Key Takeaways
- If you take care of the controllable factors that affect the sale of your home, buyers will come
soon. - Don’t think something is wrong if your house doesn’t sell in the first two weeks. Three to four
months is the norm. - When you take control of the selling process instead of leaving it to a realtor, you have more
control over how fast buyers will appear. - FSBO homes sell faster and sell for closer to their asking price.
Home sellers hate to read news headlines about how homes sales are skyrocketing when their home has been left on the launch pad. Why is their home not among those sales? Let’s get realistic and look closely at what makes a house a quick sell. Here are five questions to ask yourself:
- Am I looking at the housing market realistically? First off, the majority of U.S. homes take between three to four months to sell. Don’t think something is wrong if your home hasn’t sold within the first two weeks.
- Is my home in a “hot” zone? That is, an area with huge job growth? Forbes is placing its bets on these top 10 in 2016: Grand Rapids, MI; Charleston, SC; Austin TX; Baton Rouge, LA; and San Antonio, TX, Colorado Springs CO; Columbia, SC; Riverside-San Bernardino, CA; Las Vegas, NV; and Tacoma, WA.*
- Am I depending on a Realtor to sell my home? If so, you’re wasting an opportunity to pilot your own ship. When you take the wheel you have more control of how fast a buyer appears. The 2015 Buyer’s Guide of the National Association of Realtors, the realtor industry’s own publication, cited a statistic from their own study. It turns out that FSBO homes sell faster and sell for closer to their asking price.
- Is my home priced properly? ListingDoor’s custom tools and market data can help you set your home’s correct market value. You’ve got this one covered just by being a subscriber.
- Do I have great quality photographs? The first thing your potential buyers will see when they search online are photos of your home. You’ve lost them right there if you don’t have attractive well-composed images that will make them want to schedule a visit. Again, ListingDoor can help if you’re photography skills are limited or if a professional’s touch is needed.
- Is my home in top condition? Look around your neighborhood and then at your home. If most of your neighbors’ homes for sale are selling quickly, you may need to consider some updates or repairs. If sales are sluggish all around you, make changes so that your home stands out. Sometimes that means simple things like changing the color of your front door or sprucing up your landscaping for great curb appeal.
You don’t have control of where your home sits geographically, but you can control the five other elements affecting the sale of your home. If you’ve taken care of them, relax. Your buyer will be along soon.
* http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2015/12/16/10-hot-real-estate-markets-to-watch-in-2016/4/#336147d94034
