In 2021, there will be a new normal for home sellers. With the current shift to online home searching technology through websites, consumers are able to find homes remotely. This shift means that the physical showing of a house is less important than it used to be.
There is a higher demand in 2021 for the cleanest possible homes when buying. Buyers are very concerned about germs and will look at making an offer on a home that is clean over one that is not. This doesn't mean that home buyers are going to turn down a dirty house in an otherwise great location. But this does mean that sellers should take extra care when preparing their homes for sale and when showing them.
The technology includes virtual tours, high definition photos, 360 view tours, drone photography of the home if it has land. The more images and angles the better.
This technology will bring transparency to the table, and will help bring interested buyers knowing what to expect. They will do a viewing just having a quick look to make sure they get the feel of the home. Also this technology helps eliminate buyers looking for a different style, layout or floorplan.
Making your home available for showings.
Be ready, 2021 seems like a frustrating year of the no show buyers. Buyers schedule several homes the night before, by the time the agent and home buyer meet, half the homes are sold, and the other half are cancelling appointments. It’s tough to schedule showings. August has been better so far!
When the home buyer finds a home they want to offer on, now its a race for the agent and home buyer to get an offer in. They don’t have time to cancel showings, because they don’t want to lose out on the one they want. So don’t be surprised if they reschedule in 2 days when they didn’t get the offer.
2021 has a significant drop off rate.
Making the home accessible to showings is essential for a quick sale. You would rather have the home shown and sold, then not shown and sold to a buyer that has not seen the home yet. The home buyers are probably making offers on several homes, and going to use the inspection period to walk away from the ones they don’t pick. We have sold homes following up with the buyers agents during the inspection periods.
Flexibility will keep a deal together in August and September.
Yes technically we are still in a sellers market, but home buyer fatigue is real! The real estate market is in a sellers' market, and it's not an easy task for people looking to buy homes. Inventory is low, which means less properties are available for sale. We are seeing more opportunities for buyers in August so far.
This month I would start being a little more flexible unless you are in a high demand neighborhood sitting on multiple offers, you may need to re-think the market easing up. If a buyer is asking for a little closing costs, or minor repairs this may be a way to keep a deal together.
Days on the market and showings are super important. List your house with a few showings and no offers? Keep an open mind about your price being too high.
Especially now that most new home builders are not seeing as many drawings and waiting lists. Buyers are starting to get more options. This may change in October when our snowbirds return with there home buying cash! But for now you don’t want to regret loosing a deal over a few bucks.
Your Home Value
The value of your home is a function of its location, condition, demand, and size. One way to judge whether or not your home's value is on the rise is by checking what similar homes in the area are listed for on a weekly or monthly basis. This can give you an idea of how much your home is worth.
Doing this will give you an idea of how much you should list your home for- without having it sitting on the market for too long while you wait for potential buyers to come along.
Check out our home valuation tool, we will contact you regarding how far out you are from selling, and set up a custom monthly market report. This will keep you in tune with the price of your home. Once your ready make sure you get a professional opinion from Scott. He can help you go through similar sales that are close condition to your property.
Home evaluation tool:
After you look at your home value, remember this is from a database and will need to be adjusted for your homes condition, location, upgrades and size. Most of the online evaluation tools will be slightly off. When your ready, a professional can help you with a target price.
Getting a tour from a real estate professional
Before you start staging, cleaning up, making repairs, while your home is still lived in, have Scott over for a quick tour. This is a great way to get a strategy before you start!
The home staging process can seem like a lot of work, but it doesn't have to be. Scott offers quick tours of the home before you do any major work or spend any money. He can assess what things should stay and which ones should go, and he can give you ideas for how to stage different rooms in the house.
We can give you some ideas and tell you what works and what does not work in the current market. We can save you a ton of time, energy, and money.
Say NO To Bad Photos
A high resolution photo is a great way to display your home to potential buyers. Not only does it show the true colors of your space, but it also allows you to cut out the clutter in your background and focus on the items you want people to see.
When we list your home we use a very good camera with a flash, and a tripod. Sometimes we have professional photos done if we think we can’t take good enough photos with the current lighting of the home.
Any way you look at it, we are very picky about the photos we post on the MLS. That's because the photographs we choose to post on the MLS have a huge effect on how quickly and easily we can sell homes.
It takes a couple days from the time the photo shoot is completed to edit the photos, fix lighting, and make sure the camera is not in the mirrors.
Editing photos is a time-consuming task. It takes a couple days from the time the photo shoot is completed to edit the photos, fix lighting, and make sure the camera isn't in the mirrors. These editing tasks are time consuming and are well worth the extra effort.
Good Read For up and Coming Sellers:
How to Stage Your Home To Sell
A very helpful Sellers Checklist infographic to get your home ready to sell:
