The house in the following example had languished on the market for months: Unlike in the previous anecdote, this house was not ugly. On the contrary, it was a brand-new, custom-built home. But nobody seemed to care. It sat on the market for more than seven months without a single offer. The builder was baffled that his fancy new house would not sell. He ended up firing his agent and hiring a new one. Fortunately, the new agent knew the importance of finding that special, unique feature. He toured the house to investigate further. What he found changed everything. The house had a gorgeous five-acre yard. Other houses for sale in the area were all on one- to two-acre lots. Not only was the yard bigger, but it also offered more privacy than the other available lots. So, the new real estate agent marketed the five acres. He described the home’s details, but focused much of the attention on the lot. In no time, his phone rang! A buyer was relocating. He had noticed the house was for sale, but it hadn’t caught his eye with the previous description. THE 80/20 RULE IN ACTION: BUYERS ARE S UYERS ARE SEARCHING FOR UNIQUE FEATURES With the added detail that the house was built on a five-acre lot, suddenly, this buyer was very interested; so, interested, in fact, that he submitted an offer from 1,000 miles away. He had never even seen it in person. He feared someone else would buy it before he could, and he would lose out on the perfect house. That sale happened in 45 days. The builder was amazed! His house had been on the market close to eight months without so much as a nibble. Suddenly it
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