Step 1 ... "Admit that it is a Buyer's Market"
Step 2 ... "Price your Home to Sell and Plan on Negotiating"
Price your home to sell ... When I prepare my pre-listing market evaluation for my clients, I assess the "current" market value using the following criteria:
1. I use sold comparables no older than 90 days, the more recent the better, and then adjust for the appreciation/depreciation rate for the most recent quarterly statistics for the community. Since distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) are so prevelent right now, I incorporate these comparables according to their percentage of the market.
2. The best comparables are those within the same neighborhood, even if the home is a different style or size. I start with those on the street and move out from there, but stay within the the boundaries of major the thoroughfares or geological features (mountains, rivers, lakes). Other factors I consider are schools, zip codes and cities (there is one area in Davis Co. where homes are in Clearfield, Layton, Syracuse and another where they are in Clearfield, West Point and Clinton, all essentially in the same "neighborhood").
3. I pay very close attention to the features and amenities that a home has before using it as a comparable. There is an exaggerated bias in the market right now, because there is such an oversupply of homes, for things such as central air, master bathrooms with double sinks and privacy toilet, main or bedroom level laundry, granite countertops in the kitchen, gas ranges, tile or hardwood floors, fully fenced yards, automatic sprinkler systems (preferably connected to secondary or pressurized irrigation water), oversized (minimum 2-car) garages, RV parking, south or west facing homes (the exception to this are view lots on the benches, in which case north and east facing homes are preferred). Any home that does not have the majority of these features and amenities will need to be discount priced.
4. Once I determine the market value, I then add in the average list to sales price percentage, for the community, for the previous three months, to determine the list price.
Plan on Negotiating - the average list to sales price (96% for Salt Lake County, 97% for Weber and Davis) plus paying 3% toward the buyer's closing costs.
Steps to improve the value of your home ...
If your home is older than 2003, new flooring, paint & appliances are a must.
Almost everyone loves pets, almost no one loves someone else's, so eliminate as much evidence of Fluffy as you can.
Complete a professional home inspection as soon as your home is on the market and make the repairs & maintenance items noted. This will eliminate the need to make appraisal required or buyer inspection repairs once your home is under contract.
Provide the buyer with a one year home warranty after closing (+/- $400).
The message that you send about your home begins at the front door. This is the point from which your "curb appeal" eminates. Paint it, decorate it and, for goodness sake, make sure the key works - easily. There's nothing worse having an agent trying to show your home and struggling with the lock and key, fighting to get in to show your home. And my greatest pet peave ... agents who put the keybox in a flower bed with sprinklers or on the gas meter on the side of the house buried in a foot of snow. Keep the walk ways clear and put the keybox in a place where an agent or a client, in her real-estate-agent-finest and spike heels, can gracefully access it.
The next step, Step 3, is the "call to action" to buyers and their agents.
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