All kinds of important information is gathered and summarized in the survey.  Price of homes purchased, age of buyers, household incomes, even how buyers value heating and cooling costs and energy efficiency are all included.  But, I want to focus on a small bit of information that is always helpful to my clients and may be helpful to you.

If I only knew how buyers find the homes they purchase:  The real question is where or by what method does the buyer find the home they buy?  If you know the answer, you might consider that information in your marketing.  Read on and you’ll know what trend I have been following since 2001.

For South Carolina, the answers to the question are:

31% Internet (I would say 100% of buyers use the internet in their search, but 31% find the home they end up buying on the internet; the internet is the first place they see it.)

30% Real estate agent

15% Yard sign or open house sign

9% Home builder

8% Friend, relative or neighbor

3% Print newspaper advertisement

2% Directly from the sellers / knew the sellers

1% Home book magazine

1% Other

It is even more interesting to note (and certainly makes sense) that since the first survey results were released in 2001, the identification of the internet as the source of where buyers find the home they purchase has increased by 400%.  Times are changing, we know this.  But, the real issue is how we work with these changes and, even more importantly, take advantage of the opportunities created by these changes?

(This information is based on the 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (South Carolina Report) and  SixStepstoSOLD^TM, the simple six-step process created by Aaron Cole that guarantees a home seller the best chance of getting the best price for his or her home in the shortest time.)

Marketing a home that is vacant may require a different approach as far as the condition is concerned compared to marketing a home that is currently “lived in”.  When you have furnishings in your home, you can in many instances control how the buyer views your home.  What I mean by this is, you can control what they focus on as they walk through your home.  And, at the same time, you can de-emphasize negative aspects of your home by the way it is furnished and decorated.

But, when you move the furnishings out, many homes may look “left behind”.  You probably have viewed homes that look this way.  In many instances vacant homes look like the homeowners just left in a hurry – lots of dust balls and dead bugs in the corners, marks in the walls, stains in the carpets, small items left laying around the home, small projects started by the homeowner that are left incomplete, torn or damaged wallpaper, the yard looks like it needs to be mowed and edged – you get the picture.

If you move out prior to selling your home, your goal related to the condition of your home is to make sure it does not look left behind.  The key here is to take a good look at your home after the move-out and make a list of things to do that will make your home look fresh and “almost new”.  Your list will probably include items that are related to making your home look maintained and also items that are related to making your home look more appealing.  You want buyer prospects who come through your home to get a positive feeling about your home.  Some items may be more involved like replacing carpet.  Other items may be as simple as cleaning the kitchen and baths.

The cost of addressing these maintenance and improvement items at the initial move out is generally far less than the cost of maintaining your home for an extended period of time.  Don’t let your home look “left behind” and you’ll get a successful sale even if you vacate your home prior to signing a purchase contract. 

(Aaron Cole, the author of this information, is the creator of HomeSOLDin60^TM, the simple six-step process that guarantees a home seller the best chance of getting the best price for his or her home in the shortest time.)

It depends.

You should always remember this:your price doesn’t matter if the buyer doesn’t like your home.  This is one of the most important “real estate truths” I have learned in the last few years.  And from what I have seen, many sellers and agents don’t understand this.

A price reduction might be the right thing to do depending on how you established your list price (and your expected sale price).

I have found the best way to establish a list price is to follow a three-step approach:

1)  Determine the value for your home that is historically justifiable based on previous comparable home sales and current pending home inventory – this number is your bottom line number (i.e. your contract sale price should be at this number or above)

2)  Add 3% to 5% to this historically justifiable number to give yourself some negotiating room

3)  Take the number arrived at in step #2 above and adjust it to reflect how buyers use price ranges to determine the homes that fit their search criteria 

It is important to note that in a market where home prices are falling, your calculation of the number in step #1 above could be affected dramatically.  If you establish an historically justifiable price that is even a little bit above the current market price, with each day that goes by as the market prices fall, your list price will be getting farther away from your market price and perhaps farther away from a successful sale.

The above steps address the more objective aspects of determining your list price.  There are subjective aspects you should consider as well.  These are the state of the economy, your real estate market, supply of homes on the market, supply of buyers in the market, the buyer profile for your type of home, condition of your home related to your comparable sales, etc: 

Consider following the above steps to estimate your list price.  If your current list price is justified based on these simple steps then reducing your price might cost you money unnecessarily.  If it is not justified, then a price reduction is probably warranted.

(This information is based on HomeSOLDin60^TM, the simple six-step process created by Aaron Cole that guarantees a home seller the best chance of getting the best price his or her home in the shortest time.)

This phrase sounds like part of the chorus from the newest pop song.  But it’s not.  “If you don’t make it shine, you’re wasting your time,” is the simple real estate truth that home sellers are learning right now.

Take a look at the statistics for the Greenville SC area.  If you do the math, there is about 20.2 months of inventory on the market right now.  That means it will take more than 20 months to sell all the homes that are currently on the market for sale (if we continue to follow the current trend).  That is almost 2 years of inventory.  And, the issue is compounded when you understand that the population of homes on the market will most likely grow as we get into the Spring season.

To say it is competitive if you’re selling your home right now is an understatement.  It is extremely competitive.  There are buyers in the market right now, but these buyers are very picky and feel like they can wait if all of their buying criteria doesn’t line up exactly right.

But, notice this next point: the average days on the market for the homes that have sold in the last 3 months is still right at 100 days.  I bet you would have guessed that the average DOM was higher than that.  What this means is homes that do sell typically sell quickly.  The ones that don’t sell, don’t even make it into the DOM calculation.

The point I am making is that buyers are still buying homes (albeit, fewer homes than they were buying last year).  The ones they are buying are the best homes that are currently available; homes that have been prepared and priced properly.

If you’re a home seller and you haven’t done your homework (i.e. properly prepared your home for sale and priced it based on current conditions), then you’re going to fail the test.  Staging, which is a term we are all probably familiar with, used to be optional.  But it is not optional any more.  Not being accurate on your pricing used to mean that you would simply wait longer for your sale.  Now, pricing incorrectly can be a recipe for disaster.  To get the serious attention of buyers, successful real estate agents are helping their seller clients package their home as the product that commands the buyer’s dollars.

Even with the troubled economic times as they are, one of the basic real estate truths is still true…the buyer wants to fall in love with the home they buy.  If you don’t make your home shine, you’re wasting your time.

(This information is based on HomeSOLDin60^TM, the simple six-step process created by Aaron Cole that guarantees a home seller the best chance of getting the best price for his or her home in the shortest time.  To learn more about our 60-Home Sale program, visit www.HomeSOLDin60.com or contact Aaron at (864) 616-1504.)