It might seem like the big features--pools, home theaters, and large soaking tubs--would generate the most interest and work to sell a home the quickest. That doesn’t appear to be the case, however. As the textile designer and writer William Morris said, “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” It seems homebuyers are taking Morris’s key to happiness to heart, and are focusing on the details of a home.
As Bloomberg reports, Zillow Digs recently released a report wherein they analyzed 2.8 million condos and single-family houses sold across the country between January 2014 and March 2016 and marked specific keywords such as “solar panel” or “barn door.” They then compared similar homes (age, size) in the same area that included the keywords with those that didn’t. The homes they compared ranged from $20,000 up to $88.3 million with the median value being $232,000.
After analyzing the 2.8 million listings, barn doors were found to have the greatest price effect over the expected price at 13.4 percent. Additionally, houses that listed a barn door as one of their features spent an average of 57 fewer days on the market. Shaker cabinets, farmhouse sinks, subway tiles, and quartz rounded out the top five home features that sell. Subway tiles led the way in terms of the listing duration effect as listings with this feature spent an average of 63 days shorter on the market. All of these features are relatively small details that seem to have a large effect on how quickly a home moves.
However, that doesn’t mean that someone looking to sell their home can just hang a barn door and expect their home to magically sell more quickly and be worth more money. These features act as barometers for the rest of the home’s styling.But ‘barn door’ or ‘quartz’ on the listing can help signal that the home has a strong design sense.
For a full list of the features that help to sell a home more quickly, follow the link below.
