You’ve heard of the 80/20 rule, right?  It’s also known as the Pareto Principle, and it states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

But what in the world does the 80/20 rule have to do with selling your house?  More than you might think!

It’s easy to say that no two houses are exactly alike, no matter how similar they may seem.  But that’s not the case in real life.  Imagine a buyer is looking at 5 houses.  Four of them don’t have a pool, but one of them does.  The buyer sees the four houses that don’t have a pool, and is about equally interested in any of them; they’re all very similar, none of them are blowing him away.  But then he sees the fifth house, and the pool!  Suddenly, he’s ready to make an offer.  He may even pay full asking price, even though this house is more expensive than the others.

This is an example of the 80/20 rule in action: Buyers focus on unique features.

His offer isn’t based on the 80% of features that this house shares with the other 4 houses.  Instead, his bid is based on the one unique attribute that sets it apart from the others.  As a seller, you can leverage this rule to work in your favor by drawing attention to defining characteristics that set your home apart from the competition.

But that’s not the only application of the 80/20 rule when selling your house.  Take for example a buyer who has seen 15 houses in one day, and with each house, he suggests offers 10%-20% below the asking price.  Then he and his Realtor go into the last house, which had less curb appeal than the others he had seen and was sort of ugly in comparison.  But this house had something special: the great room had a large window with a gorgeous view of the sunset below the distant tree line.  That view sold the buyer; the other 80% could be improved.

Yet another example of the 80/20 rule at work: Buyers pay more for unique features.

I’ll give you one last example of how the 80/20 rule can affect the sale of your home without even conducting a showing!  There was a house that had languished on the market for months.  It wasn’t ugly; quite the contrary!  It was a brand new custom-built home, and yet it sat on the market for over seven months without an offer.

The builder was baffled when his fancy new house didn’t sell immediately, so he fired his agent and hired a new one.  Fortunately, this new agent knew the importance of using the 80/20 rule, and went to the house personally to find that special feature and leverage it.  What he found changed everything!

The house had a gorgeous 5-acre yard which created a private setting, while other houses in the area were all on standard 1 or 2 acre lots.  So the agent marketing the house, featuring the 5 acres and the privacy in addition to the home’s details.  His phone was ringing in no time, and the buyer said he had noticed the house was for sale, but it hadn’t caught his attention until now.

The 80/20 rule strikes again: Buyers are searching for unique features.

The buyer was afraid that someone else would buy it before he could, so he submitted an offer from over a thousand miles away without even seeing the home in person.

The 80/20 rule saves you from wasting time, reduces lowball offers from apathetic buyers, and reduces your stress level all around.  The 80/20 rule works by spotlighting what makes your home different, attracting buyers who are looking for that one item and are willing to pay for it.

Buyers who fall in love with a home don’t haggle over price; they make good offers! 

If you have your home listed for sale and it's not getting any action, take a look at 3 things:

1. Do you have beautifully photographed pictures that highlight the space?



                                                                                                                       YES!!!!



                                                                                                                         NO

2. What is your unique feature and are you marketing to that?

Property description: Homestead/Hobby Farm with over 18 acres, 2 homes, private 2-acre pond stocked with bass and has a small floating dock. Private access to French Broad River w/graded ramp. Privacy and Seclusion, yet only 5 min from shopping.


Agent description focuses on the privacy, income potential, yet with convenience.

What unique feature does your home have?

3. Are you priced competitively for the market TODAY?

Example: 2 Downtown condos in buildings right next door to each other with the same square footage ...

condo #1 - Listed for $430,000 and sold for $420,000 in 226 days

condo #2 - Listed at $425,000 and sold for $425,000 in 1 day

How you present your property, what you say, and how you set up the sale MATTER! Make sure that you are doing the right things to sell your home for the most money, the easy way...call your agent!