Selling Successfully in a Down Market
Welcome back! Yesterday we talked about the state of the Missoula residential market. Here's what it means if you’re selling: be prepared to compete, winning either the price contest or the beauty contest. There is an astonishing amount of inventory out there and the limited number of buyers will select the best value for the money. You’ve got to think like a buyer, and they usually come in two general catagories: the value buyer and the turn-key buyer.
*The value buyers want a “deal”, and they are willing to put up with some dirt, clutter or deferred maintenance to get a low price. These homes are much cheaper (10-20%) than other homes with the same basic features.
*The turn-key buyers want to be able to move in tomorrow. With no work. Everything has to be well maintained and spic and span. The cleanest, nicest homes will sell the fastest. The good news is that turn-key buyers appear to be willing to pay more for what they want.
Of course, don’t forget that most buyers select the home by neighborhood first, so be sure and take that into consideration when settling on a price. If you need to sell fast in this market then make sure you have a turn-key clean home at a value price and you'll beat the competition every time.
Enjoyed the blog and your insight Ryon. The Spokane market appears to be very similar although our inventory appears to be dropping a bit. With the current interest rates (recent drop) the reduced prices and the negotiable sellers it is a great time to buy real estate. In Spokane, our biggest challenge is to get the press (both newspaper and TV) to report the facts and not the hype. It seems the hype sells so they keep spewing their most alarming stats rather than the actual figures. It is more attractive to say, or print, "foreclosures doubled" rather than "they increased from 3% to 6%". Go figure!! Take care and thanks for the blog entries.
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As a turn-key buyer who has looked at a variety of homes, I have to agree with Ryon. If a home looks (and/or smells) really dated, it's an instant turnoff. Things don't have to be perfect or new but some neutral paint and carpet with a clean kitchen makes a huge difference! Ironically, these things don't necessarily make a good impression as much as the old carpet, bad paint choices, stained floors, etc. make a bad impression. At least that's how I see things.
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Great article.
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