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Making Your Birmingham Home Sell

2014-04-20 12.38.47

Deciding whether your home is likely to sell, I’ve decided, is sort of like standing at the beach, watching the surf.

As waves break and come ashore, the water level rises from just covering your feet to above your knees. And then, seconds later, the water recedes, back to just covering your feet again.

If you’re standing still, the water level is constantly rising and falling.

That constantly changing water level reminds me of Buyers.

Sometimes they pay a little more for a home. Other times, less.

Of course, factors like how many homes are for sale in the area, their condition, and asking price, have a big influence on what the Buyer decides.

The waves fluctuate.

With the years Colleen and I have in the Birmingham real estate profession, we are pretty accustomed to looking at a home, its location, condition and asking price, and making a call about whether it’s likely to sell, and how quickly. And I’ll say that—most of the time—we have a pretty good track record.

So far this summer, we’ve seen examples at both extremes.

We listed one Birmingham area home late on a Sunday morning. Early that afternoon—only a few hours after it had been listed on MLS—an Agent called and showed it to her Buyer. That evening, less than 12 hours after being listed, the Seller got an Offer and the home went Under Contract. Birmingham home for sale

Not far away, another home, in very nice condition, and in a desirable neighborhood, as well, went on the market. By all indications, it was a likely candidate to sell, as well.

After six months on market, and no Offers, the Sellers gave up on their plans to move and pulled their home off the market.

So, what happened…why didn’t their home sell?

The simple fact is that—had the Sellers set a price Buyers found enticing—they probably would have been packing boxes, like the folks in the first home.

Overpricing is the surest way to keep a home from selling.

Recognizing overpricing is not hard to do. That’s because Buyers respond to overpricing by not responding.

We call this “listening to the market.”

Buyers who looked at the second home thought it was a nice place, but realized they could get more home for their money elsewhere.

The Sellers had a bottom line they would not go below.

Buyers answered by essentially saying, “No thanks.”

If you’re trying to sell your home, is the phone ringing? Are people asking to see it?

If the answer is no, that’s a message, that, like it or not, Buyers are sending.

I sometimes hear Sellers having trouble selling their home justify the situation by saying, “there just aren’t any Buyers out there.”

Sorry, but I don’t buy that.

Every home will sell, but it must be priced correctly.

Making sure your home is in top condition and provides a “wow” factor increases the likelihood of a sale faster, and, possibly, for more money.

These rules, though known by real estate professionals for decades, are every bit as valid in 2014.

The Seller who understands this is not likely to be a Seller for very long.

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Colleen Black is an Associate Broker with eXp Realty LLC.
David Black is an Agent with eXp Realty LLC.
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