Surely you have all heard horror stories about the current real estate market. First of all it isn’t actually as bad as the media portrays it to be but at the same time it isn’t what it was 3+ years ago either. The problem right now is that there is so much uncertainty surrounding everything that it creates an appearance of instability and struggle.
Truthfully the market is solid right now. Buyers are getting houses for what they are worth and sellers are selling homes for what they are worth. It shouldn’t be classified as either a buyers or sellers market at this time though.
So why are so many houses sitting for so long if the market is okay??
Price.
It really is as simple as that right now. The homes that are priced right are selling and the ones that aren’t priced right are sitting for extended periods of time and many times not selling at all. I actually heard a stat the other day that almost 50% of the homes listed now fail to sell. I would be willing to bet that many of those homes are overpriced.
Unfortunately most of us still remember what the market was like back 3+ years ago. Personally I wasn’t in real estate yet but was in construction and things were looking very good. I actually sold my personal home without a Realtor for a very favorable price.
And then the bubble burst and it all came crashing down. Now that same home would probably go for almost $50,000 less than what I got for it.
So how do you get your home sold in this market?
For sellers the question you have to ask yourself is, “how much do I really want or need to sell?”
If you truly want to sell then you better price your home right or you will be waiting a while. The longer a home sits on the market the more people wonder what is wrong with it. And the longer it sits the less likely people will see it. So to avoid having the home sit on the market too long price it right at the start.
Now, if you are listing your home with the only intention of seeing how much you can get AND you are willing to stay in the home if it doesn’t sell then price it where you want because it won’t matter how long it sits.
Buyers make sure your Realtor does their job and finds out how much a home is truly worth. In this market there is absolutely no reason to pay more than fair market value. Have your agent do a market analysis and have them suggest what the home is worth. Do not base your offer price on solely the asking price. Just because a seller is asking for a certain amount does not mean the home is worth near that amount.
The hardest part of this equation is sellers understanding what their home is truly worth. They love their home and find its qualities more valuable than other people would. So they price their homes to high, buyers don’t buy and the market slows down.
So if you are selling make sure that you seriously consider what your agent is telling you and price your home correctly.
