Tips For Selling In A Slow Market
I like to pass along good ideas from wherever I find them. Some good info has just been published by the St. Petersburg Times, and since many folks don't read the paper regularly or live out of town, I thought I'd pass a synopsis of this Times advice along to everybody.
If your house or condo has been on the market for months and months, here are some suggestions from Judy Stark, Times Homes and Garden Editor.
First, Judy recommends that you lower the price. This may not be what you want to hear, but price remains the biggest issue with buyers. Apparently the houses that are selling are the ones that have 2003-2004 pricing. The ones priced like it is still 2005-2006 are sitting unsold. In the Pinellas MLS system, the median single family home prices have been ranging around $175,000 to $180,000 which is comparable to the median prices from 2003. For condos, they need to be priced around the 2005 level when medians were around $152,000 or so. In other words, it's a buyer's market and sellers need to price accordingly.
Second, Judy suggests you get your real estate agent to run more recent comparables, and pay attention to the results. If your home has been on the market for many months, you may need to re-price it. Reviewing sales figures from comparable homes is the best way to update your price.
Third, Judy asks you to honestly analyze if you have already taken out your profit. If you took out a home equity loan to remodel your house, buy a new car, pay for college expenses or fly off to Europe, well, those were your profits. You can not make the same profit twice on the same house. You need to readjust your expectations.
Fourth, take a look at your competition. Many times I have heard sellers say that their house is worth more because it is "nicer" than the others in the neighborhood. Well, maybe. Maybe not. Judy suggests that you put in some time and take a look at similar homes in your neighborhood to see what they have for sale, and what their price is. This lets you get some price reality into your asking price. Open houses are a great way to shop your competition.
Fifth, Judy says you might want to do a little spruce-up work. If the house has been on the market for a long time, it may be time to do some painting and fix-up. Remember, the home you want to move out of is somebody else's move-up opportunity, and it should look like a step up.
Sixth, Judy suggests you hit the ball into your agent's court. Ask your agent to re-write your home's description on the MLS and update the photos. This is like hitting the "refresh" button.
Seventh, taking it off the market is a bad idea. Some sellers think if they pull the house off the market and re-list it a few months later, they can fool agents and buyers into thinking it's a new listing. Not a good idea. MLS has an "archive" feature and the past listing history of your house pops up. Good buyer's agents always look into the history of a house before writing an offer for the buyer.
Eighth, Judy reminds sellers to be realistic about time frames. In July, Judy reports that of the 15,507 active listings in the Hillsborough MLS, 12,723 had been on the market for 270 days or longer. I'll bet you will find about the same kind of data in the Pinellas MLS. If your house is languishing on the market, you have lots of company. So, be realistic about how long it will take to sell ... and be a little patient with your agent.
Ninth -- and this is very good advice -- Judy reminds you to consider all your alternatives. Judy reminds panicky sellers that a short sale may not be the only answer to selling the house. Lenders may be willing to rewrite the loan, or tag the interest to the end of the loan term. Consider a reverse mortgage. Or, you may be able to bring cash to the closing table and pay some of the buyer's closing costs or buy-down the interest rate to close the deal.
Judy mentions one other thing in her story, "... if you don't absolutely need to sell, get out of the game." This is a tough time to be a seller. There is a lot of inventory. Buyers have a hard time getting mortgages. Prices are falling. Unless you have a real, legitimate reason for selling now, you might want to put it off until the housing market shows signs of a positive recovery. Maybe you should consider renting the property. It might help your cash flow and renting could eventually lead to a sale if the renter decides to buy your property.
I hope some of these tips prove helpful, and thanks to Judy Stark for preparing such a good story.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
If your house or condo has been on the market for months and months, here are some suggestions from Judy Stark, Times Homes and Garden Editor.
First, Judy recommends that you lower the price. This may not be what you want to hear, but price remains the biggest issue with buyers. Apparently the houses that are selling are the ones that have 2003-2004 pricing. The ones priced like it is still 2005-2006 are sitting unsold. In the Pinellas MLS system, the median single family home prices have been ranging around $175,000 to $180,000 which is comparable to the median prices from 2003. For condos, they need to be priced around the 2005 level when medians were around $152,000 or so. In other words, it's a buyer's market and sellers need to price accordingly.
Second, Judy suggests you get your real estate agent to run more recent comparables, and pay attention to the results. If your home has been on the market for many months, you may need to re-price it. Reviewing sales figures from comparable homes is the best way to update your price.
Third, Judy asks you to honestly analyze if you have already taken out your profit. If you took out a home equity loan to remodel your house, buy a new car, pay for college expenses or fly off to Europe, well, those were your profits. You can not make the same profit twice on the same house. You need to readjust your expectations.
Fourth, take a look at your competition. Many times I have heard sellers say that their house is worth more because it is "nicer" than the others in the neighborhood. Well, maybe. Maybe not. Judy suggests that you put in some time and take a look at similar homes in your neighborhood to see what they have for sale, and what their price is. This lets you get some price reality into your asking price. Open houses are a great way to shop your competition.
Fifth, Judy says you might want to do a little spruce-up work. If the house has been on the market for a long time, it may be time to do some painting and fix-up. Remember, the home you want to move out of is somebody else's move-up opportunity, and it should look like a step up.
Sixth, Judy suggests you hit the ball into your agent's court. Ask your agent to re-write your home's description on the MLS and update the photos. This is like hitting the "refresh" button.
Seventh, taking it off the market is a bad idea. Some sellers think if they pull the house off the market and re-list it a few months later, they can fool agents and buyers into thinking it's a new listing. Not a good idea. MLS has an "archive" feature and the past listing history of your house pops up. Good buyer's agents always look into the history of a house before writing an offer for the buyer.
Eighth, Judy reminds sellers to be realistic about time frames. In July, Judy reports that of the 15,507 active listings in the Hillsborough MLS, 12,723 had been on the market for 270 days or longer. I'll bet you will find about the same kind of data in the Pinellas MLS. If your house is languishing on the market, you have lots of company. So, be realistic about how long it will take to sell ... and be a little patient with your agent.
Ninth -- and this is very good advice -- Judy reminds you to consider all your alternatives. Judy reminds panicky sellers that a short sale may not be the only answer to selling the house. Lenders may be willing to rewrite the loan, or tag the interest to the end of the loan term. Consider a reverse mortgage. Or, you may be able to bring cash to the closing table and pay some of the buyer's closing costs or buy-down the interest rate to close the deal.
Judy mentions one other thing in her story, "... if you don't absolutely need to sell, get out of the game." This is a tough time to be a seller. There is a lot of inventory. Buyers have a hard time getting mortgages. Prices are falling. Unless you have a real, legitimate reason for selling now, you might want to put it off until the housing market shows signs of a positive recovery. Maybe you should consider renting the property. It might help your cash flow and renting could eventually lead to a sale if the renter decides to buy your property.
I hope some of these tips prove helpful, and thanks to Judy Stark for preparing such a good story.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at http://www.thestpeterealestatesite.com/.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 4:33 AM
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