When the Market is Not Your Friend

Published by julia | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Miscellaneous, Real Estate, Shout Outs, Uncategorized

What do you do when the entire country is hearing “SELL, SELL, SELL” and all you want them to do is “BUY, BUY, BUY”? You head back to the office and review all the homes you currently have listed on the market and change up your tactics just a bit.

If a homeowner has listed their home with you for sale and the home just sits there without an offer in sight, the time has come to reevaluate the market. This is especially true with home values hitting rock bottom. If the comp homes in the area are selling for less and less, the homeowner may need to rethink the selling price of the home.

While many homeowners are trying to get a bit of profit out of the home, the longer the home stays on the market, the less they are really gaining. The key to keeping the price just right is to follow the selling patterns and prices of the local homes, as all real estate agents know. But, convincing the homeowner of the need to reduce the price may be harder now that the market has fallen. When the stock market prices plummet, homeowners get scared and that leaves them numb to the realities of life. So how do you deal with a panicked home seller, you gather all the information you can and you present them with the facts.

Going to the homeowner with a list of the last month’s home sale prices will help to push the point across. If the homeowner still does not seem to want to budge on the price, convincing them to upgrade the home a bit may help to sell the home a bit faster. But, just remember, the longer the home stays on the market, the more difficult the home will be to sell and in a buyer’s market, this can mean sitting on that inventory for a year or more.