What’s Your Home’s ‘Sell By’ Date?

Sell Your Home

My wife and I sometimes have a discussion about dates on food items.  There’s a ‘sell by’ date, sometimes a ‘use by’ date, even a ‘best if used by’ date, depending on the product.  She wants to dump them on that date, I tend to keep using them for a couple of days beyond.

Sometimes it’s aesthetic, sometimes it’s for safety.  The ‘Sell By’ date is largely for stores. It helps them to pull slow moving items that may have reached their peak for freshness, consistency and taste.  But often, you can still consume those products beyond that date. Note: I wouldn’t recommend trying that with the milk two weeks later, though. My wife and I agree on that one!

Successfully selling your home can have many nuances, too.  Price and condition are two biggies.  Upgrades and features (or amenities) are some others.  Add to these factors more subtle influences like color schemes, quality of that new carpeting, floor plan and traffic flow, and professional staging.  All can play a role in the sale of your house. Small things like dishes in the sink or laundry hampers overflowing can also detract from an otherwise acceptable home.

Regardless of the issues above, if you price your home more than a few percent over the market value, it will likely not sell. Or it will take longer to sell and will sell for less.  So when I go on listing appointments, I like to ask, “What’s your sell by date?”  Most people have an ideal time to be in their next home. It may be for work purposes, to be reunited with family members by an important date, or even related to a seasonal change.

It’s ironic that sometimes when you price a little bit low it’ll sell for more.  How can that be?  Because buyers are very attuned to the real market value for what they seek.  They’ve been looking at listings, viewing homes, and doing their homework.  They can make the mental adjustments for a location liability (backs up to rail road tracks or highway), school system (good but not the best rating), and distance to the interstate and shopping.  And they can do it quickly.

When an underpriced home (even slightly underpriced) hits the market, buyers will jump on it. Multiple offers are not uncommon.  And while it’s rare to get more than 5-6% above listing price, I’ve had a couple of sales this year that were in the double digit over list price range. If you want to move sooner rather than later, you should be more aggressive with your pricing – and that DOES NOT mean you’re giving your house away.

Sellers in no particular hurry often make a bigger mistake by “trying it out at a higher price,” thinking they can reduce the list price later. By then, buyers are thinking there’s an issue with the house and will not perceive it the same as when it’s new to the market.  Consult your real estate professional to arrive at the correct pricing to get your sale completed by your “sell by” date.  And if you need help with determining that value, I’m happy to assist.

image courtesy of Stuart Miles, freedigitalphotos.net

6 Strategies To Sell A Home In Any Market

Regardless of the market, here are six strategies to help get your home sold. We are currently in a strong buyer's market, which means that there is more inventory than available buyers. In SE and Central Michigan, this has been caused partly by the decrease of employment in the auto manufacturing sector and subordinate tiers of suppliers, and partly by the credit crunch that is accompanying the spike of home foreclosures.

To sell a home in any market, there are certain broad factors to consider. Location, which you really can't change, won't be addressed.

1. Pricing is totally within your control. It's important to set your list price close to true market value. Market value is not what your refinance amount was 12 or 18 months ago. It's not what your neighbor's home sold for 8 months ago. It is truly what a ready, willing and able buyer will pay for it - RIGHT NOW. Your Realtor(R) can help you find that number by looking at recent sold data for comparable homes within a reasonable distance.

Price your home too high and you'll get few (or no) showings. And it's very possible that we'll see home values drop more through the first half of 2008, so getting a good read on the market is vital to getting you the most possible dollars for the sale of a home. Price it right at the start - don't 'experiment'.

Condition also plays a huge part in the value equation. You wouldn't pay as much for the same home if it were in poor repair, would you? Neither would anyone else.

2. Curb appeal is still very important. I admit that it's more difficult to have great curb appeal in the winter, but you can still get rid of the clutter in the front and side yards, keep the driveway and walks shoveled, and have an attractive porch. Don't under-estimated how curb appeal sets the stage for buyers.

3. Inside the home, it's very important to de-clutter and de-personalize the living space. Some people have a difficult time imaging their possessions in a house and making them side-step through rooms doesn't help one bit.

4. Neutral colors are still the best. While many people are now into vibrant colors or a wall of emphatic color, resist the urge. Stay neutral, but not stark, antispetic-looking white.

5. Stage your home. But don't do it yourself. Spend a few hundred dollars to have a professional come in and make the most of what you've got. They can also recommend neutral colors for repainting, so it pays dividends to have a home stager in early in the process. They often more than pay their way on resale amounts.

6. Choose the right Realtor(R). The most important things to look for are whether or not the sales agent is full-time or part-time, how familiar they are with your market area, and how busy they are in the marketplace. Remember that your real estate agent will be helping to guide you with price, appearance and negotiations. Find out what they'll be doing to market your home and how successful those tactivs have been in the past.

There are certainly no guarantees, but you want to have as much of an edge as possible. In the end, if you're not getting the number of showings that you need to generate a purchase offer, the price is not right. Condition will help a buyer to choose you over the competition, but you need a realistic price for your home to be seen in the first place.