Q. Are There Any Upgrades I Can Make That Are Especially Desirable to Today's Buyers?
One of the things that comes up now–that wasn’t an issue 10 years ago–is connectivity.
More and more of our home life is wireless: appliances, thermostats, cameras and more are connected to the internet. Landline phones are going the way of the dinosaurs.
The other day I went to Best Buy and started reminiscing about how I wanted gift cards at Christmas to buy CDs when I was a kid. Well, I’m not even sure if stores sell CDs any more - and I'm only in my 30's. And my new truck didn’t even have a CD player, but it had internet capability. Our world is going wireless.
One huge change that the pandemic brought was more people working from home. At first we all thought they’d eventually be going back to the office, but it looks as though for many, the change is permanent. And those people need a reliable high-speed internet connection.
It’s not uncommon for buyers to get out of their car at a house we’re showing them and immediately take out their phone to make sure there is good service. Potential homes that don’t have good wireless connectivity are less attractive to buyers who depend on it.
Just as we advise on the more traditional ways of making your house show at its best, we now advise seller clients in certain areas with poor wireless service to beef up the service by installing boosters prior to listing. You don’t want someone rejecting your house before they ever step inside!
With our buyer clients, if we know a certain area of town has poor reception and know our client depends on wireless communication, we make sure they know about the poor service so they can plan accordingly or look elsewhere.
Real estate changes with the times and we look forward to seeing what the future holds, but right now connectivity is king.
