Home Sellers, the real estate market got you down? Does this shift to a buyer’s market make your home selling process frustrating and confusing?
18 months ago, a home for sale in Madison was flying off the market and selling for more than the asking price. Now, it kinda feels like pulling teeth just to get buyers into your home and getting them to write an offer-”fahget ’bout it!”
So what can you do to stand out to a home buyer in this type of real estate market?
In our blog, we added a sixth thing to our 5 things a seller can do to look better for a buyer,
1. List Price. If your list price is off, the house is not even on the buyers radar screen. You cannot afford to be 10% off or even 5% off. You have to be as dead on and as competitive as possible from the get-go. Buyers will not waste their time even looking at overpriced listings right now. There are enough listings out there that a buyer can afford to overlook some of them if the price is not right. Get the price right. The number of showings and activity on the listing will tell you if your list price is right. No showings. No activity. Adjust the price.
2. “AS IS”. Marketing real estate listings as “as is” has got to go. No more marketing property “AS IS”. It’s a death sentence. These two words turn a buyer off big time. When a buyer sees those two words in a marketing description or on an info sheet, they think one word. “NEXT”. A buyer right now does not want to deal a defective property or a home seller that isn’t willing to negotiate. Remember that a $500 repair looks like $5000 in the buyers eyes. Don’t let it occur.
3. PRE-LIST INSPECTION. This kind of goes along with #2. As a home seller you should do a home inspection before you list the property. This does a few things. Allows the you, the seller, to be proactive on any defects that come out of the inspection. Gives the you and your Realtor confidence when marketing the property and the buyer confidence when writing an offer. Don’t let there be a tense moment occur after an inspection is done and a buyer starts having second thoughts, demanding huge repairs or asking for money back on repairs. You and and your Realtor need to be proactive.
4. NO SMOKING. Buyers hate second hand smoke and the stale smoke order that lingers in a home, even those buyers who smoke themselves. While a home is being marketed the smoking goes outside and cigarette butts don’t get left behind. This goes equally for pet odors. Make sure you shampoo carpets and repaint where need be.
5. STAGING. The property has to be ready for “OPENING NIGHT” It has to look its best, it has to show its strengths, minimize its weaknesses, and look like a house for the buyer not thehome of a homeseller. It has to be depersonalized, be open, flow from room to room and yet be defined. The homebuyer should not be distracted by anything that is not the house. A blog that I like to read about staging is Real Estaging.
Our sixth thing a seller can do to look better to a buyer is to have a pre-appraisal done. Warning Warning Warning The appraisal price has nothing to do with what your asking price or selling price should be. You and your Realtor will determine your asking price and you and the home buyer will determine the selling price.
So what good is a pre-appraisal?
You can use the appraisal price in your marketing. (Ex. Priced $15,000 below appraisal) Using assessment is good, but appraisal is something you can take to the bank. Literally.
Go ahead and leave a copy of that appraisal out on the kitchen table, so that when buyer walks through they can see it and hold it. While you are at it, leave a copy of your pre-inspection out on the table. Let that home buyer know that when they buy your home, they are getting a great value, a sound, safe investment, as well as a sound, safe home.
Related Posts:
Your home for sale helping other homes sell
The truth about the Dane County real estate market
Buyer’s Market, Seller’s Market or Balanced Market
2 Comments
October 16, 2007 at 11:47 am
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October 20, 2007 at 2:31 pm
[...] visit these tips that a Home Seller can do [...]