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Keys To Success In Selling Your Home In A Buyer's Market
By Bob Schwartz, CRS,
GRI ©2006
www.brokerforyou.com All rights reserved.
Two years ago the home down the block sold for over the
asking price. Plus, it sold in a couple days.
Unfortunately, that was two years ago. In today's
market, buyers not only have more properties to choose
from, but those properties are also staying on the
market for a longer time. In many cases, it is taking
two to three times longer to sell the average home than
it did only a couple years ago.
Home value prices in California and in San Diego in
particular have drastically declined by as much as 30%
in certain communities. Since 2005, many sellers are
experiencing long delays in marketing their homes.
Before putting one's home on the market, a seller must
give careful consideration to properly pricing the home.
They must also take into consideration the improvements
and the location. Also, and probably most importantly,
take into account the present 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 right away.
Your home value is determined by current market home
sales in your area within the last few months. About 20
years ago gold hit a an ounce. Let’s say you purchased a
one ounce Krugerrand at that time and stored it away in
a safe deposit box. Though you had kept the gold in
extremely good condition, today, 20 years later, it
would be worth around $670. That is a substantial loss
when one considers that during that time period you
earned absolutely no interest on that money. Does
anybody really care what you paid for that Kruggerrand
or that you maintain it in excellent condition? No. All
that buyers care about is what the market has determined
the value of that Krugerrand is today! Another analogy
would be the stock market. What you paid for your IBM
shares last week has absolutely no relationship to what
you can sell them for today.
Your home improvements, upgrades, location, general
upkeep and landscaping do figure into the value of your
home and its salability. However, the most significant
factor still remains what the current market for your
location is willing to pay for similar homes. Most real
estate agents will agree that initial accurate pricing
for a home accounts for 95% or more of good marketing of
a residential property.
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 remove
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. Aside from seeing 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 please their client) will
suggest a listing price that is unrealistic for the
current market. As a result, sellers should never list
their property for sale based only on the recommended
selling price of the property. It is imperative to
consider agents by their 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 properly
pricing your home from the outset and selecting an
experienced, competent Realtor to professionally market
your property.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Schwartz, is a Certified Residential
Specialist, CA licensed real estate broker with
Downtown San
Diego real estate. Bob has over 27 years of
residential real estate experience, authored a number of
published articles and served as an expert witness for
San Diego legal firms.
Other sites of interest are:
San Diego real estate,
Los Angeles lawyers,
San Jose lawyers,
Hoodia diet aids,
California gold nuggets
&
Epson inkjet cartridges.
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