Tips on How to Sell Your Home in the Changing Real Estate Market

It is no secret that the housing market has changed drastically over the last couple of years so to be successful in selling your home, it helps to have advice from the experts.

What is the main thing that we need to be focusing on given the current condition of the real estate market?

The number one thing is price. Once your home is staged properly, it's price, price, and price! Those are the top three things that you've got to focus on; pricing it correctly. We're in a time where we're competing with banks, we're competing with short sales, we're competing with distressed situations and the only way we can compete with that, is if we price the homes correctly.

We've really got to evaluate our mindsets, right?

Well the mindset that I really encourage for everybody is that if you don't really want to sell, or need to sell, then don't; get your home off the market because it's not a fun time. When the market is like this, buyers are finicky and it's just a really tough time to sell a home. So the biggest thing is just to adjust your game plan or your own perceived equities. It just doesn't matter; the market is not sensitive to your plans.

In all my listing appointments people learn that it just "is what it is" out there and that's one of the first things we need to understand is that "it is what it is." And our pretending like it's not going to affect us doesn't matter.

Are there also outside factors that would affect us?

Unfortunately when I get to some listing appointments there are plans being made with supposed equity - and it is all fantasy - the equity isn't there that used to be there. And we have to get into that mindset of "Do I really want to sell?" and if I do, then I have to go along with what reality is; and the reality is that we have to price our home so well that someone will think it's a good deal.

Suppose somebody has listed their home and they're just not getting the traffic they had hoped that they would; what do they need to do?

I don't want to sound redundant, but it's a price issue. The market is speaking to you. If there are no showings, it means the price is too high. If there are showings and no offers, it means the price is too high. The National Association of Realtors says we should have an offer every 7 showings. If we're not getting those offers, then we're getting the wrong group of people into the home and we have to adjust the price.

It's as simple as that, and basically everyone is looking for a deal. They want to feel like they got a deal.

Yes, they really are. And the only homes that are selling - and there ARE homes that are selling out there - are the ones that are priced to look like a good deal. The consumer has bought into, "If I wait I'll get a better deal," so the only way to get them to avoid waiting and take action now, is to create a good deal now if you possibly can.

What can sellers do to help give buyers the perception that they are getting a deal?

There are many simple things people can do, such as staging their home properly. One thing that I do, for instance, is offer virtual staging for those that need help showing an empty home online.

But also, people need to price their homes correctly. I waive my entire listing fee if someone will buy a home through me. This means that I have to sell two homes to get paid on one, but I'm helping people sell homes because they can lower the cost to do so.

When listing your home, you really need to stage it correctly and price it correctly. Sellers need to remove their preconceived ideas - even if their home had appraised for much more a few years ago - we have to disallow that; all that information doesn't matter anymore.

I sold my own home recently and I had the opinion, "I'm going to get what it appraised for a few years ago, and then I'm going to go out and get a good deal" and someone reminded me that if you're going to get a good deal, you're going to have to give somebody else a good deal first; and that's exactly what had to happen.