How long should it take to sell a home? Does the passage of time cause the home to look unattractive and stale? Is there any advantage to it taking longer to sell a home? Should it be priced perfectly and sold in a week to get the best price?
Right now I am selling one of my own homes and asking myself these questions. It’s kind of funny how I have to tell myself the same thing I have been telling hundreds of home sellers over the past 20 years. It’s common to let our minds run too far with fear of failure. We often turn fear into rash decisions which sabotage the sale. These decisions range from doing nothing to doing too much. A flexible plan and some confidence are needed to sell a home. Here are some realities I have come to learn.
When a home is initially marketed, there is a certain pool of buyers who are active and looking. The right buyer for your home may not be in that pool. The second month of your listing may include an entirely new pool of buyers. This is because every day new people across the country are learning about their new job transfer or other reasons to move. Buyers are buying today, thus exiting the pool. New buyers are coming to the area each day. So your home could be priced right, but nobody in the current pool will pay that much. Next month new buyers will come, and the right buyer might arrive. So time is on your side when it comes to finding the right buyer.
There is a lot of talk about the market climaxing and declining. In reality, no one knows which way it will go. Waiting could bring your value up or down. About 6 months ago, one of my friends listed a home with me for $575,000. In reality, it was worth about $400k. But “hey, you never know.” That’s the slogan for the NY Lottery. At first, there were no showings. We incrementally reduced the price until the showings became more frequent. After about 45 showings, the house is now pending sale at about $400k. Everyone is happy.
Daniel Novak, Prime Time Real Estate Inc
Sarasota Home Sales Team 