Selling a house in a slow real estate market can be difficult. In times like these, it’s not enough to simply list your home and wait. You actually have to sell your home. No one really wants to sell anything when the market is bad. However, it’s not impossible to sell your house in these conditions. It just takes a positive attitude and a different kind of game plan.
Even though the market’s not favorable to sellers and widespread economic recovery may be months. Even years off, there are a number of tactics available to increase the likelihood of a sale.
Know Your Market
One of the most important things you can do to get your house sold is to learn your market. The value of your property and your competition. Most sellers operate in the dark, simply offering the property for the price they want. Without regard to what other homes have sold for and are currently selling for. Undervaluing or overpricing your home can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
Price Your Home Right
With homes sales slowing and prices plunging. There’s little doubt that selling for a good price in today’s market is going to be tricky. The median existing home price dropped more than 7% compared with the same month last year. According to the National Association of Realtors. So if you try to ask as much for your property as your neighbour got a year ago. You’re going to turn off potential buyers. Instead, price your home conservatively by looking at similar houses currently on the market. Also look at the homes that aren’t selling. Chances are those owners priced their homes too high.
If you really want to stimulate a sale, you should under price your property by just a little. Trimming the price by a few thousand dollars can generate more foot traffic and create a buzz.
Make Your Home Presentable
Keep your house looking good at all times, repair things that are broken, and replace things that are rundown. Add a fresh coat of paint (neutral colors preferred), freshen up landscaping, trim trees, clean up clutter and remove personal items. So that prospective buyers can picture themselves in the home rather than seeing you there.
To guarantee a quick sale, consider using a professional home staging service. Your property must make a strong, positive impression. Staging a home is the cheapest way to make a house look different from your competition. So it becomes the most memorable one that the buyer saw.
Offer Flexible Terms
Often, the best way to sell a home more quickly in a buyers market is to adjust the terms of the sale instead of the price. While it may sometimes be necessary to adjust the asking price downward, or to negotiate a lower price with the buyer, sometimes offering help with closing costs, or an extended settlement date, will go a lot further.
What are Cash Buyers:
In real estate terms, a cash buyer is a type of buyer that will buy property directly for cash. Gone are the days when property deals were done only through the long and tedious process of a mortgage-backed sale. Thanks to cash buyers, a house can be sold incredibly fast and conveniently now. There are different types of cash buyers, including “we buy houses,” iBuyers, and house flippers, that can offer you cash for your house.
Cash buyers are probably one of the most attractive buyers. Despite the low offer you get from a cash buyer, the unparalleled security, flexibility, and speed of a good cash home buyer make up for it.
Advantages of Cash Buyers:
There are some good reasons why cash buyers are attractive for a seller.
Convenient:
When selling a house the traditional way, through a real estate agent, you have to clean the house regularly and stage it for showings whenever a potential buyer has to view it. Moreover, there is always risk of buyers backing out at any moment, either due to financing issues or some other reason. With a cash buyer, you do not have to worry about such issues. You don’t have to concern yourself with cleaning or staging as these issues are handled by the cash buyer. Also, due to the short time it takes, there is minimal risk of a buyer backing out.
No Need for Repairs:
Cash buyers can buy houses as-is so you can sell a house without spending any time or money on repairing before the sale. Some cash buyers seek out rundown properties for the purpose of remodeling them and making a profit. So if you have a rundown house and can’t find a buyer, a cash home buyer will take it off you for cash.
Cash Offer:
Cash buyers are most attractive for sellers that need cash for some emergency needs. With cash buyers, you can have cash in hand in just weeks, and a cash offer from a cash buyer means that all the money is completely yours. There are no agent fees or service charges. You get the money that you are offered.
Drawbacks of Cash Buyers:
Where there are so many advantages of dealing with a cash buyer, there are also some drawbacks.
Lower Offers:
A cash offer from a “we buy houses” company will almost always be lower than the market value of the house. Although you may get discouraged by the lower offer, it is balanced by the speed and flexibility of cash buyers.
Deduction for Repairs:
When selling a house as-is to cash buyers, it does not come free of cost. A cash buyer will deduct any maintenance and repair costs from their cash offer.
Cash buyers are highly attractive not just because they give cash for houses but mainly because of the convenience, security, and flexibility they offer. So whenever you compare your options, don’t judge cash buyers just on the offer they give but also consider other factors like time and ease.
