Flaunt These Home Features to Help Clients Sell for More and Faster

Today’s home buyers appear to take their cooking seriously — so seriously that they paid as much as a 5.3% premium for homes with steam ovens, pizza ovens and other professional-grade appliances, according to recent Zillow research. 

The premium amounts to an additional $17,400 on the sale of a typical U.S. home, the research found.

The apparent enthusiasm for the hearth extends outdoors, with buyers willing to pay a premium for outdoor kitchens and pizza ovens and fenced yards in which to serve their feasts.

“She sheds,” where women can escape to work or relax, also fetch a premium, selling for 2.5% more than comparable homes without one. Meanwhile, more functional features such as heat pumps, doorbell cameras and fenced yards can help homes sell faster.

For sellers and their agents, the findings underscore the importance of touting desired features in listings, especially since shoppers are now using Zillow’s AI-powered natural language search tool to hone in on amenities by typing them directly into the Zillow search bar.

One caveat: The features themselves might not be the main attraction. Buyers may assume that homes with those desired features are of higher quality overall, so spotlighting them in listings can signal that the home is worth more than similar homes that don’t have those features.

Kitchens with pizzazz attract top dollar

Kitchens with pizzazz have the biggest upside for sellers. In addition to posh appliances, today’s buyers are willing to pay more for kitchen countertops that speak to the latest trends.

Granite and marble, which have enjoyed a long stretch of popularity, didn’t make the cut of features that sell this year. Instead, homes with terrazzo, soapstone and quartz countertops fetched up to 2.6% more. The boost translates to $8,511 more on a typical home. 

Soapstone, which carries a 2.5% premium, helped speed up sales by nearly 4 days compared to similar homes, according to Zillow’s analysis.*

Buyers also appear willing to pay more for mid-century style homes. Homes that mentioned “mid century” in their listings sold for 2.3% more. They also sold almost three days faster.

Outdoor amenities like pizza ovens, outdoor kitchens, even putting greens or a salt-water pool (in some areas, at least) can also help a home stand out and increase its selling potential.

Personal touches can boost prices, but take longer to sell

The hyper-personalization of homes during the pandemic, when life shifted indoors and homeowners jazzed up their dwellings to accommodate hobbies and other activities, can be a mixed bag for sellers.

For instance, homes with she sheds fetched a 2.5% premium, but took two more days to sell compared to similar homes. Likewise, homes with wine cellars sold for 1.2% more, but took five days longer to sell. The time lag may also reflect the fact that wine cellars are more likely to be found in larger, more expensive homes that usually take longer to sell.

Features that can hurt a home’s perceived value

The power of listing language also has a flip side, especially when it comes to features that might telegraph that a home is dated or in need of an upgrade.

For instance, tile countertops and laminate flooring and/or countertops can result in lower sales prices. Homes with tiled kitchen counters sell for 1.1% less than expected, while laminate materials on floors and countertops can shave 0.6% off a home’s value compared to similar listings.

Walk-in closets appear to have lost some of their luster, selling for 0.7% less than similar homes without them. Perhaps that’s because more people are working from home or they’re interested in using the space for something other than storing clothes they don’t wear. 

The takeaway

Sellers looking to get top dollar for their homes as the spring buying season heats up would do well to play up some of the luxury features that buyers appear willing to spend more for. 

Installing costly features in an effort to sell for more may not return the financial rewards that sellers expect. However, lower-cost items such as doorbell cameras and open shelving can add value by increasing buyers’ perception of the home’s quality.