Important Tips When Selling Your House In Today's Market: Summer 2013

Summer 2013 is almost on us and the market is starting to make a little bit of a change again. Here in the Valley, the homes that were once selling in the $500,000 or less are practically gone. Home prices have risen and there are going to be little to no more houses selling around that price point in Burbank, Valley Village, Encino, Valley Glen, and most of Van Nuys, North Hollywood and Lake Balboa. A lot of the spike in home sales were in that price range and now that there is little left, those buyers have either moved to looking at areas further out, looking at condos or just given up all together. If you are selling your home and your house is in the price range of $600,000-$800,000, there are some important tips you will need to know. There aren't as many buyers right now in this price range as there are for the the homes just below this. So you can't market your house the same way. Some sellers have thought (or been advised) to price their home higher than what it will sell for. Some people think that just because there are multiple offers on homes, and that people are overbidding on homes, that they can simply list their home at a much higher price than the one that just sold up the street and it will get many offers as well. This isn't the case and buyers aren't going for it. The buyers see home prices now and automatically think they may have to add $10k-$40k (or more) to the price if they want to get the home. If your home is overpriced, people will simply ignore it and when it's been sitting on the market for a few weeks, buyers will automatically assume something is wrong with the house since most houses have been flying off the market in a week or two. And if you set yourself up with a high price in your mind that your house will sell for, and you don't get those type of offers, then you may disappoint yourself and loose out. So, if the most comparable house to yours just sold last month, then price yours $10k or $30k below that. If there are multiple buyers in that area for your home, that will leave a little wiggle room still. And although many sellers were making buyers jump through hoops for their home by saying "sold as is" and asking for contingencies to be removed, this too will be coming to an end. Don't put your buyers into a corner, they will walk away. We will start to slowly be noticing the amount of buyers per each home lessen as the months roll on. Interest rates have started to tease the market with upward movements, and with first-time buyer's home prices now reaching $600k or more in most areas, there are less people who will be able to afford this. So sellers: when marketing your home this summer, market it graciously and don't expect to have such a dramatic show of offers knocking on your door as there have been the first half of this year. Do your due diligence and make your home very presentable, work with a broker who is going to know this market well and not just feed you what you want to hear. If you have a good real estate agent and they market your home well, you will still find good buyers to sell your home too.