It’s no secret that the Tyler area real estate market has slowed down in the last several months.  Though the inventory of homes is not dramatically higher, the absorption rate is.  In the last dozen years, selling a home was fairly easy because just about everyone qualified and was able to get a loan. Today, financing is more difficult and the pool of qualified buyers is significantly smaller.  Now, instead of buyers competing for listings, listings are competing for buyers.  And believe me, after listening to the talking heads on the national news and financial channels on television, buyers believe they can call all the shots and make fantastic deals.

Here are 10 easy tips to remember if you are going to sell your home:

First impressions are huge -The old adage “You only get one chance to make a first impression” has never been as true as when you first put your home on the market.  There is a pool of buyers who have seen everything available and are waiting for new listings to come on the market that meet their criteria.  Your first prospective buyers are those very people and they will be comparing your home to everything else they have seen.  National statistics show that your greatest number of in-person showings and on line viewings take place during the first 30-40 days your home is on the market.  Therefore, it is imperative that your home be absolutely ready for the market by being spic and span clean, de-cluttered, and organized inside and out.  Since 50% of the buying decision is made from the curb, it is important to have the yard clean, mown, landscape trimmed, edged and toys picked up.  A pot of colorful seasonal flowers or greenery is a nice touch as well as a fresh coat of paint on the front door.  You might hire a stager to come in to rearrange your furniture or pull a design theme together (think model homes) or even bring furniture and design elements into a vacant home. 

Price it to sell - In today’s market, if you want to sell your home quickly, you must price your home accurately.  A competent Realtor will suggest a price based upon a market analysis on homes sold in your neighborhood over the last six months with the emphasis placed on the homes that actually sold and the most current ones at that!  If you are serious about selling, now is not the time to “test the market” with a higher price.  That will just increase your time on market. In this day and age, you just need to be honest and straightforward about pricing your home and base it on the comparable sales and not base it upon how much money you will need to buy your next home.

Check out the Competition - The best way to compare yourself to your competition and to set the proper list price for your home is to go see similar homes for sale near you.  If you are using a full time veteran real estate professional, they see houses all the time and should be able to advise you about the differences in amenities and features of your competition.  It would be good for you to take an hour or 2 and look at those homes most like yours.  Take notes and make direct comparisons to your own home as you make a pricing decision.

Throw the dead rat on the table -There is no perfect house out there, they all have their unique weaknesses or quirks.  Some are obvious such as heavy traffic or a bad view.  Others are more subtle such as outdated wallpaper or functional obsolescence.  Whatever it is, it needs to be reflected in the list price or a prospective buyer will just walk away from the property.

Patience is a virtue - Marketing a home takes time. That is all there is to it.  There is no magic involved so we have to wait for real buyers to make real decisions. This is one of the hardest things for sellers to do, so you need to prepare yourself that in today’s market it can take awhile.  The time from listing to receiving an offer can take months, not days.  This is absolutely normal and you should consider yourself lucky if you receive an offer during the first month.  

Share your situation with your agent - Though we are not licensed to practice law, much like a lawyer, a real estate professional cannot fully help you if you don’t share your situation with them.  If you are facing family or financial difficulty and need an urgent sale, make sure your agent knows that. Proper pricing becomes imperative if a short timetable is in effect.

Be willing to change the price - If agents are not showing your home or you have had no offers after being on the market for awhile, you need to seriously consider making a price adjustment.  Price is the single most important motivator to change the behavior of buyers.  No amount of advertising or open houses will be as effective as a lower price.  When you make a price decrease, then make it substantial and then give it time to take hold in the market (4-6 weeks, typically.)

Play an offer, any offer! - In a buyer’s market they are not afraid of making lowball offers which might even feel insulting.  Don’t let your feelings get hurt - toughen up and respond.  Once a buyer goes to the effort of a written offer on a property they then become emotionally involved and I always consider that a good thing. They often just need to get the lowball offer out of their system - they really are serious buyers.  Usually they will increase their offer, and oftentimes up it enough to make it acceptable to the seller.  A buyer’s market will bring out lowball offers, which sometimes feel insulting. The only way to find out for sure if they are serious is to continue the negotiation with formal written counter-offers. 

Maintain your home during the listing - Your home may be on the market for a number of months. Keep the yard maintained and make sure that the interior is neat and clean at all times. If a property is vacant, enlist the help of your real estate agent to keep an eye on the condition of the home when they visit for showings. Consider hiring a yard service or maid service to keep things in top condition

Insist on feedback from showings - A small number of listing agents actually track showings of their listings and give you feedback.  Make sure you use one of those agents! There is no better way to see what the market thinks of your property than to gather feedback from a group of active buyers and their agents in your neighborhood.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.