Your eco-friendly home is perfect for another family too, but you need better exposure.
You've created a wonderfully eco-friendly home, but now you're stuck on how to market it to a new buyer. Although Earth-conscious people share some of the same values, it's not like there's a beacon to draw buyer and seller together when a green home hits the market.
The most widely-used listing service, which is your area's local MLS, contains all homes that real estate agents have listed for sale. There are probably some eco-friendly properties in the service, but many more that aren't. If you want to attract buyers who can really appreciate your home for the efficient, healthy place that it is, you need to up your game a bit.
Inventory Your Home's Green Features
What is it about your home that makes it especially appealing to Earth-conscious buyers? Those are the marketing points that you need to highlight. Assess the features from top to bottom and rank them according to value.
Does your home have Energy-Star windows and doors and geothermal heating and cooling? What about the interior finishes? Low VOC paint, sustainable cork flooring, recycled glass countertops and high-efficiency LED lighting also matter.
Prepare an accounting of how those features affect day-to-day living. How much energy does your home consume? And what's the air quality rating? Green-minded buyers will want to know. And even if you sell to a more traditional buyer, they're still selling points.
Green listing services bring more green buyers and sellers together.
Check out a Niche Green Home Listing Service
They aren't well known yet, but they do exist. Green home listing services only list real estate that has certain green features. You can usually choose the elements that you want to highlight, the same as you'd list the number of baths and bedrooms in a traditional home listing. For example, if your home is LEED certified or has an Energy Star rating, you can promote that.
Using a green listing service doesn't mean that your home won't be included in the general MLS. It's just an additional layer of home exposure that can bring your listing to the attention of like-minded people.
Viva Green Homes is one such service, founded by a real estate agent who was frustrated by how difficult it was to market sustainable properties. You can also ask your agent about 'Greening the MLS.' This is a toolkit that adds data entry fields to a traditional MLS specifically made for showcasing green features.
Most buyers aren't particularly looking for a green home, so you don't want to limit your market to that small niche. A broad appeal is best, even though you'll still promote its Earth-friendly benefits. That said, increased exposure within the right circles improves the odds that you'll attract more people who are just like you.
Some locations have a higher concentration of green homes and buyers who want them, and some are still up-and-coming. One way to see where your home stands as compared to the rest of the market is with a property value estimation from eppraisal. You'll not only find the estimated value of your home, you'll get information about properties around you. Get your free property valuation today.
