Advice for Sellers in a Slow Real Estate Market
Whether you like it or not, the real estate market has ground to a slow trot. Selling a home can be difficult and requires you to return to the time-tested basics of selling a home. Here are some keys to remember and use.
1. Make your home available. It would probably help to just accept that your home is in the public domain from 9 A.M until 9 P.M. daily until it’s sold.
2. When you are selling your home, keep it clean and tidy ALL the time. Let it get out of hand and an otherwise serious buyer WILL show up. If you don’t have time to clean, hire a cleaning service.
3. If you have a limited budget for sprucing up your home, consider devoting a good chunk of it to getting your kitchen in top shape. Consider replacing appliances and fixtures. Whatever steps you take, just make sure your kitchen is in top shape.
4. With the fluctuating home prices we are currently seeing, buyers can have problems getting financing regardless of their credit. Don’t drop the buyer! Instead, offer him or her a second mortgage.
5. When analyzing homes for sale in an area, it is important to focus on the correct numbers. Typically, you want to throw out any home that has a distinctly higher or lower price than the other homes unless there is something unique about it.
6. When searching for homes, buyers focus on those they can see. Regardless of where or how you market, you must include home photographs in your marketing material.
7. Buyers aren’t a dime a dozen but they are out there. Showing flexibility can make your property more attractive than the competition. Be willing to vacate quickly for a qualified buyer who wants it.
8. Most states require real estate contracts to be in writing to be enforceable. The buyer invests time and thought in the process of committing his offer to paper. When you receive his written offer, you know ALL the items the buyer is trying to “nibble” from you.
9. Whether buying or selling, you will want to take a close look at comparable homes in the neighborhood. Do not pay much attention to the listed prices. Homes do not sell for the listed price. Focus on the actual sales prices of recently sold homes.
10. Many people work so hard to get an offer on their home that they do not know what to do once they get one. Your choices are to accept it, reject it or make a counter offer.
The funny thing about the real estate market is it is always active. If you listen to the news, you would swear not a single home was being sold these days. In truth, hundreds of thousands of them are and yours will be next if you follow the above advice.
