As insiders (professional REALTORS) and also as consumers (we are homeowners also), we are constantly amazed by home sellers who are not in-tune with the realities of today (11/13/2008) in what it really takes to sell a home in today's market. Granted, all communities are not equal in how easy or hard it is to sell a home. It is imperative for REALTORS to educate their potential home sellers on all of the options today in how they can successfully compete against their competition in order to procure a buyer and protect their financial bottom line.
Over pricing your home initially is the biggest challenge to overcome, even for homes that are in tip-top shape. While a home that is in stellar condition may have a much easier time sellling, and it oftentimes does, it doesn't necessarily translate into a buyer paying a premium for the home, that home sellers often want. Being realistic on day one will ultimately, put more money in your pocket.
In addition to pricing, in today's market, in many communities, having a realistic, or even lower price than your competition is oftentimes not enough to acheive a sale either. A seller, will sometimes find themselves faced with the decision on how much should they lower the price by if a buyer isn't found in a reasonable amount of time. So a question a home seller should ask is: Should I lower the price by $X dollars or invest these $X dollars in improving the condition to make my home further stand alone from my competition? The best answer is the latter, not the former. If a seller does not have the dollars to invest (and many don't these days), then they are truly at the mercy of the market.
We recently presented this same information to a home seller in Cleveland Heights who opted to take our advice in renovating his home in order to make it stand out from the competition (none of which was under contract) and dramatically improve the condition (see http://1381oakridge.com) to see this fine home after we renovated and staged this home. It is now under contract, and we had multiple offers on it on the same day, all the while none of this home's competition in a wide 75K price range from where this home was positioned in the marketplace were under contract.
If you want to explore all of your options before you simply put a sign in the yard and hope that "marketing" sells your home (which it doesn't -- price and condition do), then please contact us so we can help you protect your largest financial interest.
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