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Giving Your Home the Edge in a Highly Competitive Marketplace - 2007-10-20 |
There's no question that this is a tough time to be selling your house. Everyone acknowledges that there are more homes available for sale than there are buyers to buy them.
In addition, builders with months of unsold inventory are highly motivated to unload, and are making deals with buyers that are hard, if not impossible, for resale owners to match.
But if we recognize that every prospective home seller is facing the same marketplace, and that the task of selling your home is not insurmountable, then we are left asking the question: what will make my home more desirable than its competition?
For starters, know that Atlanta has a vibrant economy year-round, and that active home buyers are transferring into our community every day. The metro area is still in a positive job growth environment, and that means houses are still selling. Even though the volume of those home sales is less than it has been in recent years, it is still a large number of houses.
Furthermore, you don't have to compete with every other house for sale in the metro Atlanta area. In fact, you don't have to compete with the vast majority of homes being offered for sale in your county. The reality is that most home buyers shop for their next home based on location, and if your home meets the location test, it's almost automatically in the running.
But just because your home is considered does not mean you will receive an offer. I am convinced that most homes on the market today are either ignored altogether or used primarily as a negative comparable.
A negative comparable is a home used by the buyer to justify their decision to buy another house.
I once worked with a corporate relocation couple who had transferred in from Denver. She told me exactly what they wanted, and I prepared a tour of homes based on the wants and needs she had expressed. To their delight, they loved the first home I showed them in Dunwoody, and wanted to make an offer. But sobriety kicked in, and they felt they needed to see all 13 homes on my list before they were ready to make a knowledgeable decision.
They were right. The showing of every other house on my list was a complete waste of every seller's time and effort. My buyers had already made their decision, and needed only enough negative comparables to justify their choice.
Unfortunately, many of the homes in today's resale market are sitting on the market, being used to justify other, more attractive sales.
So what's wrong with the houses that don't sell? After 90 days of exposure to the market, today's seller needs to have a good long look at the following topics to expose weakness in the overall selling strategy:
* Is the home ready to be shown to the public? The house that sells today must sparkle and shine, it must ooze sensations of "clean" and "bright." In particular, the kitchen must have some "wow" factor, and the bathrooms must be, at the least, spotlessly sanitized. Most buyers in this market will not take on a home improvement project, even if you discount the price dramatically. If your home is in anything less than excellent condition, you are seriously handicapping yourself.
* Is the home being marketed properly? How will prospective buyers even be aware that your home is for sale? If you are depending on a rusty "for sale" sign in the yard, you are severely limiting your market. The majority of today's buyers begin their search on the Internet long before they intend to move, and you need a presence there. If this is not your strength, know that today's real estate professionals have, by necessity, become experts in high tech internet marketing techniques.
* Finally, the asking price must be right. But I submit that many home sellers make the mistake of neglecting the first two requirements, condition and marketing, and focus almost entirely on price as a means of bringing in an offer. And while price is important, it should be the last part of the puzzle you solve.
Here's why:
Until you have your home in excellent condition, most prospective purchasers will exclude it altogether from consideration. And unless buyers know that your home is available, they will never be able to consider it in the first place.
Therefore, price should be the last factor you bring into play when adjusting your strategy. The key to sales success is to be slightly better than your competition on a variety of features.
If everyone else in the neighborhood has laminate countertops, you should offer a solid surface kitchen. But if everyone else has corian, you should feature granite. If your competition has a nice deck off the back, you need to counter that advantage, perhaps with a new patio or installed barbeque grill.
The idea to grasp is that most home buyers are comparison shoppers, and the sooner you recognize the process they are using to find and then eliminate your home, the sooner you can address the specific features that need attention.
If you really want to sell your house, my advice is first embrace the internet as your new best friend. Then tour the homes in your neighborhood that are competing with yours, and find a way to make your home more attractive. Only then are you ready to look at pricing your home to meet and beat the competition.
NEXT WEEK: Pricing Your Home To Sell In Today's Market
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Upcoming Events
BUYING FORECLOSURES IN GEORGIA
NEW for 2008: Bank-Owned Home Bonanza
This seminar has been updated and revised for 2008 to reflect the dramatic changes in the Georgia foreclosure marketplace. We are literally facing a flood of foreclosure properties, and there is profit to be made in each and every one of these homes.
Whether you want to build a portfolio of homes for your retirement or you simply want to find a better home for yourself and your family, this program is for YOU.
LAST CHANCE THIS MONTH!!
• Saturday, Oct. 11th, 2:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. - Renaissance Waverly Hotel in the Cobb Galleria
This COMPLETELY NEW SEMINAR examines the roots of today's foreclosure meltdown and explains how you can take advantage of this opportunity in your spare time.
Advance Tickets: $69; bring a friend for an additional $30.
Couples share materials.
Detailed information available under the “Seminars” button
This course approved for 3 hours of Continuing Education credit by the Georgia Real Estate Commission.
The Real Estate Investor's Institute will be held at Emory University on
November 22, 23 & 24, 2008. Make plans to attend.
Detailed information is
available under "Seminars."
This course is approved by the Georgia Real Estate Commission for 12
hours of Continuing Education Credit. Agents must bring license number.
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