Seller, it’s your turn this month.
What does it take to get buyers to fight over your home, even in a market with continued sparse inventory? We’re talking best-case scenario, where multiple offers are written over list price.
Here are suggestions from a Listing Agent’s perspective:
- Be honest about how badly you want to sell the house. If your motivation to sell is tepid, then maybe now is not the time to list. As you will see below, once listed, there is a huge difference between being on the market vs. being in the market.
- Before you list, spend ample getting your home ready for buyers. This includes deep-cleaning, painting, making minor repairs and putting excess “stuff” into storage. The intent is to make your home sparkle and feel fresh and spacious. Your home is now a product like a new suit on a rack in a store.
- Everyone thinks their home is “special” and better than the average sold comp. After all, you picked it out, you decorated it and you took great care of it. Of course it is special, but buyers see it as a commodity.
- Really study the comps your Listing Broker gives you. Have an honest and vigorous discussion with them over what the numbers are saying. Don’t rely on your gut, what your friends say, or a Zillow “Zestimate.”
- With sold comps in hand, pay close attention to above-grade square-footage values for homes sold within a one-mile radius. Multiply that number by how many square feet you have above grade for a ballpark number. Lower levels don’t carry the same weight.
- Resist the urge to “test the market” with a list price above what the comps are saying. An over-priced home is on the market but not really in the market. It is a future price, not a present price.
- Listing your home exactly at where the sold comps are today will earn the strongest reaction from buyers. Buyers know when a house is over-priced; they have access to the same sold comps you reviewed.
- If you still insist on listing at an over-market price, don’t kid yourself by saying, “A buyer can always make an offer.” They won’t because they think you are unrealistic, will be difficult to negotiate with, and don’t want to waste their time.
- Discuss with your Realtor how to handle the issue of Buyer Broker compensation. It is the rare buyer who pays 100% — even 50% — of their Buyer Agent’s service fee. Remember, commissions on both sides are and always have been negotiable.
- Don’t fudge or mislead on your Seller’s Disclosure statement. Be honest and disclose. A buyer’s home inspector will find the plumbing leak from the upstairs bathroom sink that dribbled down to the family room ceiling. Surprises to buyers during inspections destroy trust and can be lethal.
- Once an offer is received, take it seriously and negotiate terms to your best advantage. A Real Estate Maxim is that your first offer usually is your best offer. Don’t sit on it just because two showings are scheduled for the next day.
- Realize that 30-days free possession after closing is not a universal seller right in the eyes of buyers. They may gift you 7 or 10 or 14 days free as a goodwill gesture, but their payment starts the day they close. Free possession is an old West MI tradition that is dying a slow death.