Tips For Making Your Home More Appealing To Young Florida Families

Your house must be ready for prime time the minute it hits the market. Nearly 90 percent of younger homebuyers search online during their house hunting. For tech-savvy millennials, that figure rises to nearly 100 percent.

That means your home’s first – and perhaps only – exposure to prospective buyers will be on the internet. Savvy real estate agents have the tools to make your home picture-perfect. They can put your home in the online spotlight: photos, videos, virtual tours – even aerial video taken from drones.

This is where staging comes into play. Just as a movie set designer prepares a scene for the cameras, your home should be staged to make the best impression. Here are some staging and showing tips to make your home more appealing to young Florida families.

Declutter

Get rid of anything that makes a room look cluttered, cramped, or dated. This includes excess furnishings, knick-knacks, and pictures. Young Florida families want to envision the house with their things – not yours. Consider renting a storage unit for your clutter while your home is on the market.

Low Maintenance Inside and Out

Young homeowners are busy. They want to spend spare time with family or on leisure activities, not fixing up the house or spending weekends doing yard work. They prefer hard-surfaced floors rather than carpet, granite countertops rather than laminate.

The outside landscaping should be easier to maintain than the inside. Florida is a gardener’s delight, but what you regard as a jungle paradise, a prospective buyer may view as a maintenance nightmare. A xeriscaped yard with a few native plants looks great, but excessive plants will make them think of all the watering and weeding that goes with gardening. Younger families will look for open spaces for kids and pets to romp. Automated, smart sprinklers are also a plus.

Take the Indoors Outdoors

Young families want their living space to spill into the outdoors. This is especially true in Florida, where the weather is perfect for sitting on the deck or patio. Stage it like you would an indoor room with outdoor sofas or even standalone hanging chairs. Colorful potted plants are always a plus.

Move-in Ready

A National Association of Realtors study shows only two percent of millennials want to take on a fixer-upper project. Most want the house to be move-in ready. Here are some things you can do:

● Make repairs - Fix anything broken, from malfunctioning light switches to dripping faucets. Chances are an inspector is going to spot them before the sale closes anyway

● Paint where needed - A fresh coat always helps sell a house. Go neutral where possible. New electrical switches, outlets, and plates give any room a fresh look and are not budget-breakers. Consider electrical outlets that have USB ports. Young families can’t have too many places to plug in their devices.

● Power wash - Make those front steps and back porch or deck sparkle like new.

Wide Open Kitchen

Younger families see the kitchen as a second living area. You’re in luck if your kitchen can accommodate a table and chairs. An open kitchen allows people to gather and talk while cooking dinner.

All-Purpose Rooms

A generation ago, home shoppers looked for rooms with specific purposes – bedroom, dining room, etc. Millennials want space that can serve several purposes, such as a workout room or a home office. Younger families are not interested in formal dining rooms. If you have one, consider staging it as an office.

The largest home-buying demographic in the country right now is millennials, people who are 40 years old or younger. Those who can afford to seriously shop tend to be in the older range of the demographic. They're more educated, working couples with above-average incomes. More than half of them have household incomes above $105,000 and started having children later than their parents did. Many will be first-time buyers and have specific wants and needs in a home.

Even in a sellers’ market, a few steps can pay off in a quicker sale for above-asking price.