We are in the midst of a strong Buyer’s Market.  That means there are many more sellers than buyers.  This puts downward pressure on home prices and pits sellers against one another in fierce competition for the relatively few buyers in the marketplace.

 

If you’ve had your home on the market for a while and it hasn’t sold, the odds are one of three factors are keeping it from selling.

 

1.      Condition.  Your home is in a beauty contest with every other similar listing on the market.  If you want to entice a buyer to make an offer, your house needs to look the best it possibly can.  That means completing tasks such as thorough cleaning, de-cluttering, all of the little fix-up projects you’ve been putting off, and possibly fresh paint and flooring.

2.      Price.  In addition to a beauty contest, your home is also in a price war.  Just remember that buyers will compare similar listings and sales to your house in order to determine whether or not your asking price warrants an offer.  The days of pricing a little high and waiting for the market to rise up and meet you are over.  Instead, you need to get ahead of the market by pricing your home a little below recent comparable sales so your asking price makes you stand out from the crowd.  Right now, overpricing can cost you extra months on the market and thousands of dollars because the statistics show that homes that sit around sell for significantly less than those priced correctly from the start.

3.      Location.  You can’t change where your house sits, but its location plays a huge role in whether or not a buyer will want it.  Of course, adjusting the factors you can control—including condition and price—can entice buyers to overlook a poor location and make an offer on your home.