My Indiana Home Blog

It seems that, everywhere I go, I hear of people having a hard time selling their homes. I heard today of a man driving from Louisville KY to Carmel to work, because his home in Kentucky hasn't sold. Certainly, these are extreme situations. I would like to give my two top pieces of advice to enablea home to go from "hard to sell" to "sold."

First, sellers must have their home in excellent condition. It's much like buying a car.What car owner who wanted to sell their car would just put up a sign? Every time we have sold a car, it has gotten a thorough washing &detailing. If the car looks great, chances are it would sell for more money than if it had empty coke cans and crushed goldfish in the back seat. Houses need to have the same attention to detail! I have often heard sellers offer to give allowances for carpet, paint, etc. This does not work as well as actually doing the work!People buy houses largely based on emotion. Let's go back to the car scenario. If someone wanted to buy a car, they would probably visit the dealer. If that buyer saw two very similiar cars on the lot, same features, colors, and price, but one had a dent in the fender, which car would make the better impression? What if the dealer told the buyer that he would fix the dent prior to picking up the car? What would most consumers do? They would buy the car without the dent. Perceived value is much higher, and the buyer wouldn't have a question in his mind regarding the quality of the repair, what caused the dent in the first place, etc. The same is true for houses. When a buyer walks into a home that has been updated and staged, it's like the new car feel. After all, you can be the investor in your own home, or sell to an investor, who will significantly reduce the offering price due to needed cosmetic repairs.

Primarily, the most important thing sellers can do is to price their home to match their current market. If a house isn't selling, chances are one of two things is happening: 1) Realtors may be screening the house on paper, and finding the asking price unreasonable . If the price is too high, they won't bring their buyers to look at the house. If a house has had 1 or 2 showings a month, this is probably the case. The other indicator that price may be an issue is frequency of showings. If a seller is getting 1 or 2 showings a week, and there are no offers, it means that the buyers are going elsewhere and buying other homes that they percieve have better value. If a house has had a lot of traffic, but no nibbles, chances are buyers buying elsewhere. Both of these scenario's indicate that pricing is an issue.

If you want to have your home staged for sale, call me. I will walk through, room by room, and help you make your home put it's best foot forward! Most people need to de-clutter. Some need to un-decorate. Many changes are simple to make, and may not require any money at all! And remember: all objections go away with the right price. You will know when you are getting close when you start getting nibbles within 30 daysor 12 showings at that price (whichever occurs first.) Homes are still selling! When price matches condition, homes will sell!