Real Estate Hal James on 01 Mar 2008
advice for sellers in a slow real estate market
Whether you like it or not, the real estate market has ground to a slow trot. Selling a home can be difficult and requires you to return to the time-tested basics of selling a home. Here are some keys to remember and use.
1. When selling your home, it is important to understand the difference between home values and prices. The value is something determined by the appraisal. The price is what you can get for it.
2. When you are selling your home, keep it clean and tidy ALL the time. Let it get out of hand and an otherwise serious buyer WILL show up. If you don’t have time to clean, hire a cleaning service.
3. When you decide to sell your home, giving the kitchen the once over is a good first step. Kitchens are unique in our daily lives. For some reason, we always seem to congregate there. Buyers know this and will be focusing on the condition of yours.
4. Whether buying or selling real estate, it helps to be flexible when it comes to negotiation. One mistake for sale by owners make is to pick a fixed position. If there is a roadblock in negotiations, try to think outside of the box to solve it.
5. Some offers for your home are better than others. A contingent sale is a bad one. The potential buyer makes their offer contingent on selling their own home first. Avoid these like the plague.
6. You’re a seller who really needs or wants to sell your home within the next three months and the market is slow in your area. Getting enough people to come and look at your house is the secret to achieving your goal. Make price reductions until you do get 1 to 3 showings per week, and your home will sell.
7. You want to put your home on the market and want to be sure it will “show well.” What do you do? Clean, clean clean! No home ever failed to sell because it was too clean. Pare down and organize what’s in closets, garage, kitchen, and laundry.
8. Most states require real estate contracts to be in writing to be enforceable. The buyer invests time and thought in the process of committing his offer to paper. When you receive his written offer, you know ALL the items the buyer is trying to “nibble” from you.
9. The true price of a home is the market price. The market price is not the asking price, the appraised price and so on. It is what the seller and buyer agree it is. If you are selling, do not hamstring yourself with anything other than that.
10. Many people ask escrow officers for advice or help. Don’t expect any! Escrow companies are supposed to be neutral third parties. They handle the paperwork, not negotiations or problems.
The funny thing about the real estate market is it is always active. If you listen to the news, you would swear not a single home was being sold these days. In truth, hundreds of thousands of them are and yours will be next if you follow the above advice.