Lakefront Home in Milford PA

Selling Your Lakefront Home in Milford PA

Will you be selling a lakefront home in Milford PA shortly? If so you might want to be well armed with some of the top lakefront home selling tips!

When it comes to a lakefront home in Milford PA, you would think that they would essentially sell themselves. But in reality, it is only the idea of living on the water that tends to get an automatic “yes”. The actual homes can sometimes face considerable competition, which means as a Realtor you are going to have to bring your A-game to make sure your sale is successful.

Quite often a lakefront property can also be considered a luxury home sale as well, especially if you are located on the a sizable lake where high-end homes are the norm and not the exception.

More often than not with a lakefront home, you are selling more than a structure but a lifestyle that goes along with it. Quite often this can be just as important to a buyer of a lakefront home.

It is vital that the real estate agent you hire has a strong grasp on how to market a lakefront home. Keep reading, and you will see some of the best tips for selling a lakefront home in Milford PA.

How To Sell A Lakefront Home in Milford PA

1. Understand who you are selling to.

One of the most valuable lakefront home selling tips is knowing who you are marketing to. Selling a lakefront home is much different than selling a traditional non-lakefront home. Most buyers who are looking at lakefront homes are doing so because of the lake itself, whether large or small. Many of these buyers have a preconceived notion of exactly what they are looking for whether it is a spectacular view, a private beach or dock or just a place they can put their boat in the water. As a seller, you need to know what the “hot buttons” are for your property and market the heck out of them.

The goal, of course, is to reach those buyers who want the same thing that turned you on to the home when you bought it. Understanding the buyer persona is very similar to when you are selling a luxury property. Do they want a motorboating lake or a non-motorboating?  Electric motors only?  No motors at all?  Just the serenity of the peace and quiet of the lake?  These are all variables when working with the potential buyers.

The real estate agent you are working with should have a firm grasp of this as well. Remember your agent will be the conduit to the buying public so choose one wisely. Many people make the mistake of picking a real estate agent who has no experience selling lakefront homes.

2. Correctly Price your Lakefront Home in Milford PA.

The price you put on the home will make a huge difference in the success of your sale. If you price the home too high, it will sit on the market for an extended period and most likely develop a stigma.

The longer a home sits unsold, the more buyers assume that there must be something wrong with it. Your home could be in perfect condition, but if it is priced so high it repels buyers, it can still develop a bad reputation.

Pricing too low carries its own problems, with you essentially leaving money on the table, so you want to be careful to price it right. Find the sweet spot based on a comparative market analysis and do your best to price the home competitively with other similar homes in your area.

If your Realtor is having a difficult time putting a price tag on your home, it may be worth it to hire a local appraiser. Lakefront properties often have unique features and fewer comparable sales. For the average real estate agent, this can be a challenge.

Quite often while selling homes in the Pike County PA area over our professional career, we have found numerous sellers who believe that just because their lakefront home is on the water, it’s an open invitation to overprice the property. They often think the water “will carry the day” so to speak.

Just like any other property you need to price the home appropriately. Buyers are just as astute buying a lakefront property – maybe more so in many cases. Someone buying a lakefront home will typically do an endless amount of research about the property. Their research often includes an in-depth understanding of the market and what these types of properties are fetching.

If your home is on a lake, they will often ask many of these questions about lakefront living. Be prepared to answer them.

3. Know everything you can about the lakefront home in Milford PA.

Being able to price a lakefront home well compared to other homes in the area requires knowing the home inside and out. Understand how the location of the home factors into the price, and get accurate measurements of square footage, the size of the waterfront frontage and anything else that will make a significant difference in the price.

Remember to include any amenities that are part of the community that the lakefront home is a member of, like a clubhouse or a fitness center. Equally important, make sure you get accurate information about any amenities the home has privately, like a private dock, beach or a boathouse.

Again you are trying to convey a lifestyle to the buyer pool for your home. Make sure your real estate agent puts together a feature sheet that highlights all of the local amenities.

4. Maximize the visibility and “stage” the lakefront.

You may have a fair amount of lake frontage along your property, but the only way that potential buyers will notice it is if you have made it visible. If bushes and trees are obstructing all of the views of the water, then you may want to consider trimming the foliage to make the water easier to see and enjoy.

Of course, you don’t want to just hack up all the trees by your home, either, so just be careful. It may be best to bring out a professional arborist or landscaper to decide how to maximize your view without ruining everything in the process.

Realtors who have sold numerous lakefront properties will often offer suggestions on how best to stage the exterior surroundings. For example, if you have a nice dock on the lake, a table with an umbrella, a few beach chairs, and a grill could go a long way in showcasing part of the outdoor lifestyle or maybe have your “toys” in full view of the dock whether it is your canoe or paddle boat. What you are trying to do is make it easy for the buyer to see themselves in your home.

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5. Get a Home Inspection.

You may know a lot about lakefront homes, which will certainly come in handy during the sales process. However, it is still to your benefit to bring in a professional home inspector to do a thorough evaluation of the property.

A home inspector is trained to examine homes in your area, and he or she is best qualified to identify any possible issues with the home.

One of the potential issues that lots of buyers will have about purchasing a lakefront property is any possible water issues. There is nothing that can turn a sale sour quicker than water penetration into a home. The concern is further heightened if there has been water at some point in the past.

Buyers want to feel confident they will not be dealing with a mold issue. Having a pre-listing home inspection will not only give you piece of mind but could turn up some issues you were not aware of that can be fixed before listing for sale.

Additionally, be prepared for the buyer to ask if your home requires flood insurance. If it does, make sure your real estate agent discloses this up-front. Buyers do not like surprises, and flood insurance can add a significant cost when buying a property on the water.

6. Market with exceptional photography and video tours.

Your photography is the conduit to the world. There is nothing that will turn a buyer away quicker than lousy photography. When selling a lakefront property, your exterior shots become a vital cog in your marketing machine. The lake you live on should be a significant part of your marketing!

Another point that should not be missed is how important your real estate descriptions are to selling the home. While photos are king, your marketing narrative will be queen.

7. Make sure you can get to the dock.

When you have buyers over to look at your home, you can guarantee that they will want to take a walk down to the dock. But if you don’t use the dock very often, or if you have let the landscaping slack over the past few years, chances are there will be some undergrowth in the way.

Bushes along lakefront areas are often tough and eager to fill in gaps, so needing to trim them back is perfectly reasonable. Just make sure you have cleared the way to the dock so that anyone viewing the home will have easy access.

Always keep in mind the curb appeal with a waterfront property includes more than just the immediate area surrounding the home.

8. Repair the dock if necessary.

The new owner of the home may never use the dock, but you can be certain that he or she will want to know it is functional before buying the home. The dock could be a big selling point for the property, so you will want to have it repaired if it has been damaged or degraded to the point of being unusable or unsafe.

You don’t have to renovate the dock if it’s not necessary, but you do need to get it in good working order before you try to sell the home. Sometimes a fresh coat of stain or paint will go a long way.

9. Make the shoreline accessible if possible.

In the same way that the path to the dock can become overgrown, the path to the shoreline may also be grown up and complicated to use. If your shoreline is in any way usable, then you will want to clear the way to it so that potential buyers can see it for themselves. It’s especially important when you have a small beach or path along the water.

10. Clean up the shoreline.

While you know and expect a certain amount of litter, potential buyers have a different image in mind when they imagine their dream waterfront home. There is no trash in their dreams, so it is in your interest to make sure there is no trash when they view the home and the shoreline.

11. Focus on curb appeal – in front and along the shoreline.

Curb appeal is a major selling point for any home. In the average neighborhood, improving curb appeal usually means mowing the grass, seeing to the landscaping and cleaning up the front of the home so that anyone driving by sees the property in its best light.

With a lakefront home, you have two “curbs.” Cleaning up the lakefront side is just as important, maybe more so, than cleaning up the traditional curbside.

If you have a boat, you can take a few turns in front of your house on the water and see if you notice anything out of place or any ways you can improve the look of the home. You can take your real estate agent out with you and brainstorm about what changes you can make to attract potential buyers.

12. Clean the windows.

The saying a picture is worth a thousand words is certainly true when it comes to selling a lakefront property. Views should reign supreme!

Another simple thing you can do to improve the visibility of the lakefront is to clean your windows. Real Estate agents recommend all the time to make your windows sparkle. Doing so is even more important when selling a waterfront home.

Living along the water means your windows are going to get dirty, it’s just part of the package. Before buyers show up, though, make sure this isn’t the case with your home. It can help tremendously.

13. Hire a Realtor that knows Lakefront Homes in Milford PA.

As I mentioned previously, it is incredibly important to work with an agent who does an exceptional job with their real estate marketing.

With a Realtor experienced in lakefront properties, you can significantly improve your odds of getting a good price for your home. A good agent will know all of these lakefront home selling tips and can customize his or her advice to your particular circumstances.

Hiring the right Realtor is always important but especially so when marketing and selling lakefront homes!

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