Fales Real Estate

For the past several years, the market has been known as a sellers market. Rates were historically low around 2021, which brought a ton of buyers to market, and many sellers enjoyed record profits, with buyers waiving inspections and other contignencies, just to have their offer accepted amid many other offer submissions. However even in the boomiest of markets, buyers won’t bite if a home feels overpriced, unloved, or like “too much work.” Now, with interest rates historically HIGH again, sellers are more often needing to put in more work and strategy before listing to ensure their home gets snagged quick (no one wants a long drawn out process on market). No matter what the market condition – as a seller, you owe it to yourself to put your best foot forward on market, and here is how you do it.

First and foremost, this cannot be understated – CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. If a buyer walks in and gets the ick, that price better be LOW to mitigate your buyer’s first impression of “ew.” As your agent I will pay for a professional deep cleaning, before I pay for professional photos (this is another non negotiable). If your agent is uploading a set of only 5 blurry, fat-thumb, dark photos – your agent is not good enough.

You need to declutter. Get a storage unit if you must. But your house should look like an airbnb. If we need to stage it, we will do that. Vacant is better than lived-in, 100%. Easier to show and move around, easier to accomodate showings in the first place. You want as many feet through the door as possible. When I come over to discuss listing strategy, we will walk through the home and I will give you specific advice on each room and the front and back yard, to improve the home and therefore the impression buyers feel when they tour. Curb appeal and a clean backyard are so important as well! FRESH PAINT is another phenomenal way to spruce up your place with minimal investment and maximum impact.

Speaking of getting feet through the door, let’s circle back to price. If you want to sell fast, the price should be aggressive. This will get people to click on your listing and they are more likely to schedule a tour. Hopefully, if all the other pieces of prep are done right, this will also encourage more offers. Obviously, as a seller, best case scenario is multiple offers – you’re getting over asking price, maybe with waived inspections, and you don’t have to drag out showings, it’ll be sold fast! A short open house over the weekend or a twilight open house during the summer are other excellent ways to get as many feet in the door as possible.

On the back end, I am emailing agents, calling, reverse prospecting, posting on social media, and sometimes paying for ads- although I find that’s a less effective means of marketing.

If we have done everything, and we aren’t getting showings, then we go back to the primary variable we can always control – price. We determine list price based on comparable neighborhood sales, but ultimately – the market will tell you what your house is worth. If nobody bites, we talk about strategic and regular price drops until we get the response you want. At all phases of the home sale process, I am giving you information and education to empower you – but you remain in total control. If you are interested in learning more- reach out. Clearly, I have lots of info to share. 🙂