Tips for Selling in a Slower Economy
- Consult with an expert, local real estate agent to help ensure that your property is priced competitively and attractively-staged for the market. Why? There are three main factors involved in getting a home sold: location, price, and condition. Of the three, you as the seller control two: price and condition. Which is the more significant factor of the two? Price. An experienced real estate agent will use the most recent, comparable sales as well as the property’s condition and location to establish a home’s asking price. Remember: Price can compensate for a home’s poor condition, but condition rarely compensates for an incorrectly priced home.
- Act now. Your best price in today’s market is likely the one that you’ll receive when you first go on the market. Typically, there is a pool of buyers waiting for a property like yours to come on the market. If you defer on your first offer, the next offer may be lower. Something else to remember: if you have to reduce your asking price, your carrying costs will still be the same every month. For example, Keller Williams research shows that sellers who listed their homes at the prices the agents originally recommended sold their homes 38 days faster. This includes over a month of mortgage and tax payments! For a home that cost $200,000 at time of purchase, with 20 percent down and an interest rate of 6.5 percent, selling a month sooner means a savings of $1101.31 for the mortgage alone, not including the taxes and insurance that the homeowner would be paying during this time.
- Don’t worry about where the market has been. Instead, keep your focus on where the market is headed. The price your neighbor down the street received six months ago is not nearly as relevant as sales statistics drawn from the past 30-60 days. We suggest that you work with an experienced local real estate agent who can access real time market data to help you determine where to establish your asking price.
Source: Keller Williams Research 2012
