If you know how important community amenities and neighborhood destinations are to today’s new home buyers, then you’ve probably souped-up your sales pitch with all the important information. Your sales representatives have told potential home buyers about the community garden, the nearby recycling center and the dog park down the street. But, have you merchandised your model home to highlight these community features and lifestyles?
It’s critical for you to communicate a consistent message that your homes – and your community – were made for the lifestyle that your target market of home buyers really desire! Breathe life (or rather, lifestyle) into your model homes by using these professional lifestyle merchandising tips!
No Love Like Puppy Love
Is your community dog friendly? Pets are “people” too, and they are like children to many proud pet parents. Cross Creek community in Sarasota Florida, provides their home buyers with a designated dog park that they call the “Barking Lot”! Presenting your community as pleasant to pets could win hearts and contracts for your community, but how are you communicating that message in your model homes? Stock your home up with signs of puppy lifestyle by hanging a dog leash by the front door with the umbrella and raincoat close by. Fill a large decorative glass jar with doggy treats in the kitchen. Is there a dog park nearby? Post information on a workspace bulletin board in the model home for the park’s location and hours of operation. You can even ask a local veterinarian for their magnetic business card to place on the fridge with a picture of your sales representative’s pet for a conversation starter.
We're Not Kidding About Outdoor Living
Is your community perfect for outdoorsy folks? Perhaps you are located adjacent to a bike path or a lake. Perfect! Attract cyclists and kayakers to your community by merchandising the model home with bicycle books and/or boating artwork. If there is no bike storage in the common areas of a multifamily building, demonstrate how easily a condo owner could store their bicycle by hanging one on a ceiling hook installed on the back patio. If your community is responsive to today’s home owners who prefer eating local produce, you might have a community garden with designated plots for home owners to plant fresh vegetables and seasonal flowers. This is exceptionally desirable in multifamily condo buildings that provide space for rooftop raised gardening beds. If this is the case, then be sure to feature a basket of small tools, gardening gloves and seed packets. Inspire the green thumb in your prospective buyers, and you could be seeing green once they sign a contract!
Captivate Your "Eco-Loco" Home Buyers
We’ve gone coo-coo for “eco”! The craze for green living has caught on with a vengeance as buyers look for ways to save money, live healthier and protect our earth’s limited resources. Does your marketing material attract eco-conscious home buyers with promises of healthy, efficient, low-impact living? If so, communicate that value in your model home by showcasing the best place to tuck away recycle bins and compost containers. Is Target or Publix located conveniently close to your community? Then make sure to have their reusable recycled fabric bags shown in the model. If the spec packages offer a selection of low-VOC paints, post a small sign to communicate that. Another high impact (but affordable) way to appeal to your green-living target market could be through an impressive mural on the wall. In Lake Nona, Florida, the Torino model’s upstairs bonus room became the perfect place to attract earth-conscious animal lovers who watch Planet Earth’s most recently popular hit TV show, Life, about exotic animals across the globe!
Consistency in Lifestyle Merchandising
Consistency is critical when appealing to your potential home buyers’ emotions. Tug on their heart strings by knowing their interests and providing them with the consistent message of their desired lifestyle. If necessary, give your model home’s interiors a merchandising makeover to demonstrate those popular lifestyles that your target market craves. When you win them over with a merchandised model that reflects their favorite amenities that your community provides, you won’t even have to convince them that your product is a perfect fit… they’ll already feel at home!
