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KEYS TO SUCCESS IN SELLING YOUR HOME IN A
BUYER’S MARKET
By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI, San Diego real
estate broker
In previous years, the home down the block sold for well over
the asking price and it even sold in a couple days. before, that
was then and this is now. California has entered into a buyer’s
market. Buyers have more properties to choose from and
properties are staying on the market for a longer period of
time. In many cases, it can take up to two or three times longer
to sell the average home than it did only a couple of years ago.
As far as home values go, prices in California and San Diego in
particular have declined by as much as 30% in some local
communities. Since 2005, many sellers are experiencing long
delays in marketing their homes.
Before puting one's home on the market, the seller must give
careful thought to properly pricing the home. They must also
take into consideration the improvements and the location. Also,
and probably most importantly, consider the existing market
conditions. The price your neighbor's home was sold for a couple
of years ago has absolutely no relationship to the value of your
home in today's market. Buyers don't care what your improvements
cost, how much you paid for your home, or the fact that you're
not in a hurry to sell immediately.
The current market determines the value of homes by how
comparable homes have sold for in your neighborhood within the
last few months. Let’s say that about 20 years ago, when gold
hit a high of $800 an ounce, you bought a one ounce Krugerrand
and stashed it away in a safe deposit box. After 20 years, it
still probably would look very good but it would only be worth
around $670 today. Considering that during those 20 years you
earned absolutely no interest, that is a very substantial loss.
Does anybody really care what you paid for that Krugerrand or
that you maintain it in excellent condition? No. All buyers care
about is whatever the market has determined the value of that
Krugerrand is today! Another good analogy is the stock market.
What you paid for your IBM shares last week has absolutely no
relationship to what you can sell them for today.
Sure, your home improvements, upgrades, location, general upkeep
and landscaping all figure into the value of your home and its
salability. The most important factor that still remains is what
the current market for your location will pay for homes similar
to yours. Many real estate agents agree that 95% or more of
proper marketing of a residential property is established by the
initial proper pricing for the home.
In order to be successful and get top dollar for your property
in a buyer’s market, a seller must first step back from the
home. They must emotionally detach themselves from the property
and establish what the market is willing to pay for the
property. The best way to do this under the current market
conditions is to team up with your local realtor, who will
provide a no cost or obligation CMA. CMA stands for comparable
market analysis which is an objective assessment of what you can
expect to realistically get for your property under the current
market conditions. Not only will you see homes that have sold in
the CMA, {{you will also see|something just as important,}) how
long homes were on the market, what homes expired unsold and/or
were canceled during the listing. All these factors will come
into play to properly determine the price for your property.
When interviewing agents/brokers, sellers must keep in mind that
many less experienced agents (due to lack of experience or just
wanting to appease their client) will suggest a listing price
that is unrealistic for the current market. As is apparent,
sellers must never list their property for sale based solely on
the recommended selling price of the property. It is imperative
to consider agents by their amount of experience, knowledge of
the neighborhood, analysis of the market, and perhaps most
importantly, their specific and detailed marketing plan for your
property.
The key to success in today's buyers market is accurately
pricing your home from the very beginning and selecting an
experienced, competent realtor to professionally market your
property.
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