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With almost as many homes listed for sale as realtors sell in a year, sellers need every advantage they can get to stand out from the crowd. They must do all of the old standby things, of course, including "de-personalize" your home, un-clutter the house, work on the curb appeal of the front yard (and the front of the house), and consult with your agent.
The hard part begins somewhere along the way.
Put away your bias, because you have one. You may not think so, but if you have ever thought your house is better that one down the street, that is essentially the same, you show your preference. If you have ever thought, your house was worth more... you have a bias. A bias does not belong in this market.
Analyze other homes that are similar to yours. Make sure they are alike in square footage, number of bathrooms and number of bedrooms. Determine if they were updated recently. Tour them. Figure out whether they are in superior, the same condition, or inferior to your home. Find out when they last sold. Look at your area and find out if values have gone up or down since then and by how much. Talk to your agents. Look at the graphs in this newsletter.
Find out what is for sale now. Do not stop at what is available from other agents, because you should check out everything: bank-owned property, new homes, short sales, HUD homes, and more.
After you've looked at many homes on the market now, figure out how much yours would sell for.
Talk to your agent about what price your house would sell. Talk to other realtors and ask them the same question, "What would my home sell for?"
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Now you have a decision to make. Would you be happy with that price? Would that value make you move. Do you have to move?
You certainly do not have to sell.
There are almost 4.7 million resale homes on the market right now. That does not even count all the new homes and FSBOs. It only counts a portion of the foreclosures.
We have only been on a pace to sell in excess of five million homes a year once since November, and that was back in February.
Do you really want to sell?
Assuming you do, the next step is to figure out the people looking at similar homes...Would they make on offer on your house at the current price, would they make an offer on another house.
You are in a competition. Compete!
Improper pricing is the number one reason most houses sit on the market in the current market. The second reason houses sit around is the condition of the home. Without spending a lot of money, is your house as good as required? If so, call soon. If not, are you willing to spend some money & put in some time?
Luckily, many television shows tell you how to fix up your home. Watch some TV.
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