Selling To Snowbirds

Let's face it; it is not an easy real estate market out there for sellers right now. Housing prices have fallen in many areas, some more drastically than in others, and everyone with a house up for sale seems to be having trouble getting real offers. Houses are staying on the market for a lot longer than they were two years ago; as one Toronto estate agent put it, the massive boom in housing is being followed by an equally massive, corrective bust.

Fortunately for residents of Gilbert Arizona, the area has some attractions going for it that other places in the United States of American cannot boast of. For the last sixty years or so, the warm temperatures and near constant sun of the state have attracted migratory snowbirds.

Snowbirds, of course, is the term applied to people who travel from one location to another in order to avoid winter weather. These people hail from Canada and some northern states, and are tired of dealing with snow, temperatures far below freezing, and sunless days for half of the year. They are looking to leave their Yonge Eglinton condos behind for the season and come south to where the sun shines for all but 50 days a year.

Targeting snowbirds specifically is a tactic which has been overlooked by home sellers for a long time, but these days some versatility is required in order to ensure you get a sale that fetches the right price for your Gilbert home. The key lies in understanding who these migrants are, and what they are looking for in a second home.

Almost all snowbirds are people who are either retired, or very close to their retirement. The advent of the Internet Age is seeing more working snowbirds, although these are still the exception rather than the rule. What you want to do as far as making your house snowbird friendly is ensure that there is no work to be done on it. Renovate your bathrooms if that is needed; throw in a modern glass vanity to give it an up-to-date look.

Remember that these travelers are looking for something with a touch of home to it as well, even though they are only considering a purchase. Putting up a few paintings, some wall quotes, and a few little extra touches will really help give it that homey feel, which makes the house easier to sell.

The marketing part of selling your house to snowbirds is a little bit trickier. The first step, of course, will be contacting a real estate agent. Tell them about your plan, and see if they have a few leads in the snowbird direction. Often, interested snowbirds will already have contacted a local agent and discussed their second home plan, detailing what type of home they want to live in while they are away from their Leslieville lofts.

It might be a buyer's market right now, but Gilbert residents have a lot going for them as far as market appeal. Finding the right target market will mean you have a good chance of selling your home in a timely manner, for a good price.