What Home Sellers Need to Know Mid-2022 – Houses to Homes Podcast

In the midst of a market correction, home sellers are going to have to rely on strategies from "the before times" – when the market was what we call normal.

In this episode Kristi and Laura go over pricing strategies, staging tips, and other important info to help you successfully sell your home at the best price you can.

Transcript:

You can price it low, create the frenzy. Have the market chase you. And probably get above, you know, maybe what you thought you were asking for.

Ms. Pinozzi

Yes, Ms. Roberts?

What would you tell a seller today who approached you saying, “I want to sell my home and I heard it's still very much a seller's market and I want the top dollar for my house.”?

I'd say there are three pricing strategies. And pricing your home is a little bit of an art and a science.

Okay. Tell me more.

So the science is that we go out and do comparables, right? First thing people are going to do is they're going to look online to see what house? What's my Zestimate?

What's my Zestimate? Right. And Zestimate, while they're out there and people use it, you really have to look at what is in your local area. And be very specific. A real estate agent, a good real estate agent will comp out your home based on what updates you've done to it, how much you've put into it, how old your house is and other comparable houses in the neighborhood. So you want to make sure that you get a good baseline for your house.

Sure.

Based on science.

Right.

So some of that then comes into your gut, too.

Right.

So, you know, if you've done a lot of updates, if you've got the new roof, a new septic field, new appliances, a top of the line appliances, you've got new countertops, you've got, you know, updated bathrooms and kitchens you've like, you've just put a ton of work into it. At that point, it's going to show really well.

Right.

And you may be able to come up a little bit higher. Or, push the price on that. Contrary to that, if your furnace is 23 years old and you, you know, you have your roof looking like the shingles are curling on it, you know, you're just not going to get that. So you have to be realistic and go kind of by what your gut is telling you to. So, you know, you can price it low, create the frenzy.

Right.

Have the market chase you. You have the market chase you and probably get above, you know, maybe what you thought you were asking for. You can price it in the median and you can you know, it'll sell in today's market… today we're seeing it could be on the market for 15, 20, 25 days. Livingston County's a little bit less than that. And then you can overprice it. And people, it'll sit there, and people will start to think. “What's wrong? What's wrong? Why isn't it selling?” Agents know it's overpriced. So they may take their client somewhere else because they know it's overpriced. Or they might just throw a lowball offer to you because they know that it's sitting there and you're not getting the showings because it's overpriced.

Exactly. And you could potentially get less. I've actually had buyers with that strategy before.

Yeah. So you want to be careful. You want to, you know, make sure you learn about, you know, through your real estate agent, learn about the market, your market in your area, learn about the value of your home and be realistic when you're pricing it. And, you know, and then a lot of that has to do with the timing, too. You know, if somebody's selling and they need to get out right away, they're going to be more aggressive with their price. If somebody has a little more time that they're looking for another place too, they might price it a little higher. So, you know, there's a lot of variables that go in there. And it's really just a conversation with somebody to find out, you know, what their needs and wants are when they're trying to sell.

So aside from pricing, what would you say the second… well, because pricing is number one, the second most important thing for a seller to keep in mind or to do?

I would say to have it staged properly.

Okay.

I would say to, you know, take away and remove personal items from the house, remove anything personal, any clutter, anything like that, because people are going to be walking through the house and they're going to want to see it as they would, you know, as they are with their stuff in it.

And that’s something you kind of go over with your sellers personally and kind of give them suggestions on what to do, don't you?

Yeah, exactly. As we go through the house, you know, making sure that, you know, if there are odor smells from dogs or any smells are bad, believe it or not, it's a big turnoff to people. So you have to be realistic. If you have pets, have somebody else come into your house and say…

Right, somebody honest.

“Does this smell like pets? Do I need to do something here?” And you just want to make sure that your house is picture perfect.

Ready to go. Right.

You know, because those are the ones that people are going to knock on first. And I will tell a seller too based on your advice that - this is like sticks in my head is - first ten days, you know, ten showings. And if you don't have ten showings in ten days, and if you don't have an offer, then the market is going to tell you that it is overpriced because usually within the first ten days you'll get at least an offer.

Right.

So some interest.

That's in any type of market.

Yes. If it's priced right it shows.

Right.

And I know that when we do have a listing, I give my sellers all the feedback. So when I get a listing, I put it through our showing time app that every single feedback that we receive automatically goes to the listing or to the seller. And I know some listing agents…

Are very honest.

Yes. Yeah.

Some buyers agents are very honest, but some listing agents will filter through those.

Yeah.

And I don't, because I truly believe a seller needs to know the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

Yeah.

And it's sometimes much better delivered when it's coming from somebody else.

This is true.

So we like honest feedback and we give it.

Yeah.

Well, thank you very much for sharing that with us today.

You’re welcome.