Sorry about that title. In case it sounds odd to you, just imagine Richard Dawson reading it and you’ll get my intent. And if you don’t know who Richard Dawson is, or haven’t played Family Feud, well then, just move on. Anyhow, it’s really Jerry O’Rourk, our CEO, I wanted to write about. He’s always filling us in on the most fascinating bits and pieces of information. This time it’s the American Community Survey, just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among the results of the survey is the statistic that nearly a third (30.4%) of U.S. households are headed by single women, either with or without children. At Private Sale Partners we wonder how that will impact our business and what particular concerns and issues surround the decision of selling a home “for sale by owner” compared to selling with an agent for the single female head of household. Because if anyone deserves to benefit from the savings inherent in the “for sale by owner” experience, it’s the single woman. (Oh, I’m sorry—is my bias showing?) Anyway, I hope our readers will let us know what might keep a single woman from trying “for sale by owner” or what we can do to make it more compelling. (By the way, in case you’re wondering, the survey shows that 20% (exactly!) of households are either “male only” or “male w/children.”)
Other results to ponder? In 20% of U.S. households, English is not the language spoken at home and 12.5% of the members of the 3,000,000 household surveyed were born in a foreign country. How does this compare to your community? Do you need to develop marketing materials in another language to appeal to a certain ethnicity local to your community? Place a classified ad in local publications or on bulletin boards frequented by that ethnic group? Remember, never discriminate when marketing or making appointments to show your home. Aside from simply being bad form, it’s illegal! (See the Fair Housing Act or the intro to our Home Selling System for proof.)
Finally, if you visualize your buyer coming as the result of a corporate relocation or other long-distance move, think again. According to the survey, your buyer is much more likely to come from around the corner, as 61% of the people who moved in the last year moved within the same county. Make sure your Buyer Information Packet (discussed in detail in Part Two, Marketing Made Easy! of our Home Selling System) tells your potential buyer why your street, neighborhood, or local schools compare favorably with others nearby.
