Welcome to my blog site and thanks for visiting! As an experienced real estate agent, I am used to “reading” the market and translating what I “read” to my clients. If you are selling a home now in this recessionary market, the steps you must take are very different from the “hot market” of a few years ago.
First, a seller has to decide his/her own motivation for selling. Certainly now is NOT the time to “make fast money” as it could have been 3 and 4 years ago. Moving might be to relocate for a job, to downsize because of retirement, to buy a bigger house for a growing family, an illness etc. SO HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH THIS IN A DECLINING MARKET?
Real estate agents do make a difference! They are not all alike in terms of training, knowledge or experience. An experienced agent will tell you what you can expect to sell your house for. As a seller you should be prepared to disclose to your agent the amount of your mortgage balance and your home equity loan balance. Determining what you have to pay off when the house is sold will help determine IF you can sell your house now and reach your expectations. The thinking that, “well, I owe $180,000 on my house so I want to sell it for $225,000 will not work in this market if your RE agent has given you a “price to sell” of $195,000-199,000.
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8 comments:
Hi! It's great to see a blog that deals with home listings! I learned the hard way by doing exactly what you say not to do. I just naturally fell into thinking that I needed to list my home at a price that would assure me a handsome profit. The last home I sold was in a hot market (2003) and it was so easy that, this time around I just assumed the same logic applied. My home has been "sitting on the shelf" for many months - probably because my chosen realtor wanted to buoy my hopes by agreeing to my market price!
Sara, the last poster commented that his chosen realtor gave him false hope about his asking price. My question: how do I know if a listing agent is working in my best interest
(in this case selling my listing)?
Thanks - I look forward to your response.
Rich
Hi anonymous, Thanks for blogging.
It is human nature to believe that our own house is the best in every way and worth the most money. However you called a real estate agent for a reason, to get good sound advice on pricing your home and getting it ready for the market. Try not to have sales price expectations for your property until your agent has shown you the facts. The facts are: recent similar sales, active listings that might compete with your home and pending sales. In the present market the recent sales that you and your agent study should be from the last 3-4 months if possible, because the market has been declining. A sale 8months ago may not sell now for what it did then. So, my best advice for you now is to reassess the asking price, change it if necessary and move forward. Sara, The Home Listing Lady
Hi Rich from Seabrook, Setting the right market price is key! Get your agent to show you the facts that I wrote about to "anonymous" above and then make your educated decision together to set the asking price. Your agent is working for you in your best interest if she/he: sets the stage for the showing,offer and selling process of your home; goes over your expected net proceeds from the sale; keeps in constant touch with you about your showings, other agents' comments and market trends when known;guides you in making the best response to an offer to accomplish your goal; and reminds you of why you set the price where you did. from Sara, The Home Listing Lady
Sara,
First let me say how wonderful it is to have a blog such as yours in the New Hampshire seacoast. Now here's my situation. My husband and I are having a small disagreement as to how much money we should put in to fixing up our house for a sale. Specifically, we have a gravel driveway which has gotten pretty spotty and sparse. I think we should spend one to a few thousand dollars either having it improved with gravel or re-paving it for maximum curb appeal. My husband thinks that, in this slow market, there is no point in spending that money because our asking price is already very low and our profit will be minimized so we should just let a buyer decide what to do with the driveway. I am curious what you think about this.
Thanks
Campbell
Just welcoming this new site! I have no questions but I am enjoying the posts and hope to learn a lot more about listing my house in Durham.
Hi Campbell, I am sorry that I have not kept up with my blog! My excuses are not worth writing about. I promise to from now on. Regarding your driveway, I recommend that you spend the money to make it look better because that alone may draw a buyer in. Enhanced curb appeal counts in any market. In this market where many houses at "market prices" are competing with many foreclosed properties at low prices, it is important to make yours stand out above the others. from Sara The Home Listing Lady
Hi Karl J, Thank you for your comment. I apologise for not keeping up with my blog during the past 2 months. That won't happen again. Is there a particular topic you would like me to blog about? from Sara The Home Listing Lady
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