Selling a home is an art as well as a science. We often focus on spreadsheets and appraisals and professional stagers when we go to sell a home, but if you want to sell fast and for top dollar (and who doesn’t?) it pays to also focus on the buyer’s state of mind.

Using psychological principles pays off. I recently had a listing appointment with Tony and Susan. They had moved to Atlanta four years ago and I helped them buy a home in Atlanta at that time. Now Tony has accepted a job in Massachusetts and so they need to sell their home and move out of state.

Their home has appreciated a lot in value (by about $75,000 in those four years) so we talked about the great decision they had made when they purchased the home. Tony told me, “and you were such a great help in selling our previous home when we purchased this one.” But The problem is, I hadn’t sold their home – they moved here from Charlotte and an agent there had been their listing agent. I don’t sell houses in Charlotte. Then Tony explained, “we did what you told us to do and your advice sold our home in Charlotte, even though we had a different agent there. That’s how we know you are the best person to sell this home, too.” Indeed, in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in any city – there are a few universal principles that will work to sell a home anywhere. So let’s talk about a few of these.

First, homebuyers buy emotionally and justify logically. That bears repeating; please let it sink in. Homebuyers buy emotionally and justify logically. It’s like picking a mate. You don’t pick the person who is the most practical – you pick the person you fall in love with. Then, of course, you also want to know that the person is a good practical choice as well. You might fall in love with your partner’s deep thoughtful eyes but then want to know that they are ethical, responsible, and gainfully employed. Well, it’s the same thing with houses. A buyer chooses the home that appeals to them emotionally, then wants to be sure the home makes sense logically. A home purchase is more emotional than almost any other purchase because of what “home” means to us, but because it is also a large purchase, buyers will investigate to be sure it makes sense logically once they have fallen in love with the home. So let’s take a look at how to appeal to buyers both emotionally and logically.

A buyer will look at a home and think that they will become the type of person who lives in that home. And what I mean by that is if the home is neat, clean and organized, the buyer will believe that if they move in, they will become neat, clean and organized. Meaning that a neat, clean, organized home will most appeal to a buyer. So we get homes ready to sell by making them into a home reflecting an “ideal” lifestyle.

Then, with the buyer, it all starts online, where the buyer first sees your home. We stage your home perfectly and then take professional photographs so that the right buyer will fall in love with your house before they ever walk in the door. It needs to be “ideal” online so that when the buyer comes to the door they come with positive expectations. Psychologists talk about something called the “confirmation bias”, meaning that when we believe something to be true, we look for evidence to confirm that belief and are more likely to overlook evidence contrary to the opinion that we have formed. Therefore, when a buyer comes to your home with positive expectation, you are way ahead of the game, for if they expect to love it, they are more likely to love it.

First impressions are very important. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about it in his popular book “Blink” – important decisions are often made in the blink of an eye. And with a home, after the very first impression online, the first “in person” impression has to be top notch as well. That’s why curb appeal is so important. So make sure you’ve paid a lot of attention to landscaping and the exterior condition of your home.

If you have used the confirmation bias to your advantage, be sure that you also utilize the fact that buyers “justify logically” to your best advantage. I ask my sellers to write a “buyer letter” putting forth both emotional and logical reasons they, the sellers, chose the particular home. Let the buyer know about the great schools and positive things going on and coming up in the neighborhood that will increase their property values over time. Make a list of the upgrades you have made to the home while living there. Many of the practical upgrades – a new roof, for instance – won’t mean as much to the appraiser as a home seller thinks that it will, but it definitely makes a difference to the buyer. Especially if that buyer is also looking at a home down the street that will need a NEW roof in short order. As your agent, I will emphasize the comparables that make your home a particularly great deal and will also point out the logical reasons your home is the best for a particular buyer, but information coming from a seller has a special impact that is difficult for an agent to provide.

Another psychological truism that applies to home selling is the doctrine of primacy and recency. When presented with a number of choices, it is natural for us to remember the most recent thing and/or the first thing presented to us. That means after a long day of house hunting, buyers will remember the last home that they saw and the first home if all other things are equal. We cannot dictate the order of homes shown when dealing with other buyer agents, so we use brochures of heavy stock glossy paper that are particularly eye catching and which are foldable 8.5 by 22 inches. Buyers put other flyers in this one, and voila – you are the first thing they see when they go to look over the flyers for the day.

Also, when a buyer is looking for a primary residence, they are looking for “home” and for all the emotional appeal that connotes. So consider what makes a home feel like a home. The term “hygge” (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is one “home” concept to consider and is worth examining. The term is Danish and refers to a feeling of coziness and contentment. Even the largest most spacious home can give a prospective buyer the feeling that they will be comfortable and content there (and even cozy, in certain areas of the home) if you will do a few things as a seller. One of these is to bake cookies and to leave them out with bottles of water and a note inviting buyers to help themselves. While it seems cliche and heavy handed, I can tell you from personal experience that it will improve a buyer’s attitude towards your home whether or not they eat they cookies (and if they do, there is the added benefit of elevating the buyer’s blood sugar levels, which improves mood and therefore a buyer’s view of the home). Also, make sure that there are nooks and crannies that are staged to appear comfortable and cozy – the type of place where one would curl up with a book (in fact, leave a book or two in those nooks for that purpose). Other things that can make a buyer feel a sense of home are candles and a fire in the fireplace (if it is winter, and of course if your agent is going to be present to supervise the fire or candles).

Do not discount the importance of considering the state of mind of the buyer when selling your house. Choose an agent who has studied the psychological principles applicable to homebuying. Together, you can convince the buyer that your home is the right home emotionally AND logically.