How the Model Home Helps Sell the Community
A community is not just a group of houses built together in a specific geographic area – it is so much more than that. It starts with construction and ends with… well, if done correctly and you’ve truly created a sense of community, it doesn’t end. And what ties it all together? The model home. Your model home can be the thing that ties the construction/building aspect of a neighborhood to the human element needed to make a neighborhood a community. And, it can be your most effective sales tool for prospective home buyers.
Creating a Community
So how does the model home help in the creation of a community? It’s all in the merchandising. Model merchandising takes the potential buyer’s hopes, dreams, habits, and needs, and brings them to life. Merchandising blends demographics and psychographics to create an experience. Effective model merchandising makes it possible to visualize, in a very hands-on way, how to experience life in your home and community. While websites and brochures are important in creating marketing buzz, nothing helps sell the community quite like the model home. It sets the tone and vibe of the community for its future homeowners.
Merchandising a Lifestyle Dream
A strategically-merchandised model home allows potential buyers to test drive what it would feel like to live in the home and be a part of the community.
Great Rooms
Model homes give buyers inspiration and ideas on how to handle large, open spaces. Great rooms, for example, can be impressive, but also intimidating from a space planning perspective. The model helps to make the space more accessible. For example, it can show a buyer exactly how their current furniture will fit into the room. Or, where they can hang their TV.
Flex Spaces
Flex spaces within a model allow the builder to demonstrate that you understand what’s important to the buyers in your community. For example, if you are building homes primarily for first time buyers, you probably won’t want to merchandise a large formal dining room as this use is not important for them. Conversely, if your primary buyers are move-up families, they may want to see a large space that can accommodate family dinners. Or, perhaps a designated work from home space is important, or a place for arts and crafts with the grandchildren. The model home allows you to show you understand your buyers’ specific wants and needs.
Kitchens
One of the places that frequently generates the most excitement about living a certain lifestyle is the kitchen. Because kitchens tend to be where we spend the majority of our time in our homes, a well-merchandised kitchen can be the inspirational trigger for your buyer. It can help them see how they will care for their family, entertain their friends, and live every day life.
Making the Sale
Once the land has been purchased, streets have been paved, and the actual houses built, the model home can help tie it all together. A strategically merchandised model home can be the most effective marketing and sales tool for your community: a beacon of an achievable dream.
To learn how we can help create a model home that will help sell your community, please contact us today.
