On April 13th I had a quote in the Bergen County Record in an article about how to increase your chances of selling your home with some quick fixes. Take a look!
Everything is fresh and new in the spring - except for stale home listings.
Homes that have been on the market for a long time - six months or more - need special help to appear fresh to buyers for the spring selling season.
The first and the most important "freshening up" is the price.
"If a house came on the market in the fall and went through the whole winter without offers, it was at a higher price than it should have been," said John Falcone of Re/Max Real Estate Limited in Oradell. "A difference of 5 [percent] to 10 percent on a $600,000 house makes a big difference to buyers."
"We just had a significant price reduction - a $100,000 price reduction - last week," said Angele Eckert of Coldwell Banker in Ridgewood about a new-construction, three-story mansion on North Maple Avenue in Ridgewood. The home has been on the market since 2005, when it was first listed at $2.269 million. Today, it's priced at $1,599,999.
Martha Yevin of Re/Max Property Center in Paramus is marketing a historic home in Hillsdale that was listed with another agent for a year.
"It first went on in the $800,000 range," Yevin said. "When the initial listing expired in November, the price was at $719,000. At least part of the problem was that they were chasing a down market. I told the sellers the price had to be considerably lower. Today, we're at $599,000."
Often, there are psychological price barriers to cross when you're trying to encourage offers. Two-million-dollar-plus homes may need a new price under $2 million. Homes in the $600,000-plus range may need to fall into the $500,000s. Consider pricing the home $5,000 to $10,000 below comparable homes in the area.
And, unfortunately, once a seller has negotiated with a buyer and accepted an offer, that creates a new baseline price should the deal fall through.
Walter Mahnken of Weichert Realtors in Ridgewood has been marketing an 85-year-old Hillsdale fixer-upper for about a year.
"The home was under contract for three of the last 10 months," said Mahnken.
"The buyers backed out three days before the closing. They asked for an additional $40,000 off for repairs three days before the closing."
The home, which initially was listed at $425,000, was set to sell at around $400,000 when the deal collapsed. It's now priced at $375,000.
There are some simple changes a seller can make to refresh a long-on-the-market home. Eckert persuaded the builder-owner of the Ridgewood home to lay Berber carpet in the basement, so that the space looks less unfinished.
Mahnken said that he opens all the blinds, shades and drapes at the Hillsdale fixer-upper when he holds an open house, so that the space looks as bright as possible.
"Believe it or not, cleaning windows inside and out brightens the house," said Sal Poliandro of Re/Max Properties in Ridgewood.
And now that warmer days are here, pay particular attention to curb appeal and the front entry. Buyers who were rushing indoors to escape the chill of winter may linger longer outdoors.
"You can plant flowers now," Falcone said. "Put out the annuals. The rhododendrons and the azaleas will be coming into bloom."
As a seller, you want to make sure your home gets maximum exposure. That means listings on as many Web sites as are appropriate. (Yevin, for example, listed the historic home on historicproperties.com.) The more photos, the better sense of the home the prospective buyer can get online, which is where large numbers of buyer start the hunt.
Make sure your listing agent is reaching out to other agents and prospective buyers every time there is a price reduction.
"You've got to be proactive," said Yevin. "I send out e-mails to people, saying, 'Look at this house. It's $50,000 less than when you looked at it.' "
Prospective buyers need to know the sales history of the home: how long it's been on the market (which can't be determined from the listing at realtor.com or njmls.com), whether there have been any offers and whether the seller accepted any offers.
If you're interested in a home but feel the listing price is too high, you can make an offer or you can track the home online over time. But be aware that others are probably tracking the price as well. Agents talk about receiving multiple bids when reductions bring a home to the "right price" for the market.
"Buyers are smarter than ever," said Eckert. "It's good for them and it's good for us. Nothing is hidden."
Weichert agent Mahnken tracked a home in Ho-Ho-Kus that came on the market at a price he considered too high. After seven months, the price dropped to a number he considered reasonable. He made an offer, and bought the house.
"I took my own advice," he said.
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