Are you thinking of selling your home, and wondering how to go about it?
How you sell your house has an impact on the price, which is driven by the comfort level of the buyer. There is typically as much as a 10% swing in pricing within the same neighborhood, depending on location in the tract, condition of the home, and how the house is sold.
Here is a general guide to sales-method-to-achieve-desired-price:
WHOLESALE PRICE – Stick a sign in the yard, and someone will come along.
WHOLESALE-PLUS – Stick a sign in the yard and an ad on Craigslist.
AUCTION – Hard to know if you’ll get wholesale or retail due to the limiting factors. Qualified buyers may be turned off by their perception of the potential reserve price, the buyer’s premium, or slick-talking auctioneers.
RETAIL – You do your homework and hire an experienced, competent agent to sell your above-average home with good curb appeal in a popular area. You agree to an attractive list price, and the agent conducts a mass-marketing campaign that generates an offer or two during the first week on the market. You negotiate in good faith, and together you find a way to the finish line.
RETAIL-PLUS – You do your homework and hire an experienced, competent agent to sell your above-average home with good curb appeal in a popular area. You agree to an attractive list price, and the agent conducts a mass-marketing campaign that generates multiple offers during the first week on the market. Your crafty agent pits them against each other, and the ensuing bidding war causes an above-market sale. But without a frenzy to drive the sale, buyers are more cautious, and look for any reason to cancel and get back on the fence, hoping prices come down. Here are the potential hurdles to closing a Retail-Plus sale:
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Inspection reveals defects – The defects give the buyer a reason to try and clawback some of that retail-plus price. How your agent handles this critical juncture will determine whether the retail-plus price – and sale – sticks.
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Appraisal is a challenge – Your agent has to know the comps, and can present a compelling case that convinces an anonymous appraiser of the value.
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Other agent is a ding-dong – The good buyer’s agents have already talked their buyers out of paying this high of a price, so you are left with the inexperienced/desperate realtors who don’t know, or don’t mind if their clients pay too much. Somehow your agent has to find a way to get them to the finish line, usually in spite of the buyer’s agent.
You don’t need an agent to sell your house – and you could take a chance on beating the odds by short-cutting this list and still move up a notch. But now that the frenzy is over, buyers are reluctant to throw crazy money at houses any more – unless you get great help!
