Milwaukee Condo & Real Estate Scene

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Print Edition, Sunday, October 1, 2006): Tactics for today’s market: Homeowners getting back to pricing basics in effort

Selling Your Home - Tip #1: Pricing

Sellers, the toughest decision you will be faced with is how to appropriately price your home. In today's buyers market, pricing is more important than ever. Sandra Fleishman of the Washington Post provides sellers with several important tips in pricing their home.


Here are some facts about Milwaukee's current real estate market:

Despite what you hear or read in the news, the real estate bubble in our market has not busted. The fact is sellers are still able to walk away from their property with more money than what they originally paid. The Midwest, especially Milwaukee, has seen modest annual price increases in real estate. The hardest hit markets are the east and west coasts.

Despite the good news, we do find ourselves in a buyers market. Sorry sellers. The good news is you will still make money on the sale of your home. The bad news is that it will take considerably longer to sell your home. In fact, if all other homeowners were to wait to place their home on the market, it will still take an estimated seven months to sell off our current inventory.


What can you do to entice buyers to see your home...first?

Experts agree that sellers must be realistic in pricing their homes. Not only does the price have to be right, but the home must look move-in ready.


Here are some other suggestions:


1. Setting your asking price at or below your direct competition (such as your neighbor's home which is currently listed)

Competitive pricing will increase the likelihood of reducing the number of days, weeks, or months your house sits on the market.

When determining your asking price in a dynamic market, it is a good idea to analyze your market’s performance by reviewing more recent home sales (1-2 months; not the traditional 6-month window).

It is also recommended that you review old appraisals or pay for an upfront appraisal of your home to find items that had or have a negative effect on your home’s value and correct those items (either by remodeling or replacing).


2. Be proactive; not reactive

If you are not satisfied with the market’s reaction to your price, then reduce your asking price in a timely manner. As a general rule, if you don't see any traffic within the first 3 weeks upon entering the market, the market has rejected your price; and therefore, it is time for a price correction. If you price your home too low, you would expect to experience several appointments and offers within a short amount of time. Ideally, the most appropriate initial price will still encourage buyers to arrive at your front door and ponder their next move of drafting an offer.


3. Provide buyers with financial incentives

There are several, inexpensive ways to assist buyers with purchasing your home. It is becoming more common to creatively structure the offers we write to include seller-assisted financing. Such an arrangement may include sellers paying the buyers' closing costs or paying down the buyers' interest rate. For condominium owners, sellers might entice buyers by offering to prepay their condominium dues for a period of time.


4. Today’s buyers are fussy

If there are any defects in your home, buyers will zero in on those first. Your home may have an unbelievable layout and tons of upgrades, and it can still fall short in today's market if a defect is found. With seven months of inventory, buyers are aware that they can hold off a little longer waiting for the home that has everything...without defects. In today's market, it is very important to make your home’s appearance stand out. This might mean that you have to paint walls or replace appliances.


5. Pay more

Finally, sellers might consider paying more in commission. I don’t mean to sound greedy, but a higher commission split will encourage selling agents to show your property…first. At the end of the day, this is the ideal situation.


Thinking of selling your home? Call me at (414) 412-7980 for a FREE complimentary Comparative Market Analysis.

posted by David Ray @ 9:38 AM