When preparing your home to sell there are two things I always tell my clients that will dictate how quickly the home will sell. Price and updating. In this competitive market, it is funny when you go into a home that has been sitting for more than a week, and you think to yourself, what is wrong with the property? I know, it sounds silly. Michael, it’s only been a week, that isn’t that long. You are correct, but in this competitive market, I am used to asking the listing agent do you have any offers, and when are you asking for the highest and best? This of course depends on price point and location is key. However, I always tell people, there are two reasons homes don’t sell. Price or updating.
Price is so key. Yes, we are in a competitive sellers market here in the Triangle, but you still have to price the home correctly. You do this by the comps that have sold around the home as well as taking into consideration the condition of the home and updates it has. If the home is priced okay but needs too much work it will sit. On the contrary if the home shows well, but priced to high, it will sit. When I take a listing and we are coming up with a gameplan I go over this in great detail. One thing that is always true in the process is the market.
The real estate market will tell very quickly if we have hit the correct mark. This is shown to us in a couple ways. If we are getting showings, but no offers, we need to adjust, or if we aren’t getting any showings at all, we need to adjust. It is not a perfect science so that is why it is so important to have an agent that has a pulse of the market and is continuously watching what is going around your home such as new listings, recently sold, and of course showings. Depending on what is going on I am in constant communication and adjusting where we need to. Price and or updating, those are the things that go hand in hand when selling a home.