Just about all of the sellers I work with want to sell their homes right away. Once they put their homes on the market, the last thing they want is to have it sit on the market for several months and continue to keep the home clean and ready to show on a daily basis. It's exhausting.
If your home has been sitting on the market for more than 30 days, and you have received NO offers by now, or if you've received offers but they've been way too low for you, some adjustments probably need to be made.
I wouldn't automatically assume that you need to lower your price. While it may be a factor, it may not be the ONLY factor.
You have to put yourself in the buyers' shoes. What would a great deal look like to them? Of course every buyer is different, but you can try to appeal to a larger pool of buyers. How do you do this? It's actually a very simple formula: your price, condition, timing, and exposure have to all align.
I think most sellers are savvy enough now to know what each of these items mean individually. But the right combination of all four is crucial in attracting the right buyer and having a successful sale. Yes, the formula is simple. But finding the winning combination is not always easy (or apparent) for some.
Every seller wants as much money as possible for their home. In order to get that, you need to have exposure to your home. That means being able to show your home as much as possible, including on weekends. Sellers expecting top dollar for a home that is only allowed to be shown between 5pm-6pm on weekday evenings may find that offers will be slow to roll in. Even if your home is in top condition, shows beautifully, and is priced correctly, buyers usually want to see the interior of the home before making an offer. Sometimes exposure can be difficult when you have a tenant living there. If that's the case, you need to work it out with your tenant about showings and monitor how well the home is showing to prospective buyers. Also, online exposure is HUGE now. Buyers these days are starting their home searches on the internet, so make sure that your home can be found there and is listed and described accurately.
Timing makes a difference too. I'm not talking about deciding whether to sell now or wait another year or two when you think the market MAY go up. I'm talking about timing as it relates to your immediate competition. If your next door neighbor with the exact same floor plan and more upgrades decides to sell his/her home at the same time for a much lower asking price, you'll have to determine whether putting your home on the market at that very time is best for your overall situation. This requires doing some very good market research, and maybe even have your agent check out some of the competition too. Of course you never know if another similar home will hit the market right when you list yours, but it's always good to at least know who you're up against and operate accordingly rather than put your home on the market blindly.
The condition of your home needs to be as flawless as possible. As much as buyers say that they can look past a stained carpet and dirty walls, you likely won't get top dollar if your home is just not clean. Clutter kills. Excessive personal items everywhere is distracting. Outdated furniture, window coverings, cabinets, etc. will be processed in buyers' minds as a deduction off the list price, even if you price your home below comparable homes on the market. You can have all the upgrades in the world inside your home, but if they are presented in poor condition, you lose brownie points (i.e. thousands of dollars off a potential offer price!). If you're really serious and have the money to invest, you may want to consider hiring a professional home stager to help configure your home to show like a model.
As for price, you can have the most beautiful home on the block with every upgrade imaginable and showings galore. But if you price your home too high, buyers are either going to "lowball" you, and/or they'll start thinking that you're a difficult seller and therefore don't even want to deal with you. Yes, you may have put $100,000 of upgrades into your home. But if your neighbor down the street with the exact same floor plan but no upgrades sold their home for $500,000 last week, and you want $675,000 ($100,000 more for the upgrades, plus another $75,000 since your home is a corner lot and just better all-around), just make sure that it'll make sense to buyers out there. Certainly, there's always the possibility of some buyer wanting to pay all cash and/or waive the appraisal contingency, but just about every buyer out there does not want to overpay for a home. Unless you live in a custom-built home previously owned by Kim Kardashian with a miraculous view and amenities that no other property can ever rival, chances are that buyers won't fall THAT far in love with a highly upgraded tract home enough to pay well above the market value.
So before you decide to drop the price of your home (or better yet, before you end up listing your home on the market), you may want to ensure that your home is getting enough exposure (online and ultimately in person) and shows nicely in comparison to other homes on the market in your area. Also check out your competition and determine how that will affect the sale of your home. You may be able to preserve the price of your home after all by investing some time, energy, and maybe a little money to get your home in a better position to sell at the price you want.
For more info on selling a home, buying a home, or if you have other questions regarding Orange county real estate, feel free to contact me or comment below. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment