What Should I Do to Ensure My Home Will Sell?

I want to sell my home. What should I do to ensure my home will sell? While the number of homes selling in the US Real Estate Market has decreased, homes are continuing to sell. Homes are still selling in all parts of the country. The thing that is different now in comparison to two years ago is that you must understand the current market and make your home attractive in the current market conditions. Two or three years ago homes were selling pretty much regardless of list price and condition. Price and condition are very important now.

There are two primary mechanisms that a home seller has at his disposal to ensure that a home sells at a good price and in a timely manner. Those two mechanisms are price and condition. The bottom line in this real estate market is that if your home is not priced properly it will not sell! If your home is in disrepair and needs a lot of work it will not sell unless you want to sell it at a very low price! You need someone who shoots straight to give you the advice you need to properly price your home and get it in the condition that makes it attractive to the Buyer.

Pricing a home to sell in a slowing real estate market requires that you give strong consideration to comparable homes that have sold recently. Homes that sold two years ago will not provide a good comparison. After evaluating the price of comparable homes that have sold, it is essential to compare the price you would like to sell your home for to homes that are currently on the market for sale. This step is very crucial. Your home must be priced more attractive to a potential buyer than all other homes that are comparable to yours. In the present market, you might want to price your home 3-5 percent less than the most attractively priced home you find. After looking at the price of sold homes and homes presently on the market, the home should be priced at the lower of the two prices.

Consider this. How do some Realtors approach finding a home for a Buyer? After discussing the wants, needs, and dreams of the Buyer, some locate a few homes that interest the Buyer, preview the homes to show and arrange them in the order thought that the Buyer will like them. The home that thought to be liked best by the Buyer will like is shown first and work down in that order. It is not uncommon that a Buyer selects the first home shown. While the Buyer may choose the first home shown, you should look at a few more homes just so you will have confidence that they made the right decision later on. When the US Real Estate Market was at its hottest, a seller could have their home at number 4 or 5 down on the list of comparable houses on the market and it might still sell. In today’s market, whether you are looking at homes in the Roanoke, VA Real Estate Market, or homes in the Atlanta, GA Real Estate Market, if a home is not priced number One in comparison to similar homes, it will take a very long time to sell if it will sell at all. The graph below shows a key relationship that illustrates what this means to the home seller. The sample market discussed below is taken from the Roanoke Real Estate Market. This sample market may represent the trends in the US Real Estate Market. The average Days on Market for Roanoke area homes that have sold has increased to 85 days (August 2008) from 61 days (June 2006). Note, this Days on Market figure is based on homes that have sold not homes that are on the market. There is a dramatic difference between Days on Market for homes that are SOLD or Under Contract and those that are Active or on the Market and available to be shown. Again the Average Days on Market for Sold or Under Contract is 85 days, for Actives the Average Days on Market is 161 days. Price is very important in determining the length of time your home will be on the market. The bottom line is: get the price right or your house almost certainly will not sell in this market.