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Selling Your Home in a Buyer's Market
Normal real estate market fluctuations are commonly called "Buyer's Market" and "Seller's Market." In very simple terms, when the housing supply is low, prices go up and the market is more favorable to sellers. When the housing supply is high, prices come down, which is more favorable to buyers.
If you are trying to sell your home in a Buyer's Market, the following tips may help you attract the most buyers to your home in the shortest time:
- Conduct a pre-listing home inspection. This valuable report, prepared by a qualified home inspector, will locate problems that need fixing. By fixing these problems ahead of time and displaying the report at the house, you are showing buyers that you have nothing to hide and they are less likely to be skittish about writing an offer. NOTE: Doing a home inspection ahead of time will not preclude the buyer from conducting his or her own as well.
- Incentives- In today's market, expect buyers to ask you to credit them with closing costs at settlement. Closing costs are the charges that the lender levies on the buyer in order to obtain a loan. It is not unusual for closing costs to run as much as 3% of the contract amount, but more likely closer to $5,000-$10,000. Other incentives might include offering a bonus to the buyer's agent for writing an offer within a certain timeframe.
- Be flexible in your negotiations - If you are unable to make repairs, be prepared to ask less and take less for your home. Even if you do make repairs to bring your home up to buyer's standards, you will still have to negotiate your price. If your house is being shown often but you aren't getting offers, you will need to lower your price. Be sure your Realtor® keeps you informed of prices of other homes on the market in your neighborhood, zip code, and school district so you can price your home competitively.
- Hire a good publicist - The Realtor® you hire should have a good understanding of the local area and be enthusiastic about selling your home. You will be working closely with this person for several months, so choose someone whose personality blends with yours and you can trust. Your Realtor® should use a variety of marketing techniques to attract buyers. Since more than 70% of buyers start their home search on the internet, choose a Realtor® who will load the information about your house on as many websites as possible. Be sure he or she takes quality photos of the interior and exterior and provides information about school, the neighborhood amenities, and any other features that will help buyers choose your house over another.
Other marketing techniques include advertising to the general public, networking with other agents who have buyers in your house's price range, letting the neighbors know, and other methods. Be sure your Realtor® gives you a marketing proposal which includes the advertising methods that will be used as well as a time line for those methods to be implemented. You should also expect status reports so you know how the marketing plan is working out.
Your Realtor® should have a strong track record of sales and be good at following up with every person who calls from an ad or e-mail and every Realtor® who previews or shows your home. Good management skills are also important since there are so many details to handle. Selling a home involves much more than just installing a FOR SALE sign in the front yard!
| When your house is being shown...
Realtors® will call to schedule a time to show or preview your home. They will be showing several homes in an afternoon, so they may run a few minutes ahead or behind schedule. They will tell you a timeframe in which they will come (between 1 and 2, or sometime between 2 and 4, for example). Plan to be out while the house is being shown. Leave lights on and be sure the house is tidy - beds made, no dishes in the sink, counters cleaned off, etc.
Let your agent know when someone has come through the house. It will make follow up faster and may get you an offer sooner!
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