Selling a Home Is Like Running a Business

In so many ways, selling a house is like building a business from the ground up.

You've got a product (your home). You've got competition (every other listing in your zip code). You've got overhead (mortgage, repairs, staging costs). And you've got a singular goal: find a buyer.

But there’s something about running a business that most people learn the hard way… and it's something Paul Featheringill from the SC Small Business Development Center told us on the Pelican Podcast recently:

You can have a business license. You can have a fancy building. You can have all these things. But if you don't have customers that are actually buying your goods or services, you don't actually have a business yet."

Let's swap in some words to make this work in a real estate context.You can have a listing. You can have a beautiful home. You can have the sign in the yard and the lockbox on the door. But if you don't have buyers actually walking through, then you're not actually in the process of selling.

You've got a waiting game. And waiting isn't doing business.

Now it’s time to shake out our feathers and learn what actually brings buyers in. Let’s get our “business” rolling.

What Actually Gets Buyers Through the Door

If your home is your product, then you need to think like a business owner. And that means getting your product right, getting it seen, and knowing when to make adjustments.

Set the right price.

Buyers don't see every home on the market. They set filters like price range, bedrooms, location

and scroll through whatever that pops up. If your home is priced above what the market will bear, you might not even make it onto their screens.

And here's the uncomfortable truth: your home is worth what buyers will pay for it. Not what you put into it. Not what you need to get out of it. Not what your neighbor sold for two years ago.

Overprice it, and you're invisible. The right price puts you in the game.

The first showing happens online.

Before a buyer ever pulls into your driveway, they've already walked through your home on their phone, scrolling in bed at 11pm.

If your listing photos look dark, cluttered, or like they were shot by someone in a hurry, buyers swipe right past. They're not thinking "maybe it looks better in person." They just move to the next one.

Good photography matters. It's the difference between getting showings and getting scrolled past.

Marketing is more than a listing.

Here's what most agents do: put your home on the MLS, stick a sign in the yard, and wait.

That's not marketing. That's hoping.

Real marketing means figuring out who your buyer is and going where they are. Social media that targets the right demographics. Video. Drone footage. A story about the home and the neighborhood that makes people feel something.

It means being loud enough to cut through the noise. That's kind of our thing.

If it's not working, something needs to change.

A Few Things That Seem Small (But Aren't)

• Open the blinds and turn on the lights. Bright rooms feel bigger.

• Clear the counters and box up the extras. Buyers need to picture their stuff, not yours.

• Fix the squeaky doors and loose handles. Small issues make buyers wonder about big ones.

• Ask a friend how your home smells. You're nose-blind to it by now.

• Be flexible with showings. The harder you are to schedule, the fewer buyers you'll see.

• Clean the windows. Sounds basic, but it makes a real difference in how light moves through a room.

• Mow the lawn and tidy the front porch. Buyers start judging before they walk in.

• Hide the pet stuff. Not everyone loves animals, and some buyers have allergies.

• Take down the personal photos. Family pictures make it your home, not theirs.

• Leave during showings. Buyers poke around more freely when the owner isn't watching.

• Put fresh towels in the bathroom. It signals "this place is cared for."

• Park your cars somewhere else. An empty driveway photographs better and feels more inviting.

The podcast with Paul is linked below if you're interested. Especially useful if you're a small business owner yourself, he talks about free resources through the SC Small Business Development Center that most people don't even know exist.

And if your home's been sitting and you're ready to figure out why, we're here. Let's get some buyers through that door.