Selling Home in today's market some helpful hints- Part-1

Selling Home in today's market some helpful hints- Part-1

If you are going to sell your home in the this market there are few things to note especially if you are trying to sell by your self.

- Price. This is the driving factor for home buyers and buyers are not willing to pay more than what the house is worth. It does not matter what you as the seller want to walk way with, or what you need to pay off your outstanding mortgage. Simply put  buyers determines the price of the house not you or the appraiser value. In the last few weeks I've met some sellers trying to sell their house themselves and when I asked them how they arrive at the  sales price here are few of the answers I got-

- I need to net X amount of dollars so I have to sell at this price

- Based on the appraiser amount.

- My house is better than most of the house in the neighborhood so I know I can get more money

- Other houses in the area are selling for 500K(newer homes with newer amenities) and so I know my house will sell for this amount( 20+ year house with many repairs needed).

All these answers while it makes sense to homeowners it does not make sense to buyers looking to buy a house. Simply put to arrive at your sales price you need to compare your house to the others in the market, recently sold and those under contract and price appropriately to get viable offer.

- Condition: The condition of your house will determine if you get an okay offer or an offer that is well below the market price. Today's retail buyers are looking for move-in ready house, investors are looking for fixer-uppers. So if you are trying to sell to investors then you don't need to worry about the condition, but also note that investors are not going to buy your house for retail price, but for 40-50% below market price. If you are trying to attract retail buyers then your house condition needs to be move in ready, not run down, things need to be in place so that buyers can visualize themselves in the house with minimal repairs. Recently when I visited some properties for sale by owners , I asked the sellers about some visible damages to the property, some unclean rooms and bathrooms. Here are some of the owners response-

- I'm selling as is so I'm not making any repairs( Priced higher than comparables)

- I'm going to complete the repairs once I get a buyer

-The cost to fix this repair is about X amount so I'm going to deduct from my sales price.

 Selling house in any market is lots of work, and selling in this market with all the challenges in the economy you need to do your home work and make the house appealing.

Selling Your Home and Need help contact me to provide comparable market analysis for you..

Keji Ogunleye, Your Real Estate consultant for Life

Fairfax Realty,Inc

301-613-2043(c) keji@metrohomesrealty.com

www.metrohomesrealty.com