minnetonka Home Team Strives to do for existing home owners.
Do you live in the Lake Minnetonka area and thinking of putting your home on the market? Give Tim Landon a call at 612-978-5471 or Nick Landon at 612-280-2758 and we would love to meet with you!