Low Offers: Prevention is the Cure

It takes an innovative marketing plan to cause a home to sell, but to attract serious buyers, it must also be priced fairly. What else must be done to successfully sell your home?

Buyers are in search of their dream home. If priced reasonably, they will purchase the home that best reflects their idea of that dream, and it’s the sellers who are in charge of making it happen.

Experience has shown that buyers often reduce their offers by as much as $2 for every $1 in uncompleted repairs. Sellers won't have to face those disappointing offers if attention is given to their home before it is ever shown.

The best method for improving buyer appeal is a "walk-through" by the sellers' real estate agent. The agent plays the part of a prospective buyer, and then suggests upgrades, repairs, and cosmetic improvements.

Then the sellers should complete all the work before the home is placed on the market. Neither a prospective buyer, nor another agent, should ever see the home until it is in 100% marketable condition.

Excuses made at a showing are an open invitation to a reduced price. When a buyer is disappointed, no explanation will suffice to bring the price back up. When selling, ask your agent for advice, and then take action. Buyers will often compete for such a good value.

GET SERIOUS!

Familiar with the law of supply and demand? In real estate right now, it may seem like the supply of homes for sale is much greater than the numbers of buyers demanding those homes, forcing prices down and decreasing activity. But what's really in shortage may be serious, legitimate sellers.

A committed seller is willing and able to accept the best offer in the current market, and be motivated to do so. Receiving a fair offer is inextricably connected to pricing your home fairly. The best way to arrive at an attractive price is to aggressively challenge the competition. Using past prices, your investment in the home, or even appraisals may not produce the ideal value factor for your home.

If you're serious about selling, let an agent describe to you how an appropriately priced and aggressively marketed home will always generate interest and offers, and will ultimately sell for exactly what it's worth in the current market. All other factors being equal, a home that languishes on the market is simply overpriced, and a seller willing to wait for more than fair price would be better served by waiting until the market catches up before entering the fray.

Remember this Golden Rule: There is a buyer for everything. Any home can be sold in any market when proper pricing is combined with effective marketing.