EVERYONE KNOWS IT'S OVERPRICED
You’ve decided to sell your home. You call your Realtor and they meet with you and look at the house and together, you will come up with a game plan. Your Realtor shows you the recent market activity in the area, they show you the high sales, the low sales and everything in between. But you watched the crazy sellers' market in 2021. You watched your friends and family get multiple offers over asking price. Your home is the nicest one in the neighborhood so you just want to see if you can get more. If it doesn’t work, we can always lower the price, right?
Your agent advises against it. Why? You ask. Yes, it’s a nice home, pride in ownership shows. It’s got nice modern decor. It’s nicely updated, yes. If a comparable home hasn’t sold anywhere in the ballpark of what you’re thinking, your home likely won’t either. Unless of course you have updates that justify it. If you’re selling your home furnished or you have a huge extended lanai, maybe a pool with spa and outdoor kitchen etc. Here’s the thing, home sale prices are all public knowledge to everyone these days. People watch the market just like us Realtors do. They know it’s overpriced. Your home becomes the one all the neighbors are talking about, but not in a good way. The home will sit on the market. It will sit and become stale. We know what happens when a home sits on the market and doesn’t sell, right? Buyers will come in with low ball offers. Exactly the opposite of what you were hoping for.
So, how do you know? Well, what’s going on in the market right now? Look at the stock market for example, when it’s high, it’s high and when it’s low, it’s low. You can’t sell market shares for more than they are worth. But when the market is hot, you can. Same in real estate- When the market is a hot sellers' market, homes will sell for record prices. But if you’re not currently in a sellers' market, you won’t typically see overpriced offers like that. Of course, if you have a unique home or property in a highly desirable area where homes rarely come up for sale, you may see that.
You’ve heard the big buzz words- Days on market (DOM), right? Some of you may know it as Days On Zillow- Ha! Days on Market is the number of days it took from the time the home was listed to the time it went under contract or pending. How long did it take the home to sell? DOM is one of the biggest indicators for what’s happening in the market. Pop Quiz: If the market shows the average DOM in your neighborhood is 22 days for a home to go under contract and successfully close, and your home has been on the market for over 22 days without a great offer, what is the market indicating? Correct, the market is indicating that the property may likely be overpriced.
How do you know when it’s the right time to sell? Generally, one would decide to sell their home either when they are forced to or when it makes sense to. If you’re not in a forced situation, you want to sell your home when it benefits you the most. Watch the market, know what’s happening in your neighborhood and talk to a real estate professional. We're here to help!
For more real estate real talk, visit our website at www.swflhomesteam.net