How to Sell Your Home: Common Sense

The cliche that common sense is not that common holds true when it comes to home owners trying to sell.  If you like the home you’re living in, it’s natural to assume that others will too. But anything beyond that assumption will leave you floundering with an overpriced, underprepared listing.

For example, many sellers think it’s best to list their home at a higher price. “You never know; someone might buy it. I think it’s worth it!”

When it comes to listing price, timing is extremely important

But common sense dictates placing your property on the market at a realistic price and terms from the beginning.  Statistically, a property attracts the most interest from the real estate community and potential buyers when it is first listed; therefore, it has the highest chance of a sale when it is new on the market.

Getting your home ready to sell also seems logical, doesn’t it? But a cursory glance at listing photos makes it clear that it’s not. If you’re hoping to sell your home at top dollar, it needs to LOOK valuable; this means well taken care of, repairs handled and house tidy. If you’re in an urgent situation that means getting out NOW, that’s a different matter. Otherwise, think about what you would want a home in your price range to look like if you were paying top dollar and act accordingly.

Finally, have realistic expectations about the real estate market. I can help you manage those expectations by providing you with detailed analysis on the local market, comparable homes in your price range and how long it’s taking those homes to sell. But Realtors are not magicians. My job is to market your home. If I’m doing that well, the market dictates the result.

This is part one in a four-part series on Selling Your Home in Aberdeen. Next: Elbow Grease

Home Prices on the Rise

Aberdeen is trending with the rest of the U.S., which, despite crazy cold weather, has enjoyed rising home prices.

The median list price for January rose 8.3 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the realtor.com® data. The number of properties for sale was up 3.1 percent. And the median age of inventory was essentially unchanged, indicating a transition to a “less frenzied market” than in January 2013.

Home prices have risen steadily in Aberdeen over the last five years. Click to enlarge.

Obviously this is better news for sellers than buyers, but there are still affordable homes on the market and our inventory of those homes will increase with the temperature.

In other good news nationally, foreclosure rates are the lowest they’ve been since 2007.

More Good News in the Real Estate Market

While it’s true that mortgage rates are on the rise, they’re still so low. (But everyone’s a bargain hunter.)

But on the upside home prices increased in July 12% (versus a year ago) according to USA Today and CoreLogic, which tracks real estate data.

Click on the graphic above to expand it and see a market summary. Aberdeen has also shown an increase in home prices since August 2012. Our average sale price is up %14.68 since this time last year.

Notice “Days on Market” has increased, and that’s the silver lining for home buyers who might be discouraged (sellers are more motivated to negotiate if their home has been on the market for a while).

And in more good news, CoreLogic reports that the foreclosure crisis is abating.

Separately today, mortgage tracker Lender Processing Services reports that foreclosure starts for the 12 months ended in July were at their lowest level since 2007.