Selling Your House In A Cooling Market

Gone are the days when home sellers could list their houses for sale at a high price and be assured buyers would fight for the privilege of getting a home.  In most areas now it is rare to hear of anyone paying more than the asking price.

Gone, too, are the days when banks and lending institutions would approve a mortgage for almost any individual who asked for one.  Many sub-prime lenders were available to provide loans to borrowers that were rejected by other lending institutions.  Now many of those sub-prime lenders have gone out of business due to the bad loans they made.

Based upon the current market, buyers can now afford to take their time choosing a home without being concerned that it will be snatched away from them by another more eager buyer.

If you are planning on selling your home at a fair price within a reasonable period of time, what can you do to improve your chances in this slower market?  The first thing to do is contact a knowledgeable real estate agent who can perform a market analysis of what similar homes are selling for in your neighborhood.  Your agent can show you how long it is taking for comparable properties to sell.  This is referred to as the “days on market”.

You can also ask your agent to show you a couple of the competing homes in your area.  Look at those properties through the eyes of a buyer and then return to your home.  How does your home compare?  Will your home need to be priced less than the competing homes?  If you were a buyer considering all three homes at what price would you be interested in making an offer on your own home?

It is very important to “get it right” with your initial asking price.  You only have one chance with many buyers, and if they decide not to look at your house because it is a little higher than the others in the neighborhood you could end up waiting several months longer than you would have otherwise had to.  If you and your agent feel like the market will continue downward, then you will definitely need to price it lower to get ahead of that downward curve.

In addition to choosing the correct sales price you will also need to focus on getting the home ready to sell.  This usually involves some painting, some landscaping, and de-cluttering countertops, closets, and bedrooms.  Those basics are important in any market, but in a cooling market pay special attention to your asking price.  It could save you several months of extra mortgage payments!

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