Your peers easily connect with RealtorⓇ lingo but the consumer needs a simple way to understand your listings. A description of a handyman special or a fixer-upper is agent speak for “this house needs substantial work and is mainly land value”. It’s good to give your fellow Realtor® the heads up about your opinion of a property, but how do you communicate value to your buyer and seller?
Realtor lingo thesaurus – turning your words into understandable visuals
Good bones
Ah, the structure of a property. What you really mean when you describe a home with “good bones” is that the frame around which the living area is built is reasonably solid and workable. A better way to convey the message of a home with the potential to renovate is to show the “bones” via real estate floor plans. Homebuyers can easily navigate through the details of a house when given accurately measured space. Not only do measurements provide a way to determine if the square footage is large enough to accommodate the buyer’s personal items but it allows for a complete understanding of the fit and flow of a property.
Mortgage helper
Whether you call it a mother-in-law suite, a mortgage helper, or a secondary suite, you want to convey that there is a space within the property that has the potential to generate income or house an occupant other than your familiar roommates. Suites are a great selling feature of a home and can bring in some extra dollars on a monthly basis. Many consumers are looking for a separate space for their aging parent or university student who has recently returned home. Either way, a suite can make all the difference when marketing a seller’s home. A recent article from NAR highlights the need for innovative floorplans in “The Case for Adaptive Spaces”. A great way to convey your “mortgage helper” is by showing the details of the suite on a floor plan. What is a 3D virtual tour and floor plan going to do for buyers? The most important consideration of a secondary suite is a separate entry point for the occupant. Not only does a separate entrance provide easy access for the user, but it also gives a sense of privacy and security to other occupants of the home. Homebuyers in search of suited homes need to visualize where the entry point is and a floor plan with advanced measurements can help show exactly that.
Flip houses
Have you experienced the “flip” property buyer? Savvy investors looking to make a fast buck by quickly renovating an older “fixer-upper” home have popped up all over the place in the recent market surge. But home flipping is not for the inexperienced buyer. Even mega real estate companies have experienced losses by failing to correctly predict the variables. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Zillow lost $881 million in its home-flipping fiasco in 2021. However, investors who carefully choose popular real estate floor plans for the “handyman specials”, watch the market closely, and pay close attention to their budget have seen success. The benefits of using a floor plan for that construction project range from sharing information with contractors to providing insurance companies with accurate details for potential claims.
Charming
A home with minimal square footage is often referred to as charming. This adjective is also used to describe a property with antiquated fixtures like claw-foot bathtubs and stained glass windows along with narrow hallways and small room sizes. Homes like these need a little extra something to convey value beyond the quaint esthetic. What is a 3D virtual tour going to do to help interest a buyer rather than repel their interest in charming properties? Virtual tours provide in-depth information for better decision making especially when paired with highly detailed floor plans. 3D tours can be produced with 3D cameras or 360 cameras like the ones used by iGUIDE. Potential buyers benefit by understanding the living space through intuitive navigation. This information eliminates much of the guesswork when it comes to how each room works together.
Whatever lingo or jargon you choose when communicating information to homebuyers or sellers, try to elaborate your message by enhancing your grammar with real estate floor plans. Whether it’s a “turn-key” listing or needs a little “TLC” a 3D tour and floor plan can uncover the “hidden potential” of every property.
