How long is too long? In a dry market, a sales period of six months to a year is not unusual. Look at recent sales reports for similar homes nearby to determine a reasonable selling range. In a hot seller’s market, a house that hasn’t sold in a month indicates a problem. In any case, there are several steps you can take before raising the white flag.
- Videotape your home, inside and out, and watch the tape as if you were a potential buyer. Is the lawn overgrown or the garden bare? Is your house neat and impeccably scrubbed? Immaculately clean homes sell faster than those that appear overly lived in or show an abundance of the owner’s personality.
- Take a second look at your list price. Visit open houses in your neighborhood. Do similar houses have a lower price? Sales prices may have dropped since your first comparative market analysis. In a hot market, if you haven’t sold your home within a month, chances are you’ve overpriced it. If you lower the asking price, consider a slightly lower figure than other comparable homes if you’re interested in a quick sale.
- Do whatever it takes to be away from home during showings and open houses. The presence of sellers makes it difficult for potential buyers to take their time or talk openly with your partner and agent. Leave a few freebies to make potential buyers feel more comfortable: drinks, nuts, cookies, anything that doesn’t lose freshness or make too much of a mess.
- Pay close attention to the comments on the exhibits. Feedback can guide you to make home repairs, tone down your decor, make landscaping improvements, and the like.
- You can offer buyers perks like cash bonuses, closing costs, or lower your interest rate to lower monthly payments. You might also consider owner financing.
- Neutralize your color scheme. Most buyers prefer pale, neutral colors that make it easy to imagine a new home as their own. Houses with white exteriors are the best sellers; for interiors, try whites, off-whites, or pale grays.
- Expose hardwoods and polish them to a shine. It’s amazing how many buyers won’t even look at a house without hardwoods.
- If you have dogs, cats, old carpet, mold, or smoke problems, chances are a potential buyer will be offended by the smell. Air out the house and invest in an air cleaning and deodorizing product to remove odors. Another option is a cleaning product with live enzymes that consume the odor-causing agents and remove the odor permanently.
- Staging your home is one of the best ways to sell your home faster and for the best price. Staging sets the scene throughout the home to create immediate buyer interest in the property. How you live in your house and how you sell your house are two different things. One idea is to pack several large pieces of furniture and as much clutter as possible into each room. Don’t just move to another room or garage, rent storage space and move it out of the house before showing it off.
- Pay attention to lighting. Make sure light sources are clean. Cleaning them is not pleasant, but the bright lighting will be worth it. You can even up the brightness factor of your rooms by adding brighter light bulbs or putting in accent lamps or cabinet lighting. Be sure to open the curtains and raise the blinds. For best effect, use a balance of natural, overhead, and tabletop or floor lighting.
- Try to readjust your sights. Determine the lowest price you find acceptable and consider anything else as icing on the cake. In a long-standing dry market, you may even have to sell at a loss, so it’s important to take all offers seriously. You don’t want to alienate a potential buyer who has solid financing because you’ve set your sights too high.
- If the market is underwater, consider offering a higher commission or bonus to your listing agent as an added incentive. If you sweeten the pot for your agent, amend your listing contract to reflect the change, and make sure it gets added to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) bookâbuying agents will be inspired to give your home some extra attention, too.