Selling Homes in a Challenging Market - A Price War and a Beauty Contest

Selling a home in this market involves a very important two-step approach.

First, sellers have to be priced aggressively. That does not mean they have to give away their home, but in this market homeowners simply cannot afford to be priced higher than their competition. Otherwise they will die on the vine waiting for buyers who will never come. One of my key responsibilities is completing market research in order to see what similar homes are asking and have sold for in the area. I thoroughly analyze the data and then sit down and review pricing strategies with sellers to determine the best possible price. A well-priced home that is a real looker presents a very compelling opportunity for buyers. That leads us to the second step.

Sellers need to have their homes ready to wow buyers – this is the beauty contest. Imagine buyers everywhere watching HGTV. When they are ready to buy they have a clear idea of what they want as far as decorating and home design is concerned. It seems most have Champagne tastes on a Ginger Ale budget. That can discourage sellers who see themselves spending tens of thousands of dollars getting their homes into selling shape only to disappoint buyers’ high expectations. It may come as a surprise that it is possible to present a home in a very exciting way without breaking the bank. My secret weapon in this step is Kristi of Energizing Spaces. I call her "the House Whisperer."

Together we work with sellers to develop a lean budget and then through a combination of using the seller’s own furniture and decorating accents along with items from Kristi’s decorator library, Kristi uses her great design ideas to help transform homes into HGTV classics. Sellers are amazed at the results both in shortened selling time and increased price. Using this two-step approach we have (even in this challenging market) managed to attract multiple offers for our sellers to consider. Now that’s a winning combination! So, who do you know who wants to win the price war by coming first in the beauty contest? Tell them to contact me for all our insider secrets.

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