Just Buy My Darned House!

"Just Buy My Darned House", screamed the homeseller.  "Why won't anyone make an offer?  I just want someone to buy my house.  I need to sell my house."

Are you ready to scream, "Just Buy My Darned House!"?

Let's face it folks - It's a Buyers' Market out there.  The days of a quick, easy sale of a house are over.  

Are you a Fizzbo (FSBO - For Sale By Owner)?  Pity the Fizzbo!  These days, you need the services of a full-time professional REALTOR®.

Has your real estate agent advertised your property on the Internet on a web site, a blog, Craigslist and other sites?  A Realty Times article states that 93% of all buyers look at homes on the Internet before buying.

Are you so unsatisfied with your current real estate agent that you are ready to let the listing expire and take the house off the market for a while or search for another agent to represent you?

Does your MLS listing have 20 pictures of your property?  It should!  You would not believe how many listings are on the MLS that only have one crummy little picture that doesn't do justice to the property.  Why bother putting a listing on the Internet without enough pictures to entice lookers to become buyers?

Are you chasing the market?  What often happens when the real estate market is in a downward trend is that people start by pricing their property with the expectation of selling it at last year's prices.  Then, when it doesn't attract buyers at their listing price, they are forced to lower the price.  But, they just lower it a little bit.  They might say, "My house is worth more than the rest of the houses in the neighborhood -- look at all the upgrades it has!"  Sorry, but in a downward market, the single factor that attracts buyers to look at the house is the price per square foot.  All the upgrades in the world are not going to bring a buyer to view your house unless they are out of this world extraordinary.  It's the price, my friend.  After a few weeks, the seller decides to lower the price again.  In the meantime, the market has continued moving downward, and the new lowered
price is not low enough to match the rapid decline in prices in the neighborhood.  Your tiny price reductions are simply chasing the downward spiral.

So, after a few weeks you finally decide to lower your asking price $10,000 or $20,000.  But you didn't lower it to match the latest sale in the area because your house is "the best in the neighborhood".  Congratulations!  You are the highest bidder on your own house!

Here are the three most important factors in selling a property in a downward market:
Location.  Location.  Location.
Price per square foot.  Price per square foot.  Price per square foot.
Commission. Commission.  Commission.

Why is commission a factor?  "You stinkin' real estate agents make too much money as it is.  Why should I pay you more than 1 or 2 percent?"  Well, let me ask you to pretend that you are a real estate agent, and you have a buyer who is looking for a house to buy in your neighborhood.  Say there are five houses on the market; one of them is offering 1% commission to the buyer's agent, two of them are offering 2%, one is offering 3% and the last one is offering 3.5%.  Which houses do you think a typical real estate agent is going to show to his or her client? 

So, in order to save yourself 1 or 2% commission on the sale, you are limiting the number of potential buyers who are going to view your house.  In the meantime, you pay your mortgage month after month, and, before too many months go by, you have paid more in mortgage payments than you would have paid to sell your house by offering an attractive commission to the buyer's agent.

Ideally, a buyer would want to see them all.  If your buyer's agent is really good, you will have signed a buyer broker agreement with him or her that will guarantee that you get to see them all.  If you become my client, I will show you all of them.

You have heard about location, location, location before.  In a typical market, people will pick location over just about anything else, when all other things are equal.  But, in this downward market, you also need to think about pricing your home at an attractive price and offering a commission that is going to bring in buyers' agents.


Are you ready to get serious about selling your house?  If so, then call a REALTOR® who will market your house to get it sold.

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Thinking of selling your Whittier Home? Go to The Home Sale Site.