Selling in Today's Difficult Real Estate Market
There are 3 P's to selling in today's real estate market.
Preparation
Pricing
Presentation
Preparation-It is very important to get your home fully prepared for the market. People do not have the extra money to do repairs once they move into a home. The best thing to do is contact a real estate agent months before you are prepared to put your market on the home. They will consult with you on the best way to prepare your home for today's difficult market place. Your house needs to be uncluttered, *** and span and in good repair. See Prepare Your Home to Sell for information on preparing your home. It includes a valuable checklist to aid you in preparing your home for sale. Some considerations are a pre- home inspection and home staging to allow your home to show better and give your buyer's peace of mine.
Pricing- Pricing can be affected by wha you are prepared to do to your home for the marketplace. There is nothing more important than pricing your home properly. An agent should be chosen on their reputation and marketing plan.... not on the price you have been given. Ultimately buyers will set the price. No amount of hard work and advertising will sell an overpriced home. You need to find an agent that will communicate effectively about today real estate environment and why your home should be priced a certain way. Remove the emotion and look at the data pragmatically. You should be pricing your home at fair market value or slightly below to get your home sold in a reasonable amount of time. A home that gets a lot of interest early and goes under agreement early is a home that will sell for top dollar. People are afraid of losing a good property. As a property sits on the market it stagnates and buyers feel there is no rush or begain to wonder what is wrong with the property.
Presentation- Onceyou have prepared your property and carefully considered your pricing strategy, it is now time for your agent to market your home properly. Attention to detail is key (see All Agents are not Created Equal) with a strong internet presence. Make your house shine with good information and good photographs.
Example:
This home sold for very quickly and for just under asking price. The seller was very co-operative and did everything that was asked of them. They did a pre-home inspection and fixed all the little punch list items. They did not leave anything for a buyer to complain or re-negotiate about. They also had a Home Staging Consultation. They did everything that was asked of them. The trim on the house was scraped and repainted.The porch was staged with inexpensive outdoor furniture. The home stager asked the owners to declutter the kitchen.... clear the counter of all appliances and the refrigerator of all magnets and hanging items. The living room was re-arranged and some furniture removed. All table tops were cleared of items except for a select few.
The dining room had extra furniture removed the cabint top and interior de-cluttered and all baby items that werent being used removed(high chairs) The goal of home staging is to show off the features of the home and open up spaces. We tend to decorate homes to suit how we live and is not always the best way to "merchandise" your home to sellers. Any home coming to market shoudl be staged. Home staging consultations range between $150-$400 and is worth every penny.
View my marketing plan to sell homes.
Property Websites...
Andover Home for Sale
Tewksbury Home for Sale