The Real Kirkland

What Local Sellers Are Doing to Beat the Competition and Close the Deal

Professional pictures are a good return on investment

Are you preparing to sell your home? Is your home already on the market? Have you seen sluggishness in showings? Or no traffic at all?  Wondering why you haven’t received any offers?

 Seller’s today are on the market because they have to be.  So just getting the job done is what counts. It’s not about selling for the most money but about being able to sell – period.  It’s tricky to sell and it’s going to be this way for awhile. The old marketing reliables (even using Craigslist) don’t work as well as they used to and if buyers think they are in the driver’s seat, they are right. In May the national statistics showed that home sales plunged 33% and in our own backyard more listings in Kirkland were cancelled in May after not selling than any other month in the past 2 years.

Cue the angelic music … Sellers of Today’s Market: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. In a brutal buyer’s market there are things seller’s can do to tilt the odds in their favor.  It’s called upping the ante compared to their competition. I have been on the front lines of this market and am in the thick of it daily. I am convinced that seller’s willing to take direction on the following are going to be in a better position to sell than those who do not. Why is it important to take this direction? For some the advice I am about to give it critical. Your credit may be in jeopardy of flat-lining. It may mean the difference between thousands of dollars and nothing.  All of the below can only help, none of it can hurt, and your ROI for each of these is going to be notable.

1. Don’t follow the “Active” Listings for Pricing Direction – Sellers often think that if there is a comparable neighbor for sale at $400k and they list for that price or slightly less, they are going to be priced right. Maybe, but not necessarily. What your neighbors are currently selling for has little to do with you. You really want to be priced in line with the SOLD comparables – the sellers in your neighborhood  that actually got it done. By pricing slightly better than the neighbors who have already sold, you are pricing ahead of the market and making the market, rather than chasing it. Today price is king.

Just because your neighbor is priced at $250k and you are priced at $225k, doesn’t guarantee  you look good to buyers. Buyers are so incredibly savvy about the market today and because technology allows them to get info on the recently sold comps at the touch of a button, you are still going to looked like you’re priced high if they see the last comp sold for $200k.

 2. Don’t Overprice in Hopes of Negotiating Down To The Price You Really Want – Again I repeat – buyer s today are super savvy. Overpricing in hopes of ultimately negotiating for the price you want to get will backfire every time for 2 reasons. First, there is far too much competition and you will get passed up in searches. Simple as that. Second, if you’re overpriced you’ll appear unrealistic and difficult to buyers.

 It’s counter-intuitive to not want to try and just see if there’s a chance to sell for more if you can, so if you insist on testing this one, test the market for absolutely no more than 2 weeks.

 3. Be Open to Creative Financing – It’s hard to consider when you just want the thing sold BUT be open minded to creative selling options if you have enough equity that you can. With financing today so difficult to come by, letting a buyer assume your mortgage, owner financing, lease options, carrying a note, or renting could be a way to make your listing distinctive and get the home off your plate. Also talk to your agent about simultaneously listing for sale or for lease and see which one takes first.

 4.  Don’t Be On The Market if You’re Not Seriously Ready To Sell TODAY- Some sellers would like to test the market  for a few months and then “catch up the a market” price-wise if the home doesn’t sell. There are pitfalls to this. A home can become “stale” and agents and buyers will become biased to a dog that has been sitting too long.

 Also, you want to make sure that your family is ready to handle to responsibility of having the home on the market. Can you show a home realistically and have it show well with only 2 hours notice during the school year? Do you need to paint over the purple accent wall? Don’t list until you, your home, and your price are able to put your very best foot forward.

 5. Don’t Price Your Home Based on the Net Proceeds You Want to Receive – This doesn’t make any sense. The market has nothing to do with what you hope to net at the closing. It may seem like a nice goal to shoot for a $50k check at closing, it may even seem like a plan, but this is not a pricing strategy.  Statistically, sellers who price too high and sit for too long due to this strategy, ultimately sell for 8% LESS than their original goal amount per the National Association of Realtors. 

 6.  Go with a Full Service Brokerage vs. Discount Brokerage -  When it already seems like you’re losing more than you should it may be tempting to try and save more off your bottom line by working with a discount firm. Why does this NOT make the most sense? The reason is that discount brokerages are treating your listing like the cattle call. Pictures a gray street with gray homes and gray sky and gray clouds. That’s how your listing is going to come off with the typical   one-size fits all marketing that is typical among most discount brokerages.(I said MOST, no letters please) Now picture a street that is in sharp, crisp, vibrant color with smiling homes and a future so bright you have to wear shades. That’s your listing with a full service brokerage who has the BUDGET to make your home stand out and pop the way it needs to in order to sell in this market. This is not the market to experiment in.  Stretch just a little bit more and hire a  brokerage that can and will give your home the marketing attention it needs.      

 7. Invest in Staging Advice – Your agent can help you with this. If they don’t offer it in their services or you’re a FSBO, hire a staging professional to come in and give you a consult for as little as $149. And then take their advice. I have never seen a home that didn’t look WAY better and more “sell-able”  after taking staging advice.

 8. Professional Pictures – Make sure your agent is including this in your listing. If it’s not included, professional pictures will run you $150-$350 depending on the size of your home. This is your first impression and professional pictures say 1000 lovely words about you. You will make a major impact with professional pics that 90% of the listings out there will not have. In Seattle, it is especially important because our homes need to look as light and bright as possible. The touched up pics will emphasize the light.

 9. Condos: Pay Off Any Remaining Assessments - If you are a condo owner and have any remaining balance on a condominium assessment and you are able to pay it off prior to listing, do so.  Realistically, pending assessments are a commonplace. But they are a turn off to buyers because they feel they shouldn’t have to negotiate that and it also appears as though the community may have structural or management issues. By paying off the assessment prior to listing or at the very least offering to pay it off at closing, you are giving an interested buyer one less reason to walk.

  10. Prep for Every Showing – When you get that call and find out that there’s going to be a showing,  this is a quick and easy checklist to put your best foot forward every time. Here is a list of “must do’s” that should occur in the home by the time the buyer gets there: dishes away, make sure the home smells good, shoes away, all counters cleared, no more than 1 appliance on the kitchen counters, window blinds open, lights on, low music playing,  generally all clutter away.

 11.  A Mind Trick For Sellers – Your best friend has a home that they must sell. The market has tanked and everyone knows it but it is very hard for them to accept about their home. After all, they had an appraisal 2 years ago for $100k more! Your best friend is telling you one day over coffee that they think they will list the home for $25k over what the Realtor is suggesting because they rebuilt the deck and replaced the wallpaper 3 years ago. You know how important it is for them to sell so they can move on with the next chapter of their life. Your gut tells you this doesn’t make any sense and it doesn’t sound like a good plan for them to get what they ultimately want.

 What advice would you give your best friend?

Hopefully you would tell them it sounds crazy not to take the professionals advice and price higher than recommended. The home will not sell that way. Of course that groovy wallpaper may help them sell but it’s not going to increase the home’s value in that way.

If you’re a seller, you need to let go of 2-5 years ago pricing and let your Realtor decide if you home is special enough to warrant higher pricing.  Even if you live in a hot, up and coming area.

If you’re having inner turmoil between the money you want out of the sale vs. what the comps are showing you should sell for, ask yourself, What would I advise my best friend to do in this situation? Then apply it to yourself.

12.  Don’t Wait to Drop The Price if You Know You Are Going To Drop The Price – A home is likelier to sell the lower the price is. There’s no use in wasting valuable time, especially during the summer, if you know you’ve already made the decision to drop the price and/or the market tells you that you need to drop the price.