Making Sure That “Ugly is Only Skin Deep”

No matter the price bracket — OK, maybe not at $5 million-plus locally — virtually every home represents a list of trade-off’s for prospective Buyers.

Better location, smaller size. More square feet, worse condition. Great condition, not as good location.

And so on.

So, of the various attributes on most Buyer’s lists, which is one of the best to be flexible on?

My personal candidate is curb appeal.

Buyer Trade-off’s

Home Buyers naturally flock to homes that have curb appeal — and tend to avoid ones that don’t.

The resulting discount spells opportunity for Buyers who otherwise couldn’t afford a particular neighborhood, or are willing to trade curb appeal for, say, extensive updates.

The only trick is just to make sure that, to paraphrase that famous line, “ugly is only skin deep.”

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

Leave a Reply