4 tips for freshening up your real estate listing

Is your listing getting a little stale? Try these tips to spark new interest:

1. Steal an idea
If other listings have been selling faster than yours, snoop around and get a feel for what other sellers are doing right -- then copy them. “They can go to open houses, and they can see how their house stands up to the competition," says Krae Van Sickle, senior vice president of The Corcoran Group. Small cosmetic changes can make a big impact, so take the time to stage your home properly. “The ones that are best presented are the ones that will sell,” he says.

2. Change your photos
“So many people are making a huge amount of their judgment based on the photos on the Internet,” Van Sickle says. So don’t let your listing appear dated: If the tulips were in bloom when you took your exterior shot, it’s time to replace that photo. “Change the pictures with the seasons,” advises Cyndi Sheppard of Re/Max Alliance in Miller Place.

3. Update the comments
This one’s most effective if something has actually changed -- you’ve given the place a new paint job, for instance, or scheduled an open house. But even if you just add a word or two to the description, the agents will see that the listing has been updated -- and they just might give it another look, Sheppard says.

4. Drop the price
It’s painful, but sometimes necessary: If you can’t make the kind of improvements needed to get your house up to par with the competition, you’ll need to make some serious concessions to get buyers to consider making the effort. “For buyers, having to do work is an enormous barrier to entry these days,” says Van Sickle. “Say the kitchen would cost you $20,000 to do, you have to take at least $30,000 off your price because they still have to go the trouble of doing it.”

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