Anyone who has experience of working in the property sector will know selling a house that does not even exist yet is probably one of the more challenging sales scenarios.
Thankfully, that’s where the show home comes into its own.
This flagship building serves to allow prospective buyers to experience just what their dream home will not only look like but feel like.
This becomes slightly more difficult, of course, when we’re talking about a new build development on another planet – difficult but not impossible.
Yes, welcome to the first ever Mars show home!
The domed des res looks as though it arrived straight out of the pages of a sci-fi novel but it’s actually very real.
Commissioned by National Geographic, it’s designed to show what life on the distant planet might be like in 2037 and formed part of a recent exhibition at London’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.
It took Cardiff company Wild Creations months to build and is based on extensive consultation with the Royal Observatory’s own astronomers and Stephen Petranek, who is the author of How We’ll Live on Mars.
Its construction features brickwork made from ‘Martian soil and recycled spacecraft parts’.
Passing through the double air-locked entrance, visitors could see inside the living quarters and even the underground corridors that would link the home to its neighbours.
They even had the chance to see what specialist food and equipment will be supplied with the home for life in the Red Planet’s challenging atmosphere.
While we’re still a few years away from taking deposits for life on Mars, there is a strong demand here on Earth for off-plan properties.
As an aspiring property pro, you’ll need to be on-message about the advantages of buying a house that as yet only exists in the imagination.
For instance, by pointing out it can be less expensive to secure a successful new build property before it’s finished and the process will usually allow buyers to have direct input into the final design features, as well as the interior fixtures and fittings.
It will also be your responsibility to explain the timeline so buyers can plan their finances and when to move in, bearing in mind there may also be extras to pay for such as fittings or land management.
Thankfully, there should be no need for a double air-locked entrance . . . but the ten-year supply of astronaut’s vacuum-packed porridge might be an optional extra worth considering.
For out-of-this-world job opportunities in Property visit s1jobs.com, and for thousands of properties to buy and rent in Scotland – visit our sister site s1homes.com