Advice For Seller’s In a Soft Market

By Greg Koch, Realtor

Champion Realty, Inc.

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Advice For Seller’s In a Soft Market

If you’re going to sell in this market here are a few, but important, things you might consider
Fix up the place. Some folks may think that if they just make the house look better than how they’ve been living in it, then maybe that will draw the buyers. This approach is not working in today’s market. One of the ways to overcome this push-back is to simply visit some houses that are in the same market area and type of home that you own. How do they look compared to yours? On top of thathow does your house look compared to the new construction in your price range? Make the house look, “Wow,” in this market or you’ll lose buyers right when they walk into the front door.
2. Price it below market. Don’t mess around on this second point or you could lose more money as each month floats by without a sale. If the fish are biting at 20 feet, no expensive bait is going to bring those catfish up to 10 feet. The same is true about your house. If your competitors are selling at $30,000 or $50,000 less than yours, the hot tub, new kitchen and bath are obviously not attracting your “fish.” Get with it, lower your bait, and sell now so you can take advantage of the lower prices when it comes time for your own purchase.
3. Market the deal as much as the house. If you will consider closing costs, don’t just say you will, put a dollar mark on it. Offering $5,000, $10,000 or more right up front in your marketing will draw some of the cash-poor buyers to your doorstep.
4. Consider raising the commission paid to the buyers agent’s or better, offering a bonus. Though commissions are usually split with the agents’ brokers, often times bonuses pass through with no split at all.
5. Offer other non-real estate incentives to the buyer. Vacations, automobiles, jet skis, media centers, shopping spreescould be what the buyer wants when it comes to moving into their new home. Check with your loan officer to make sure you can put together a program that will allow such incentives or you can construct them outside of the sales contract in a separate agreement between the buyer and the seller.
In essence, make your house a one-of-a-kind deal that the buyer would be crazy to turn down.