Make your home stand out from the market

The rules have changed. Everyone knows that supply far exceeds demand right now on resale homes. In a normal market, a home priced competitively would receive showings and within a reasonable time, an offer. That is not always the case these days.

Right now there are well-priced homes on the market that are not even getting showings. Buyers are still holding back and more homes get added to the inventory.

This is what can happen next:

• Let’s say a home is listed for $250,000 in January and that price puts it mid-way between competing properties. Each month new homes are listed and others on the market drop their prices. Within a matter of months, that $250,000 home owner finds himself at the top of the market among his competition.

• A better strategy would have been to list the home in January at the low end of the market, making it the best VALUE among competing homes. It is likely that it would have been the next home to sell.

• Now even if the $250,000 home drops its price it’s still the mid-priced home and other homes are a better value. So the seller has to “chase the market”. Had he “led the market” he may well have been sold.

Often Realtors are the ones who deliver the information about what the market is doing and the inclination is to “shoot the messenger”. Just as doctors sometimes have to give unpleasant test results, so do real estate agents. But sellers need and deserve the facts so that they can make informed decisions.

Pricing a home right at the very beginning can insure a faster sale and better net proceeds to the seller.

Today’s market is a Buyers’ Market because supply exceeds demand. That’s the law that has dictated price since time began. There are more homes on the market today than in the recent past, giving buyers more to choose from. And that choice allows buyers to be pickier than ever before.

Let’s assume you have done everything to your home to “spruce it up”. You’ve made repairs, enhanced the landscaping, cleaned every square inch – inside and out, etc. Your home now sparkles and shows as well as any other home on the market.

So what’s next? Exposure. There are two groups of people your home must be exposed to – potential buyers and real estate agents. Over 80% of buyers use an agent to buy a home, so it makes sense to have your home listed in the MLS so that it is exposed to all the agents in the area.

List with the right broker and that takes care of the second group – potential buyers. Full service brokers offer typically more exposure than limited service ones. They spend more on marketing and that increases the likelihood your home will be seen by more buyers.

Brokers have the ability to expose your home to more potential buyers than you as an owner can. They have more resources. Their marketing efforts will be heavily slanted toward the internet, but will also take advantage of print media, visual tours, professionally done marketing materials, etc.

Probably the most important thing left to do is price it right. That’s a challenge and you need accurate and up to date information to make a good pricing decision. Your agent should be able to show you the facts on recent sales, pending sales, and what is actively being marketed that represents your competition.

If the property isn’t priced right you’ll get no showings because other listings will look more appealing. If you get first showings, but no one is coming back for a second look, it may still be priced too high. If other homes around you are selling and you are getting no offers, price is still the issue.

Don’t fall into the trap of offering other price incentives if you are not getting showings. You may be tempted to pay closing costs, homeowners’ fees, a decorating allowance, etc. But in order for those to be appealing you have to have the showings first. Price is the answer to that. You can always sweeten the pot during negotiations by offering money for closing costs or other incentives.

Price the home below other homes in the area if you want to make sure that you get as many showings as possible. That sounds like hard to swallow advice, but allowing a property to linger on the market with no activity is just as bad. Agents and consumers begin to assume there is something wrong with the home. Meanwhile, your monthly expenses for mortgage, insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc. keep piling up. It may be better to bite the bullet by taking a price reduction than to carry all those costs indefinitely.

Buyers are in the driver’s seat right now. Sellers have to be realistic when it comes to getting a home sold and look at the market objectively. Contracts are being written every day on homes that demonstrate real value to the consumer. Make sure that you have taken all the necessary steps to insure that your home will be one of them.

Buying a home is a big decision involving a large investment. Maybe the biggest one you’ll ever make. So make sure you make an informed decision.

It would be nice to be psychic or to have a real estate agent who is, but that isn’t possible. No one can just look at a home and tell that it is in tip-top structural and mechanical condition. You can get clues as to how well a home has been maintained, but even brand new homes can sometimes harbor flaws.

That’s where a good home inspector comes in. A thorough home inspection can look for cracks, leaks, mechanical or electrical problems, etc. Most sales contracts entitle the buyer, at their own expense, to conduct a home inspection. There are time frames that must be adhered to or the inspection results will not represent a contingency to the contract.

There are a number of inspections the buyer may choose to have done. The most common is a general home inspection. The home inspection will check to see that all major systems are in working order – both structural and mechanical. That means that the item is working in the manner it was intended to operate.

For example, the air conditioning system cools the home properly, the kitchen appliances all work, etc. He will also look for leaks around plumbing fixtures, windows, doors, etc. Electrical outlets and appliances will be checked.

The home inspector will check for obvious roof problems but if he feels a more thorough inspection is called for he will recommend the buyer hire a roof inspector. A roof inspection will include a check for current or past leaks but can NOT be an accurate predictor of roof life – even roof inspectors are not psychic and can’t predict the future.

The buyer is also entitled to have a WDO inspection. That’s an inspection for termites or any wood rot (caused by other wood-destroying organisms).

Radon gas is invisible and odorless and can only be detected by a certified radon inspector who uses the proper equipment and evaluates the results. Since radon gas is suspected of being a cause of lung cancer, an inspection for it will show if it is present in high levels, and so, it can be mitigated professionally.

Mold is a relatively new inspection item and is yet very loosely regulated. Most homes have some mold but the only mold that should be mitigated is toxic mold, unless a family member has an allergy or medical condition that is exacerbated by the presence of other molds.

Most sales contracts allow the seller to fix the problems, to give a credit for their repair or the two sides can negotiate a reasonable solution. Sometimes the result is the voiding of the contract. However, if both buyer and seller are realistic and reasonable they should be able to come to a resolution that satisfies both parties.

Guess what? A contract is a legal document and everything pertinent needs to be spelled out and in writing. That’s it.

Nothing more complicated than that.
Unfortunately, too many agents and customers “assume” that the contract means this, that, or the other, when, in fact, it says something different.

Duh! Dates and deadlines are real and have consequences. Exceptions to those deadlines have to be agreed upon and in writing if something changes.

I see more contracts fall apart or end up in a dispute because someone thought that something would be okay because it was okay in another situation. Well, it probably wasn’t okay then either but they didn’t get caught.

Help on contracts for agents or customers is a phone call away. Don’t write or agree to something if it isn’t clearly spelled out. And for heavens sake, don’t assume!

As the branch manager, I get to hear all the stories my agents are dealing with. This latest one is the “seller-who-wants-to-sell-but-makes-it-difficult”.

The seller is getting 2-4 showings per week in a slow market, which is great. But because none have resulted in offers so far, the seller has decided that they are going to restrict the showings, since it’s too much trouble to keep the home in showing condition at all times.

Now the seller will only show the home during a four hour window on Saturdays, with advance notice!

Kill me now! Any buyer’s agent who sees that in the showing instructions will just decide it isn’t worth it to work around such a difficult schedule and move on to easier listings. With the market as saturated as it is in inventory, agents have plenty of homes to choose from. And with buyers in short supply, agents are accommodating THEIR schedules, not the sellers’.

Homes ARE selling, but it takes more than a great home and a realistic price to get it done. If the buyer can’t SEE the home, they can’t BUY it! Sellers need to bend over backwards to make the home available if they are serious about selling.