Location • Condition • Price
These three factors influence every home purchase!
Location: Of course, there’s not much you can do about your home’s location, but there are certainly important things you can do to make the location more attractive. Add or update landscaping to boost curb appeal consider fencing to block out less attractive sights or sounds.
Buyers expect to pay a premium for trendy or ultra convenient locations. Don’t be tempted to overprice; you could be pricing yourself out of a sale. When property is overpriced, the condition and price will be carefully examined.
Depending on your neighborhood or area of town, you’ll quickly find out what the market thinks of your property. Did you get ALOT of showings but no offers? Consider your price and condition- are there any improvements that can be made?
Condition: In very few markets does location and price overcome condition. Market research says buyers decide for or against your property within the first 8 seconds of being on site. Look at your home through buyer eyes. What do they see? Is there peeling paint, soiled carpet, an unidentifiable odor, dripping faucets, deferred maintenance? Work with your Realtor to make sure you are correcting eyesores as well as positioning your house appropriately with the market competition. It may not be necessary to do a full remodel overhaul. Sometimes you have to invest a little money to make money, but talk with your Realtor about return on investment or ROI first- don’t update to the point of causing you to outprice your home for the market. Definitely repair items that need to be repaired because those will show up in an inspection report.
Buyers are educated and have searched online looking a the inventory virtually comparing property features long before they ever showed up at your doorstep. Don’t give buyers a reason to skip your house because of the lack of attention to condition.
If there’s nothing you can do about the condition and it’s less than ideal, be prepared to compensate in price- today’s buyers expect it.
Price: It doesn’t matter what you need to make off the sale or what you think the house is worth to you. It only matters what the market supports. What are the neighborhood sales? How does your house compare to those sales? You can overprice your home, but you could be limiting yourself causing buyers to avoid your property. But let’s say you do grab attention and you get an offer, most buyers need financing to purchase. Bankers, buyer’s agents and appraisers have access to the same information to determine property value. If an appraiser can’t justify the price, they can’t get the loan! Now what? You have to reduce the price to market value, where you should have started, or hope they have a suitcase full of cash to make up the difference!
Remember, pricing always reflects location and condition. Talk with your Realtor about all three to showcase your home to the largest buyer pool to get your home sold faster.
– Jennifer
Questions? Call me @ (615) 977-8444 or email whereyoulivetn@gmail.com