Getting a home sold in a "buyer's market" can be challenging, especially when there are plenty of bank-owned and short-sale homes to compete with.
With many homes staying on the market in the Santa Clarita area for 6 months or more, why is it that my townhome listing in Valencia sold in only 14 days? It sold based on a combination of price, flexibility, condition, and location.
Let's take a look at the factors involved in selling a home in a competitive market:
- Price: You must price according to the current market conditions, not according to what you "want" or "need" to get from the sale, or what it sold for last year.
- Flexibility: Buyers want to negotiate, not just on price, but on terms. They may want your fridge or your favorite couch. Be prepared to negotiate, and don't let a deal fall through when you're only $1,000-$2,000 apart - figure out a way to make it work.
- Condition: As a seller, you have full control over the condition of your home. Clean it, de-clutter it, and get it ready for showing. Need some tips? Click here!
- Location: You cannot change the location of your home, but you can reduce the impact of many factors that may not be attractive to most buyers. If you live in an area with traffic noise, you can minimize the effect by using either fountains or soft music. Some buyers will be so sensitive to noise that this won't help, but there will be many that will appreciate the fact that they can have a calm atmosphere in an otherwise busy location.
- Convenience: Make it easy for other realtors to show your home. Lockbox access is best. Don't require an extended period of time (like 24 hours) notice before showing. Many times people change their plans while looking at homes, so a buyer who starts out looking at $400,000 homes may change his mind mid-stream and move up to your price range instead. Don't turn them away just because they didn't call you yesterday morning.
When you're competing against homes that are either short-sales or bank-owned (REO), most likely they haven't been properly prepared for sale. Use this to your advantage, and make your home more inviting than any other home that would be competing against you for the sale. While professional home staging can be a great help, you can make your home more appealing by just using your common sense.
Here's an easy way to check your home's readiness for sale: Walk out your front door, close it, and then walk back in as if you were a buyer seeing the home for the first time. Look at the home as if you were not the owner - look at it as if this was a home that you're thinking of buying. Is there anything that you'd move, remove, or change if you were moving into this home? Does it look clean and ready to sell? Would you need to replace any flooring, or paint any walls? Would you buy your existing furniture today? Do you have to walk in a somewhat random pattern to get from the front door to the kitchen, family room, or bedrooms because there's too much stuff in the way? Are there dirty dishes in the kitchen, stacks of newspapers or mail, or dirty socks on the family room floor?
Getting your home ready for buyers is an important first step in listing a home for sale in a competitive market. Show potential buyers that you love your home, and hopefully they'll love it too!
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Linda, congrats on the 14 day sale!
This is a a great article. We couldn't agree more regarding the declutter and getting your home ready. Thanks for sharing.
Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity group Vancouver WA