How To Market Your Home In A Falling Home Market.
March 9th, 2010 Posted in Mortgage InfoYou’ve chosen the perfect real estate agent, and started to get your house in its best shape for viewing. And now your home looks good from the street, and it is ready for anywalk throughs at any moment. You have also made sure there were no glaring issues to address.
Anything that is not taken care of is recognized and the buyer is informed. If a problem cannot be remedied, the buyer needs to be informed about it and be offered a allowance. Disguising any problems will most likely come back to haunt you in the guise of a lawsuit.
The next thing is to price your home right. Your real estate agent can to give you a list of comparables, which are recent home sales in the area of homes similar to your own. This list is important. Even if you feel your home has more worth (it is YOUR home, after all), what other properties have sold for is very important. But you do have to monitor the suggestions of the realtor. Realtors seek current income and so may sacrifice the larger commission in order to guarantee a sale now rather than later (or not at all). Their interests can therefore be in conflict with yours, which is to get the maximum sales price. Work with her to locate the perfect middle area.
In addition, the old tradition of over pricing still has validity. Only rarely will you find a buyer who does not try to knock the price down. A little higher price will give the seller some room to negotiate.
Time it correctly. Even in a strong market, houses move more rapidly in the typical selling seasons. In family neighborhoods, most people want to look around in the spring so they can move in the summer and have time to settle in before the children start school. This is not a consideration in an over 50’s community, but winter may be especially slow in such an area since many “snowbirds” may live there.
The status of your own home purchase will also have an impact on the timing of your sale. It may be a fine balance to try to sell just as you are buying your new house, but you want to avoid paying both home loans. This is a large expense, so even if you are not ready to move, if you get a good offer, you should consider it. If you have an excellent opportunity to sell, you may even consider doing so before you buy the new home, to assure you don’t lose the sale. It may prove cheaper to rent rather than give up the sale completely and have to carry the both homes while you wait for the next good offer to come along.
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