When people are in the market for a new home in South Carolina or elsewhere, they often have specific lifestyle, location or budgets needs they’re hoping to meet. Finding a home that best fits their needs is part of a buyers’ agent’s job. If you’re helping a client search for a new home, he or she might also be looking for certain special features and may even be willing to up an offer to get them.
Buyers might offer more than the list price on a home if one of more of these special interior features are included. It’s helpful for a seller to learn more about these features and to consider upgrading a home to include some of them before putting it on the market, especially if it’s a hot feature that will garner above-list-price offers, in which case, a seller might be able to recoup the investment of adding the feature while still making a nice profit on the sale of the home.
Special interior features that might spur a bidding war
The following list includes trending special features that many buyers are willing to go above and beyond in price to get:
- Central air conditioning
- Kitchen island
- Stainless steel kitchen appliances
- Hardwood floors
- En suite master bathroom
- Granite countertops
- Walk-in closets
- Walk-in pantry
- Ceiling fans
If a home has more than one of these special features, it’s likely going to attract a lot of attention and may even garner a lot of offers.
Exterior special features that often go for top shelf prices
In addition to special features in a kitchen, bathroom or other interior space, many buyers are willing to up their offer for a home that includes one or more of the following outdoor features:
- In-ground swimming pool with deck
- Full-equipped outdoor kitchen
- Two-car garage
- Screened deck
- Patio
- Roof less than five years old
- Prime location
- Lightscaping
- Front porch
The South Carolina climate is perfect for outdoor entertaining year ‘round, which makes exterior special features, such as a pool or screened in living space a hot ticket item on the real estate market. A prime location with access to interstates, top-ranking school systems or lots of local outdoor amenities is likely to attract a lot of buyer-attention as well.
Help your clients refine their home search
To be a successful (and profitable) buyers’ agent, you must be a good listener. It’s important to get as much detail as you can from your clients regarding what types of special features they’re looking for in a new home. But you have to do more than listen. You must also keep their needs and preferences in mind when scheduling home tours.
The more you learn ahead of time about special features or other preferences, the better able you’ll be to refine your search so that your clients have several prime options to choose from instead of wasting their time looking at a bunch of homes that won’t be of interest to them. Do your homework and schedule showings for homes that include as many of your clients’ requested features as possible.