How To Sell Your Home In A Buyers Market
Just because we’re in a Buyer’s Market, doesn’t mean you can’t sell your home, or that you’re going to have to make huge financial sacrifices to do so. On the other hand, you can’t add 10% to the price of the last home that sold down the street, put a sign up, and then wait for offers, either!
Houses sell every single day in this market. There’s just a lot more available, and it takes longer. As of Oct. 16, there were 1,395 homes for sale in Marin County, and 21% of those were in contract. One year ago in mid-October, there were only 1,082 homes for sale, and 32% of those were in contract. So there’s more to choose from, and buyers take more time before writing an offer.
So if you’re selling, the question really is, “How do I make my home stand out?”
We call it the Four P’s of selling a house in a Buyer’s market.
1. Primping. Unless you’re selling a total fixer, make it painless for the buyer. Chances are your potential buyers are both working, have children, and not a lot of free time. They want to move in, hang their clothes up, and go to dinner. They don’t want to fix hot tubs, repair retaining walls, or redo the hardwood floors. Do it for them so they don’t have to. We can offer lots of friendly advice on what fixes makes sense (that hot tub) and which ones you may want to hold off on (remodeling the kitchen). And we know plenty of great service people to help get the work done.
153 Birch in Corte Madera went contingent in just four days last week. It was done, in every respect, in a great family neighborhood. I don’t the buyers, but I’m sure that’s why they jumped on it.
2. Pricing. Look at comp sales in your neighborhood, and look at cost per square foot in your town. Look at the competition, or the other houses in your price range that buyers will choose from, and visit them. Then be realistic.
What will set you apart from the competition? What will make you more attractive than the other homes in your price range?
Another home in Corte Madera, 29 Hickory, went contingent in just four days last week. Was it the newly remodeled downstairs? The location near Neil Cummins elementary school? I sent my clients there because it was the only four bedroom on the West side of Corte Madera or Larkspur for under $1,200,000 that was ready to move in to.
3. Promotion. Agents who go the extra mile are the ones who get houses sold in this market. Frequent open houses are great, as new buyers are always coming in to the market. Agressive follow up after every showing, prompt return of phone calls, and rapid distribution of information, like disclosure packets, are mandatory.
We’re fortunate to be a part of the largest real estate office in Marin County, and the largest brokerage firm. We get to pitch open houses and new listings every week at our office sales meeting, and we also present to the entire Frank Howard Allen sales force at a monthly “buy-sell” meeting. It’s amazing how much business takes place in those two venues. The vast majority of Marin County homes are sold by realtors, and you can’t put a price on the ability to sell in a face-to-face environment.
Then there is the are of writing an ad on Craigs List, cross referencing it our website, setting up followup with those people, public relations (we got a two minute segment on the evening news for one client) and many, many more ideas. As lifelong marketing people, it is our specialty, so we tend to think it is pretty important!
4. Patience. This one might be the toughest, because there aren’t many that sell in four days like the examples above.
The buyers are out there, but they’re very cautious, and waiting to see what everyone else is doing. No one wants to jump too early, or pay too much. So they wait, and watch, and compare. They may visit multiple times. They may write a lowball offer to see what kind of response they get. But if it’s priced correctly, is getting exposure, and is getting good feedback from agents, it will sell.
