When is best time to sell a home

Buyers aren’t the only ones looking for a deal. Home sellers are also looking for a good deal – which means they want to sell their home for the most money. As it seemed as if the housing market had strong sales this year, some sellers are still trying to decide the best time to sell. But unfortunately, timing the market may not be as easy as it seems.

Some say that spring is the best time of year to list and sell a home, while others believe that summer is better. Old time real estate agents will tell you about a time when there was a traditional selling season, which basically started in March and ran through June. In recent history, it seems as if the boom/bust market from 2005-2008 rewrote those rules. During the “go-go” market, the spring selling season couldn’t start early enough; home buyers made their New Year’s resolutions and shook off the winter fog in early January to begin their home search. For several years, it seemed as if home buyers started their real estate searching earlier each year to stake their claims on real estate before other buyers got wind of the listing.

However, once the bubble busted, home buyer activity significantly slowed, those who wanted to buy a home became increasingly methodical about their purchase as well as starting their search later in the year. It seemed as if the best time to list and sell shifted from the spring time to summer months.

Since the downturn of the housing market, sales activity peaked in the summer months. June has been a consistent contender for year high sale totals – until this year. The July 22^nd news release from the National Association of Realtors® (realtor.org) indicated that June sales “slipped” about 1.9% from May. Granted, June’s sales are significantly higher than June of 2012, but the slowdown may just be a fluke or an indication of something else.

Maybe the combination of increased inventory (NAR reported that housing inventory was slightly elevated from May to about a 5.2 month supply) along with rising mortgage rates (Freddie Mac’s June national average commitment rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 4.07%) is making home buyers pause.

And surely home prices are making buyers have second thoughts; bargain hunters are having difficulty finding bargains. June’s national median existing home sale price increased 13.5% compared to last June. Distressed home sales, foreclosures and short sales that typically sell at lower prices, accounted for 15% of June’s figures (compared to last June’s 26%) and are at the lowest levels since 2008. And although it may sound like great news, the double-digit jumps in the average home sale price may be a statistical artifact due to declining distressed home sales.

If you’re waiting to list your home for sale this year, you may have mistimed this year’s market.

Research has demonstrated that attempting to time the market may not always yield the best results – timing the market is much easier in hind sight. Market timing appears to be much more than looking at selling activity cycles. You should rely on the expertise of your real estate professional for neighborhood sales data and trends to assist you in deciding the price and the timing of listing and selling your home.

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This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

By Dan Krell
Copyright © 2013

May 31, 2013October 8, 2018

Handling home buyer feedback

You’ve spent months preparing your home by de-cluttering, painting, and maybe even making renovations; the last thing you want to hear are objections from home buyers why the home is not suitable for them. Obviously, you’ve had years of enjoyment and you’re thinking about all the benefits the home offers. However, getting honest home buyer feedback when they visit your home is invaluable information to help get your home sold.

Asking for home buyer feedback is one of the tasks that your agent performs throughout the listing period. However, soliciting feedback from agents who bring buyers to your home is often hit or miss; although many agents offer good and honest feedback, just as many don’t respond (for various reasons) to feedback requests unless their buyers are interested in the home. Additionally, home buyer feedback is solicited when they visit open houses and includes questions such as: “What do you find most appealing about the home?”; “What do you find least appealing about the home?”; and “Is the home priced right?”

Ok, it’s nice to hear the good things people have to say about your home; these are obvious benefits and what others find appealing. Buyers may list various home features, upgrades, and/or renovations as appealing or beneficial; but it is also important to put weight on the negative feedback too. All the de-cluttering and neutralizing can make a home look good, but it may not change home features that do not fit other’s needs. Likewise, making cosmetic and minor repairs also increases your home’s appeal; but may not make obsolete systems acceptable.

One of the most common pieces of feedback you might encounter is about the home’s price. Since home buyers typically view similar homes, you get perspective about how you priced your home compared to other similar homes. If there is overwhelming feedback that the home is overpriced, then you should consider reviewing additional comps with your agent and correct the price as needed. It is also not uncommon that buyers may feel that the home is priced well, but for various reasons they are not interested in making an offer.

Keep in mind that the feedback you will receive is subjective and offered from various points of view, so don’t be surprised with seemingly contradictory objections from different home buyers. Some objections can be addressed readily while others cannot.

For example, objections about the size and/or location of the home or yard are not easily overcome; and it may be that buyers offering such objections are looking at the wrong home. However, objections about shabby flooring or lack of updates can be addressed by either taking action or changing the list price to reflect the home’s condition.

Sometimes in pushing their client’s limits, home buyer’s objections may actually be a commentary on their limitations rather than the home’s attributes. In the hopes of getting a great deal, buyers are taken to view homes that are out of their price range and/or in need of updates they cannot make.

Buyer and agent feedback is the easiest way to gauge how your home is positioned in comparison to your competition on the market. Clearly, the home’s positive attributes and benefits should be highlighted as these items would be appealing to home buyers. However, buyer objections should also be considered and addressed if possible to help facilitate a sale.

Original located at https://dankrell.com/blog/2013/05/31/handling-buyer-feedback-and-objection-for-home-sellers/

By Dan Krell

March 13, 2013November 23, 2021

Pricing your home to sell 2013

by Dan Krell
Google+
DanKrell.com
© 2013

It has been a while since home sellers have felt optimism about the housing market. Although many would be home sellers continue to wait before jumping into the market; a combination of inventory shortages and reports of appreciating home prices are making some home sellers push the limits of home pricing.

Consideration for an appropriate list price is vital in any market. However, regardless of current market conditions, setting the right list price today could prove challenging. If your home sells quickly, you might feel as if you priced the home too low; while setting the price to high could make your home languish in an otherwise active real estate market.

Since the home seller decides on the list price, you might be tempted to use the most recent neighborhood sale or list price as a guide for your home sale. However, without deeply examining these comparables, this methodology may result in over or under pricing your home.

As public information is widely available on the internet, you might find yourself searching the ‘net for recent neighborhood sales to assist you in making a decision on a list/sale price. However, public records usually post dates of deed transfers as recorded in the courthouse, which are usually after the actual closing (sometimes several months or more). Additionally, public record home descriptions can sometimes contain incorrect or outdated data on home interiors and living area. Relying solely on data found on the internet could make you miss out on more recent and significant sale comps –again possibly leading you to under/over price your home.

For relevant comparables, ask your real estate agent to prepare a market analysis based on comps found in the local MLS (which contains real-time data). Although the market analysis is not an appraisal, its purpose is to assist home buyers and sellers in deciding on a list/sale price. An experienced agent preparing a market analysis will search for comparables that are most similar to your home by considering home factors such as: location, type, style, size, age, condition, interior amenities, exterior amenities, room count, basement, updates, etc.

Additionally, since the comparables used in the market analysis are as analogous to your home as possible, finding recent comps within your neighborhood are ideal not only because of the proximity to your home, but also because homes within the same subdivisions usually have many similarities (including age, style, lot size, upgrades, additions, as well as functional obsolescence).

Even though many home sellers are optimistic about home prices, you could still encounter appraisal issues. Appraisals are opinions of value by an independent party typically requested by lenders to verify the home’s market value in underwriting a home buyer’s mortgage application. And although appraisers use a standard methodology to derive a market value, some appraisers may exercise caution and seek the conservative value in ensuring the appraisal meets the loan guidelines. Issues can also arise when the assigned appraiser is unfamiliar with your neighborhood and surrounding area.

Pricing a home to sell has been described as a skill by some and an art form by others. Deciding on an appropriate list price not only establishes buyers’ expectations for an offer, it can also set the tone for a smooth sale or a bumpy protracted ride in the marketplace.

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This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. This article was originally published the week of March 11, 2013. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws. Copyright © 2013 Dan Krell.

August 12, 2010October 5, 2019

Truth in advertising: When selling your home, advertise the truth

by Dan Krell © 2010

It is often said that the truth shall set you free, but the truth may also help you sell your home. You might think I’m talking about disclosing material facts (which you should always do), but actually I am referring to how you describe and advertise your home. Accurately describing your home and providing truthful photos may attract actual home buyers who are searching for a home just like yours.

Descriptions of your home in the MLS and other advertisements, as well as photos, are designed to attract home buyers who are searching for the specific features of your home. Home buyers may be attracted by the message you send them, however they will only buy the home that meets their criteria.

You see, searching for homes on the internet is akin to internet dating. Just like internet dating, you want to put your best foot forward. You want the photos to be attractive and your description to be tantalizing. However, distorting photos (or posting photos that are ten or twenty years old) as well as exaggerating your description will most likely make people angry for deceiving them. If you portray your home as something it is not, you are certain to upset home buyers and agents for wasting their time.

Because of its convenience, online virtual tours have become one of the main tools that home buyers use to choose what homes to view in person. As you might imagine, some agents and home sellers are tempted to use digital photo programs to make the homes look better on the internet. Using the “pinch” function to make rooms look larger, they may feel as if they are doing minor photo “touch ups”; but in actuality they may distort what the home looks like. In extreme scenarios, they may cover-up material facts about the home.

Consider telling the truth. For example, if your home is very well maintained but hasn’t been updated since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, then you might consider describing the condition and maintenance of the home rather than saying the home has “updates.” Think about listing the actual number of bedrooms in the home as opposed to listing the number of potential bedrooms if the basement was finished. Additionally, if a queen size bed fits comfortably in the master bedroom; don’t distort the photo to make the bed appear to be a California king size!

If you’re frustrated by having your home on the market for what may seem to be a long time and your home is priced correctly, reconsider how your home is portrayed to home buyers before making a price change (over-pricing your home is a separate issue). Many agents seek price changes as a means to a quick sale; however before lowering the price, have a chat with your agent about how they are describing the home and consider re-taking photos.

Home sellers with whom I have consulted have had positive results once they realized the message they were trying to send to home buyers was not congruent with their home’s characteristics. Remember, a hog in a tuxedo is still a hog; don’t make the home out to be something it is not just to attract home buyers.

This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. This article was originally published in the Montgomery County Sentinel the week of August 9, 2010. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws. Copyright © 2010 Dan Krell.

April 6, 2010October 5, 2019

Check your ego and get out of your way

If you’re going to sell your home this spring, “check your ego.” Having a high self esteem is a good thing; however, having an over-inflated worth of your home can cost you money and aggravation.

Listing your home at a realistic price can decrease the home’s “days on market,” and reduce the probability that you would have to significantly lower the list price down the road. Last year, many home owners who were unwavering in their belief that there home was worth more than what the market would bear found that selling their homes took longer and ultimately accepted a price much less than they had hoped. Other home owners who were determined to sell at the higher price eventually exasperatedly withdrew the listing.

Last week’s release of the Standard and Poor’s/ Case-Shiller Home Price Index for January 2010 (standardandpoors.com) revealed that home prices continue to fall; although the silver lining is that the rate of price depreciation is not as steep as it was a year ago. The composite index of 20 metro areas is down 0.4% from December 2009 to January 2010 and down 0.7% from a year ago; nationwide average home prices are at 2003 levels. The Washington DC metro area fared much better than other metro areas; Washington metro area home prices only fell 0.2% from December 2009 to January 2010, however home prices increased 3.5% from the same time last year!

Statistics reported by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors (GCAAR.com) support the findings of the S&P/ Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Average home prices for single family homes in Montgomery County fell between December 2009 ($480,931) and January 2010 ($451,255). Data compiled and reported by the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS.com) also substantiate these data, such that the median area home prices decreased comparing data from January 2009 to January 2010. However, home prices slightly increased in February 2010.

Many home owners remain confused about the unstable real estate market due to ambivalence caused by the reality of a downward market conflicted with their own value assessment of their home. Needless to say, home owners may find it more difficult to come to terms with the reality that today’s depreciated home prices have fallen to 2003/2004 levels (as indicated by S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index), especially if they attempted to sell their home last year. Additionally, home owners are disserved by over-aggressive real estate agents who will say anything to get the listing; including telling the home owner that the home can sell at a much higher price, when the comps clearly suggest otherwise.

Obviously, selling your home is ultimately your decision. Since the decision to sell may hinge on many factors including the sale price, consulting with several different Realtors about neighborhood comparables can give you a good command over the neighborhood data as well as a realistic range of sale prices. If another factor of your sale is the purchase of another home, remember that real estate is relative such that the home you may purchase may be just as good of a buy as your home will be to another home buyer.

Clearly you should not sell your home if you are content living there. But if you are in the position to sell your home and want a successful sale- get out of your way.

This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. This article was originally published in the Montgomery County Sentinel the week of April 5, 2010. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws. Copyright © 2010 Dan Krell

by Dan Krell Google+ DanKrell.com © 2013

Since the home seller decides on the list price, you might be tempted to use the most recent neighborhood sale or list price as a guide for your home sale. However, without deeply examining these comparables, this methodology may result in over or under pricing your home.

Pricing a home to sell has been described as a skill by some and an art form by others. Deciding on an appropriate list price not only establishes buyers’ expectations for an offer, it can also set the tone for a smooth sale or a bumpy protracted ride in the marketplace.

by Dan Krell
Google+
DanKrell.com
© 2013