By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI, San Diego real estate
broker
�2007
Broker For You
All rights reserved.
Two years ago the home down the block sold for over the asking price. Plus, it
sold in only a couple days. Unfortunately, that was two years ago. In today's
market, buyers not only have more properties to choose from, but those
properties are also staying on the market for a longer time. In many cases, it
is taking two to three times longer to sell the average home than it did only a
couple years ago.
Home value prices in California and in San Diego in particular have declined by
as much as 30% in some communities. Since 2005, many sellers are experiencing
long delays in marketing their homes.
A seller must give careful consideration to properly pricing the home before
placing a home on the market, not to mention the improvements and the home site.
Most importantly, one must consider the current market conditions. Whatever your
neighbor may have sold their home for a couple of years ago has no correlation
to what the value of your home is in today's market. Your buyers won't really
care how much your improvements may have cost, how much you originally paid for
your home, or the fact that you're not in a rush to sell immediately.
The current market determines the value of homes by how similar homes have sold
for in your neighborhood within the last few months. Let�s say that about 20
years ago, when gold hit a high of $800 an ounce, you bought a one ounce
Krugerrand and stashed it away in a safe deposit box. After 20 years, it still
probably would be in excellent condition but it would be worth around $670
today. Considering that during those 20 years you earned absolutely no interest,
that is a very substantial loss. Does anybody really care what you paid for that
Krugerrand or that you maintain it in excellent condition? No. All buyers care
about is whatever the market has determined the value of that Krugerrand is
today! Another good analogy is the stock market. What you paid for your IBM
shares last week has absolutely no relationship to what you can sell them for
today.
Sure, your home improvements, upgrades, location, general upkeep and landscaping
all figure into the value of your home and its salability. The most important
factor that still remains is what the current market for your location will pay
for homes similar to yours. Most real estate agents concur that 95% or more of
proper marketing of a residential property is determined by the original
suitable pricing for the home.
In order to be successful and get top dollar for your property in a buyer�s
market, a seller must first step back from the home. They must emotionally
detach themselves from the property and determine what the market is willing to
pay for the property. The best way to do this under the current market
conditions is to team up with your local realtor, who will provide a no cost or
obligation CMA. CMA stands for comparable market analysis which is an objective
assessment of what you can expect to realistically get for your property under
the current market conditions. Not only will you see homes that have sold in the
CMA, (you will also see something just as important,) how long homes were on the
market, what homes expired unsold and/or were canceled during the listing. All
these factors will come into play to properly determine the price for your
property.
When interviewing agents/brokers, sellers must keep in mind that many less
experienced agents (due to lack of experience or just wanting to please their
client) will suggest a listing price that is unrealistic for the current market.
Consequently, sellers should never list their property for sale based solely on
the recommended selling price of the property. It is extremely important to
consider agents by their experience, knowledge of the neighborhood, analysis of
the market, and perhaps most importantly, their specific and detailed marketing
plan for your property.
The key to success in today's buyers market is accurately pricing your home from
the outset and selecting an experienced, competent realtor to professionally
market your property.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Schwartz, is a Certified Residential Specialist, CA licensed real estate
broker with www.Brokerforyou.com. Bob
has over 27 years of residential real estate experience, authored a number of
published articles and served as an expert witness for
San Diego legal firms. You can contact Bob via
e-mail at brokerforyou@gmail.com or visit his highly popular
San Diego real estate website at:
http://www.brokerforyou.com
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