Top 5 Features St. Louis Home Buyers Want that Aren’t in Marketing Pictures

Home buyers searching through homes on the internet, trying to decide which homes to visit in person, see a lot of pretty pictures (and terrible pictures!). But often the things that get a buyer to make an offer aren’t in those pictures.

Here are 5 of the top features St. Louis home buyers want, but you need to tell buyers you have them since they can’t simply tell by looking at pictures.

1.  Hi-efficiency heating and cooling

Green features and energy saving features that will save homeowners money are very popular with buyers. If you spent the money to put in a high efficiency feature, make sure you tell potential home buyers.

While you might assume that everyone will recognize the difference between a regular furnace and the high efficiency furnace shown above, they won’t.

Instant hot water heaters are still pretty rare in St. Louis, so most of your buyers will have no idea that the picture above probably replaced the big round water heater tank they are used to seeing.

2.  Wood floors are really popular

While buyers might overlook bad pictures, they can’t read minds. If you have hardwood floors under your carpeting but you don’t tell buyers, they won’t know.

Even if you love your wall-to-wall carpeting, there are many buyers out there that really want wood floors. Let them know they can remove your carpeting and get the floors they want, and they’ll probably come take a look at your home.

3.  Gas stoves (or the ability to change the stove to gas)

It’s rare to find a buyer who says they want an electric stove.

While some buyers won’t care, most want gas stoves or the easy ability to change a stove to gas after closing.

The problem with online pictures is that the kitchen pictures often don’t make it obvious the stove is gas. Close-up pictures can solve that problem.

If the stove isn’t gas, but there is unfinished basement space under the kitchen and a gas furnace/water heater in the house, be sure to remind buyers that it will be easy to convert the stove from electric to gas.

4.  Newer roofs and systems

If you replaced ANYTHING in the last 5 years, be sure to tell home buyers. Most buyers really care about the age of systems and assume things are old if you don’t tell them when they were installed.

You don’t need to write the date on your systems, but be sure to place special feature cards around the house to tell buyers the age of systems. You might have written the age of everything in the marketing remarks for the online listing, but they won’t remember those details while they are walking around the house.

5.  No ladder required

Buyers don’t peek into attics or climb on roofs. And even if they did, they usually won’t understand what they are looking at. Or why it is a big deal.

If you spent the money in places they can’t get to on their own, tell your potential home buyers or they won’t know it’s a benefit to buying your home.

Some homes even have attic fans that work. But they are tucked out of sight in the attic. Make sure you buyer understands you have one and it will allow them to avoid using the AC in the spring and fall, saving them money on their utility bills.