With summer passing by, housing market started to slow down. The end of government tax credit as well as a lukewarm job market magnifies the effect.If you are considering selling your house in a low season, here are a few tips:
Tip One: Detach listing price from final sale price. Final sale price is what you get, it could be higher or lower than the listing price. High listing price may make your feel good at the beginning, but it no buyer is willing to pay for that price, it does not bring you anything.
Tip Two: Find out what houses got sold fast in your neighborhood recently and compare yours to these houses in terms of conditions, locations and pricing as if you are a buyer. Make your houses more attractive in all these aspects. Don’t fall into the trap of pricing your home higher than your neighbor’s home because yours is better, especially when market slows down.
Tip Three: Fix the issues of your house before put it on the market for sale. In a slow market, buyers are more picky and likely to put more discounts or a house with repair needs.
Tip Four: Ask your listing agent to find out the activities for houses similar to yours in pending status. These give you more recent picture of demand in your area compared with houses that are sold a couple months ago.
Tip Five: Make adjustments quickly. Ask your listing agent to give you a report of how many people showed at your first-week open houses, how many people inquire about disclosures and reports of your house and if there is any buyer making an offer after first week your house is on the market. If there are lots of showings and inquiries but not a real offer, you may consider adjust your price quickly. Houses on the market unsold for longer than three weeks rarely receive offer higher than listing price.
