One doesn’t need a set of statistics to know that the tiny house real estate market has grown considerably in the last 2-3 years. Whether it be because families grow out of their tinies or because owners decided to adventure in another way, sales are up and buyers are wanted. There are, of course, some issues that plague the market including elusive financing, insurance difficulties, legal parking, etc. It can safely be assumed that buyers are up in this same period as well. If buyers weren’t more obvious and more plentiful, why would builders and owners think there was a market to enter anyway? All that aside though, let’s pretend there is just one tiny house for sale in the world and one buyer in the world. One can assume then that 1 house + 1 buyer = 1 sale, right? Not so. 1 house + 1 buyer = 1 POTENTIAL SALE. Why? Take in account these 4 real-life “no no’s” regarding why your tiny house may not be selling.
PRICING ON A HOME ON EMOTION RATHER THAN DATA
Take a look at a site like Tiny House Listings. A good number of houses hover around $65,000. Find a couple that are about the size of your tiny house and maybe even in your geographic region. Consider if they offer a parking spot with them or if they are “move upon purchase” homes. Find as many comps as you can in order to ascertain what the market is dictating. Then remove emotion. When a seller is too emotionally attached to a home, it inhibits the ability to sell!
Pricing a home right the first time is crucial because if it’s too high, no buyers will even consider it. And the longer it sits on the market, the more people begin to wonder just why it has been sitting so long. The “something must be wrong with it” mentality begins to take over. A successful sale is one void of ego and personal attachment. Just because it took you 30 man hours to choose the exterior color of your tiny house doesn’t mean you should price it keeping those 30 hours in mind. Those hours were not essential to the build labor. Those are personal hours spent because of emotion.
Remember, memories don’t come with the home, only raw materials and finishes do. That is what you include in the sale price.
KEEPING YOUR HOUSE FILLED AND EVEN CLUTTERED
There is a reason television shows “stage” a house for sale. Buyers want to be able to see what the house is capable of looking like and not what you – the buyer – have personally filled it with. Too much clutter (even if you don’t find it to be clutter) can make your tiny house seem TOO tiny.
NOTE: Make your first step to remove personal items and anything overtly political or religious.
SPRUCE UP YOUR HOME
No one really wants to spend money to “make money”. Most homeowners hesitate when it comes to spending money just before putting it up for sale. Makes sense. Why fix it up for the next guy? But sometimes a little investment can bring about huge dividends. A good example is paint. Perhaps through the past couple of years that Behr “Country Beige” has become more of a “pork fried rice grease tan”. Why not put on a fresh coat of paint? It can boost your sales potential and possibly yield you top dollar!
You can also count on small inoperables such as a broken door hinge or a creaky barn door, will be noticed by a potential buyer almost immediately.
LACK OF MARKETING AND REPRESENTATION
This is a huge pet peeve considering almost every smartphone on the market has an outstanding camera and there are dozens of apps to help you augment your photos. Not to mention the amount of listing examples and templates available online. Taking poor photos and not listing anything exciting about your house is a silly move in today’s market. Potential buyers expect to see quality photos in order to give them an accurate first impression. In addition, pointing out the details of your house in the listing is huge! Don’t do yourself or your buyer a disservice. Show them their future!
Have you ever sold a tiny house? Do you currently have one on the market? Do these tips help or make you think twice about your present listing? Let us know by leaving a comment below. And as always, be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
By Andrew M. Odom for the [Tiny House Blog]
‘ ” pork fried rice grease tan ” ‘
Oh , that’s rich .
You know what color I’m talking about. It is that tan that can only come from grease that doesn’t splatter but seems to just simmer up and stick like a mid-summer’s even spider web.
We sold La Petite Maison fairly quickly. We found a buyer who was perfect for the house and fell in love with it, and we are financing half of the purchase price. While that isn’t necessarily ideal, it made the sale easier for the buyer, and we know someone is in there who loves the house as much as we do and will care for it and live in it for years to come.
Win-win!
The price point is a big deal, though. Since financing is difficult to come by, a 65K house eliminates 90% of potential buyers.
Excellent point. Financing is difficult to come by so all sellers would be smart to pre-think of possible issues and solutions to successfully entertain more offers. Congratulations on the sale!