How to sell a house in a buyer’s market
Get it sold!
Home Seller’s Guide to Getting it Sold NOW
Things are picking up, but are still slow. We rarely see a buyer’s market in Austin, but right now the tables are turned. There are a few things you can do to put yourself ahead of the game so that the first home to sell in your area & price point is your home.
- Be Prepared. Mentally, emotionally, and financially. It’s going to take more effort, stress, time, and money. You will need to have a plan for making the house “show-ready” each day, even when you’re tired, frustrated, or otherwise less motivated. You will likely need to spend a bit of money making your house show it’s absolute best so that today’s extra-picky buyers won’t have any easy excuses.
- Be Patient. So you’ve decided to move. It may be a while before the big day homes. Don’t get too antsy or excited because it will only add to your frustration over time. Selling your house will likely be like a second job, particularly if you will be living there while it is on the market.
- It’s a Changing Market. Don’t expect the same to ring true for different areas, price points, and weeks. Some neighborhoods may pick up momentum while others continue to lag in sales and this will vary in different price-points from day to day. Your agent will need to stay on top of changing trends, so be sure that they are an expert in the area. It helps if they have lived there personally, particularly through changing markets.
- Get Read to Price Aggressively. This is a BIG one… This is not the time to get hung up on what your house might sell for on a great day or what you heard a neighboring house sold for. To be ahead of the game, you have to be the best house in the price-point so that your house is the best that buyers will look at (and fall in love with). This may mean entering a different price point by pricing lower than your previous expectations. You will need expert help with this to see where buyers are looking, since many have expanded their searches in this market. Your price should reflect price reductions that you anticipate on your competitor’s homes. We, at BridgeOne Properties here in Austin have had great success getting contracts even in the most over-saturated neighborhoods anticipating price reductions and the ever-expanding list of competing homes.
- Get Your House in Tip-Top Shape. The most motivated sellers win the contract not only for pricing, but because they put the energy into an extra-long “To Do” list around the house from paint to carpet and caulking to landscaping. It may feel and sound cliche, but this is absolutely important to give your home the best first impression in an over-saturated market where instead of competing against 30 homes, you may be up against 100 homes! It should be cleaner and tidier than it has ever been, any clutter or personal items should be out of sight, new landscaping will really help, and a clean entry will make a great impression. Touch up paint, clean doors and baseboards, dust fans, clean clean clean! If you are unable to do everything yourself, a handyman will be a great investment here.
Fix any damage, big or small
- Make it an Easy Show. Some life situations don’t lend themselves well for showings, like young children, babies, and pets. Do your best to make your house available at as many times as you possibly can. If you are one of the many sellers that needs to remain in the house while it is on the market, get used to saying “yes” to Realtor calls, even if they are 10 minutes away and you are in the middle of something. If having your house on lockbox 24/7 is uncomfortable, ask your agent to put the lockbox on timed access or put the lockbox out yourself when an agent calls or when you head out to work or on errands. Make yourself a quick “showing preparation” routine. It could be tossing pet beds in a closet, throwing toys in a trunk, and should include turning the lights on. If this sounds like too much of a carbon footprint, make up for it by cutting something else (water bottles maybe?)
- Use Internet Marketing. Not all home search websites are connected to local Multiple Listing Services (MLS’s). Austin’s MLS, although it does feed Realtor.com, does not feed Trulia, Zillow, Google Base, and many other websites (contrary to what their marketing may lead you to believe). Make sure your Realtor’s listings are heavily marketed online because more buyers than ever do must of their hunting online, even if they also have an agent looking for them. If you’re not sure about your agent, find out the address of some of their other listings and try to find them yourself on both text and map-based searches. In Austin, agents can now post up to 25 photos for a listing in addition to a virtual tour with unlimited photos. Make sure they do it!
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Quality Photography. If you follow this site, you know this is a sticking point for me with my “Bad MLS Photos of the Week”. This is because almost all buyers start and continue their home search online. If your house is under-represented in photographs, they quickly move on to the next listing. So many agents take only a few photos with a camera phone and move on. If an agent doesn’t have the equipment or education for good architectural photography, here’s a inside scoop for you: Professional Photography, like in the photo to the right on a previous listing of mine, costs around $80 and includes a virtual tour!
- Get Rid of Junk. This goes hand in hand with de-cluttering your house and chances are that you will be VERY glad you did it! It’s also a great opportunity to find tax-deductions and Craig’s list cash in your closets, because yes, even your closets should be clean and tidy for buyers. It gives a feeling of “my stuff will fit in here” to buyers and you’ll be amazed how refreshing a clean, tidy, un-full closet can be. Here’s a tip: make a list of everything you donate for your 2009 taxes. It makes things easier for your accountant, and if you do your taxes yourself, you can enter in your list in TurboTax.
- Offer Extras. This may be annoying, especially for us spoiled Austin sellers, but offering extras like service contracts, pre-inspections, and other warranties can be the decision maker between two homes, and puts the nervous buyers at east (and we have an extra percentage of highly nervous buyers these days!).
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