Selling Strategies in an over-supplied market

How do I set my house apart from the pack?

1) Price your home correctly. Forget the 20% year-over-year price gains. They were based on apples to oranges comparisons anyway and further driven by loose money and lending standards.

a) Look at actual closed sales comparables. Call the parties to those transactions and find out if there were any Seller concessions that further reduced the actual net price to the Seller.

b) Just because your neighbor listed their home at $XXX,000 does not mean you should too. Many homes are currently listed much higher than current market values.

c) Consult sites like Zillow.com, but do not accept it as gospel. Call MULTIPLE Realtors who specialize in your area and ask them for a market analysis. Take what they say with grain of salt, as most will tell you what you want to hear to get the listing...

d) Don't base the asking price on what you want to make. Sellers do not set final price and terms...Buyer's do....and Buyers could care less what you need to net.

d) After you've done your research and consulted local professionals pick an asking price that is truly reflective of recent closed sales and then modified for your homes pluses and minuses.

2) Prepare your home for viewings.

a) Take care of the deferred maintenance.

b) Get rid of pet damage and odor. You may not even realize that your home has pet odor. Have a non-pet owner come over and ask them for an honest answer.

c) Get rid of the clutter. You are moving anyway...get an early start!

d) Stage the house for Buyers, with more modest tastes and color tones. If you are not a design guru, spend the $150 for a consult.

3) Demonstrate to Buyers that you are a "Qualified Seller". During the boom times, Sellers only wanted "Qualified Buyers" to submit offers...now the game has changed and Buyers want to know that you are serious.

a) Hire quality local representation, not your cousin "Lola" who just got her license last week. Hiring a Broker who lives in and knows your community, as well as being known and respected by other local Brokers is the single most important decision in choosing a listing Broker.

b) Make it easy to see your home. Try to put as few limitations on showing times as possible.

c) Have your disclosures complete and available to Buyers to preview when they come view your home.

d) Be quick to respond to inquiries and offers.

While it is going to be a challenging year for Sellers, many homes will change hands this year. Do you want to be one of them? Follow some of the basic guidelines, set realistic expectations and you should be OK!