Trim Options give finicky people
five excuses to make a Deal.

A high percentage of reluctant prospects will often purchase a 30- or 90-day Option (or both!) for a few thousand dollars.  They get plenty of time to shop around, compare prices, watch interest rates, and "think about it."

What other options might we offer prospects?

Anyone who spends ±$650,000 on a condominium will want it finished to suit his or own personal taste and needs rather than those of the architect. 

Trim Options focus the buyer’s mind on what to buy rather than if.  In this program, we take the generic Trim Option Close to a higher level.

All interior trims, from flooring to wallpaper to bathroom faucets are installed last.  Therefore the actual decision as to how to finish an apartment can be postponed until the buyers decide to:

• Occupy it themselves exclusively.

• Occupy it and either rent it part time or sell in a few years.

• Sell it finished when the building is complete.

• Sell it unfinished before (or after) the building is complete.

FIVE TRIM OPTIONS

The Standard Trim package includes a limited range of choices for each detail ( i.e. carpet, cabinets, molding, wallcovering...) and is included in the purchase price. 

 


Custom Trim packages include a la carte upgrades selected from an expansive list of choices. 

Special Order Trim includes all SKU's offered by any vetted trim supplier with an additional handling charge. Example: entire line of Delta or Kohler faucets.  

Deluxe Special Order includes all Special Order Trim plus interior decorator services.

Custom, Special Order and Deluxe Special Order Trim packages can increase selling prices by 10%-25%.

Investor Trim: Stripped down model deletes anything a future buyer might want to remove and replace (i.e. no floors, molding, kitchen cabinets, etc.). 

Offered at a [$25,000] discount, the Investor Trim package can be an initial or last resort closing tool.

The Ultimate Option.  As a final closing tool we can offer a Resale Service in which the company flips a unit at market price some time in the future, collecting an appropriate broker commission.  

A $650,000 apartment today might sell for $750,000 in two years.  Brokering that sale earns the company an additional  $45,000 (6%) commission and returns a $55,000 profit (42%) on a $130,000 down payment.  

Trim Options are the proper execution of the Details Strategy.  Standard Option Pictures go into the Prospectus. All others are presented on-line in password-protected pages, or via an interactive CD with traceable links to supplier pages.

TWO QUESTIONS

STANDARD v OPTIONS?

Which trims and finishes should be standard and which should be custom or special order upgrades?  What services should be standard or a la carte?  Do actual prospects think about anything differently than the brokers or architects do?

TODAY'S MARKET?

Before we start our engines, it would be useful to know how many people are currently in the market for pre-construction luxury high rise condominiums in or near downtown.

A Quarter-Page Ad in the Real Estate section of the  local paper that runs two or three times will answer both questions in 60 days or less.

STANDARD v OPTIONS?

The 50 to 60 respondents will score each of several dozen to a hundred options in one-on-one or on-line interviews.  (Use the architects' CAD drawings and trim & finish photos.)  

Consistently high scoring, reasonably priced options may be offered as Standards.

 Sporadically high scoring and higher priced options may be custom upgrades.  All others can be Special Orders.

The same surveys can check customer attitudes towards price, location, amenities, maintenance fees & services, and any other pre-marketing assumptions.

SIZE OF THE MARKET?

The number of respondents,  as a percentage of all RE Section circulation, gives us a rough indication of the size of today's market .

The terms of the "Free Option" prize are TBD, but do give us a "Twelve options are already gone!" claim when we begin marketing.  

We may even sell a few units before Day One.

 

 

next

FSP-Intro   Competition   Planning   Seven Strategies   The Correct Position
Start Up   Start Up II   Start Up III   Month One   Day One   The Name    Brand Intro
MCPS Media Plan   Collateral   Floorplans?   Trim Options   Wrap