I was invited by one of our local newspapers, The Two River Times, to contribute to a story about selling your home in a buyer's market. If you didn't get a chance to see it... here's my contribution....
SELLING YOUR HOME IN A BUYER'S MARKET: ADVICE FROM THE PROS
- Price it right! Yes, you've heard it before and yes, you think you know what your house is worth but unless you're a full-time professional, you probably don't. No website is going to tell you. And comps are a guide but not the final answer. Get a professional who knows what's selling in the market, what the competition is and where your buyer is likely to be coming from.
- Detail your home! When you sell a car you get a professional detailer to clean & polish every inch inside & out. Same goes for your house... it may be even be best to hire a professional cleaning team. Builders do this when new construction is completed and they wipe every surface (walls, windows, floors and if necessary, ceilings). It's got to look like it did the first time you invited your in-laws over... no, better. Paint door & window trim and change anything that steals attention away from the house.... If your decorating becomes the focus, you're doing it wrong.
- The Truth Will Set You Free! Or at least it will help you move! Don't listen to your family members and friends about the price or the way the house shows. Just because you've managed to make a difficult floorplan or lousy location work for you doesn't mean someone else will think it will work for them... especially when they will only be spending about 5 minutes - 10 minutes tops - in your home.
- Get Them In! Most buyers are not looking to "find" the right house... they're trying to eliminate all those that don't work. There's a lot to choose from especially since many buyers are looking in more than one town. Give a buyer (or an agent) a reason to eliminate you from the pack and they will never even get to step inside your castle. How does your house get crossed off the list? By making it hard to get in (e.g. no lockbox, difficult scheduling, requiring multiple agents to be present, etc.) or by providing too little information (e.g. 1 photo... are you kidding?) or too much (e.g. I hate 360 degree virtual tours... they make buyers think they've already been there and choose to never go look at it in person).
Case study: I just closed on a sale of a home in Little Silver on a very busy street with a tiny kitchen, limited closet space and other features that would have led many to think it wouldn't sell in this market. It did - with an acceptable contract in under 30 days!
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