Sell Homes Quickly

Last year was a real estate boom year. Will this trend follow suit again this year or will things return to normal?

I get asked these types of questions all the time. It’s hard to imagine a repeat of last year, however, it is possible. Now there are a lot of factors that are significantly different from last year. Prices are 40% higher, interest rates are beginning to climb, dollar value compared to US is softening, and the price on a barrel of oil is coming down.

What is the same? Supply and Demand. Supply remains low, and demand remains strong. Experts are predicting double digit growth of at least 1% per month or 12% for the year. Seems solid doesn’t it.

Well truth of the matter is prices have been pushed to levels that are less affordable for the average income family, and more houses are in what has been historically “high end”. I think the key to selling your home fast if you have one of these homes is still “bang for your buck”. The tricky part is when this is not a tangible physical descriptor. i.e. If your home is worth $500,000 it should have a certain set of features. A few years ago if you had hard wood and tile, your home would more than likely have fallen into that high end home in your neighborhood. Today, these building products are more and more common and almost expected regardless of price range.

So what can you do to position yourself for that quicker sale and top dollar?
Cater to the buyer in advance.

Simple? Too simple of an answer?
Well then….

You’re probably already watching the gazillion shows on TV telling you to redecorate and declutter, so listen to them within reason. What you can do is look at what would a purchase contract contain. For instance, most buyers should get a home inspection or at least consider one. One solution is to obtain a pre-listing home inspection. The advantages to the home seller are:

• You control the home inspection. Not taken off guard. Sometimes home inspections are framed as doom and gloom when in reality the “issues” are all minor.
• It is usually cheaper to fix any problems or deficiencies and provide documentation that it was done before offers hot the table, than to negotiate a “fair” value during the bargaining process.
• The pre-listing inspection tells the seller exactly what needs to be fixed and itemizes all the costs. The seller can determine what he wants to fix and can create a budget for repairs. Then the house is ready to sell with no hidden problem areas waiting to surprise the realtor, the seller and the buyer.
• Works in a hot or “cold” market. I’m sure I would get a few arguments to the contrary on this on. Perhaps the nay sayers would tell me and you that it is a hot market you don’t have to do anything.

I prefer to be more grounded by saying what are the pros and cons or..” what is the cost benefit” by doing that. Well it works for the seller because…

The buyer in a “hot” market typically has to give up the luxury of these conditions in bidding wars etc… Now if I’m selling this is good to have a bidding war, but I ask myself can I have more bidders? How about stronger bids? See where I am going here? By answering buyer questions in advance removing objections, and concerns I think you would agree that this cold open the door for more buyers and more offers. Sounds like a win win to me.

I sell houses, working with both sellers and buyers. By being open and proactive, having nothing to hide I think in most cases it works to your benefit.

Your friend in real estate,

Patrick Galesloot

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