How to Get Your Home Sold in a Slow Market
The real estate market is always changing. You may currently be in a buyer’s market or seller’s market. Typically, in a seller’s market, any home sold receives multiple offers above asking. If you are in a buyer’s market, homes tend to sit vacant on the market longer, and you see price reductions.
If you find it is taking a while for your home to sell. Then you may look for a resolution or a faster way to sell your home. It is never a positive when you have your home listed and it sits on the market for multiple months. That is why we have compiled this quick guide on selling your home in a slow market.
What can I do to help get my home sold faster?
There are many solutions to getting your home sold quickly, even in a slow market. The best way to prepare is to have your real estate agent come up with a game plan even before you decide to list the home. Not only being prepared before, but also completing some things while your home is on the market. Below are the top 4 things we recommend to get a home sold fast:
- A strong market analysis
- Curb appeal and interior preparation
- Open houses and strong marketing
- Extra incentives for buyers
By following these 4 items, you can easily get a home sold even in a slow market. Furthermore, standing out from your competition when selling a house.
Strong Market Estimation Helps Get a Home Sold
When you find the agent you want to use to sell your home. The best thing you can do is create a strong market analysis. By doing so, you can stand out from your competition. This means to have your agent give you active homes, closed sales (past 180 days), and pending sales. This way, you know the exact numbers of every home in your area. By assessing these three, you can put together a strong asking price.
When you see the active homes, you can see what your competition looks like. You can easily go slightly below any home in the area that way people might consider your home over your competition since it is slightly cheaper. You will also get a good feel for the right price based on what is in your area. Your agent can even tell you how long it took the competition to sell.
Curb Appeal and Interior Preparation Sell Houses
Positive curb appeal helps get your home sold quickly in any market. Especially in a slow market. The nicer your home looks from the outside will make all the difference. The front of your home is always the first impression people have of your home. It’s vital to ensure your grass is cut and your yard looks presentable. Additionally, the porch looks in nice shape. Clean up your garden and do some fresh paint on any exterior area that needs it.
Interior preparation can be huge as well. Little things like decluttering and not having too much furniture can make a huge impact. Sometimes we have messy closets or basements. Cleaning out these areas, along with the rest of the house, will help show the home is cleaner to buyers. If the home is empty, look into professional staging companies. They know how to make an empty home come to life.
Open Houses and Strong Marketing Get Homes Sold
Open houses can be a huge advantage over your competitors. Depending on the agent you are working with, you may not get many open houses out of them. But by selecting the right realtor, you can have many open houses scheduled. Typically, open houses occur on Saturday and Sunday mornings. By doing these, you are opening your home to more buyers. It is always a huge advantage if your competition doesn’t have scheduled open houses.
Strong marketing can easily come at an affordable rate. Some agents use social media ads to help boost attention to a home. Your agent should be utilizing social media groups to also post your property for the area to see. Your agent should also use high-quality photos from a professional photographer. If they are not, it is less likely your home will sell. They can also use video showcasing to help market your property. A good high quality video can show off your home’s beautiful features.
Home Sold With Incentives for Buyers
When selling your home, you will always have competition. But in a slow market, you may need every additional help to get your home sold. There are plenty of incentives you can offer buyers when selling.
- Home Warranty.
- Seller Concession.
- Pre-inspections.
- On the listing, have the agent put “submit highest or best offers” to attract more attention.
Home warranty is a very common, cheap way of standing out from the rest. You can talk with your insurance company to see how much it would cost you to offer this to a potential buyer. Usually, it is a few hundred to a thousand dollars. By offering this to a buyer, you are giving them peace of mind. Therefore, it covers the repair or replacement of major home systems and appliances due to normal wear and tear. It could help the buyer with major expenses. Therefore, it can prevent them from losing their houses, which leads to a housing market crash.
Offering seller concessions is another way to gain attention. Seller concession is when you offer a certain amount of proceeds from the sale of your home. To go towards the buyer’s closing costs or down payment. Yes, it brings your net proceeds down, but it gives a buyer more incentive to make an offer.
Pre-Inspections For Fast House Sale
Getting an inspection done of your home before listing it can be a huge bonus. If you get a house inspection on your home, you are not only saving a buyer money. Furthermore, also make the condition of your home known. Making buyers feel more comfortable in making an offer on your home over the competition. It will also prevent the buyer from coming down on their original asking price.
Successfully Get Home Sold in a Slow Market
As homeowners, we can not change the forecast of the real estate market. However, you can find ways to make your home sell faster. One way to prepare before the listing, do a strong market analysis. Make sure the outside and inside of your home are appealing to potential buyers. Ensuring there’s a good marketing strategy to get the home sold fast. Finally, adding extra incentives to make your home more appealing to buyers. Working with your agent and developing a game plan will help get your home sold fast, even in a slow market.