How to Sell Your Home For a Good Price in a Buyer’s Market
How to Sell Your Home For a Good Price in a Buyer’s Market
So how do you sell your home when market forces are against you? There are a lot of properties for sale, and Buyers know it and they want a deal.
This presents a problem for a seller, but it’s not the end of the world and you can still get a good price by marketing your property correctly.
First thing we have to do is accept that the Bull Market in Real Estate is over.
You need to be realistic and accept this fact. That being said, we can still do things to get a good price.
Ask yourself this and do the research to answer these following questions.
What makes your property unique? What are the strong points?
Are you in a particularly good location? Do you have amenities in your building that many don’t have? Is your home renovated uniquely or done with high-end finishings?
Most importantly, are these unique features and qualities common in the price range your home falls into?
For instance, if you say you have the highest end appliances like Viking and marble baths and tons of built-ins but you are in the $2,000,000 plus market in New York City, this may not be uncommon. Many homes in this range have these features so you are just one of the numerous apartments for sale.
So we need to figure out what is different about your apartment compared to others in your price range.
Hi-end finishings in an older Coop where there aren’t many like it is a plus.
Or an extra large apartment bigger than many in your area may be a plus if priced nicely.
That being said, we don’t want you to spend a lot of money renovating to sell your place. This is not the market for it.
Small improvements are ok like patching holes, painting, and making sure the place is clean, neat and uncluttered. These are the most important things.
So now that you know your unique strengths, and you’ve made your place clean and uncluttered, we have to look at the problem areas.
Where is your home lacking? What are the weak points? Can they be fixed easily and inexpensively?
If they can’t be fixed easily and inexpensively, we need to take another approach.
Sometimes people say that we should ignore the weak points of a home and not make an issue out of it.
This may be true sometimes, but more often than not, your buyer is going to see the weak points anyway and being honest with yourself upfront about what these weak points are will make you come across as more honest and sincere and in turn, your buyer may not see them as such a big deal either.
People don’t like to be misled or treated like they are stupid, of course. But by ignoring the weak points, you come across as trying to pull one over on them.
That being said, be careful not to point out weak points that others may not feel is a problem. Are you over thinking what may be a weak point of your home? Maybe it’s not such a big deal. Maybe you are selling yourself short.
If you have a real weak point in your home, then what we sometimes do when we market a property is point out the weak point right away if it’s glaringly obvious (such as 6th floor walk-up) and use it as a positive.
For example, we might say to them after pointing out the good points that there is one catch, it’s on the 6th floor but you will save money on the gym by walking everyday and at this price, you can’t expect everything.
Make sense?
Don’t lie to buyers or try to fool them. They will find out anyway.
By being upfront about it and not clearly ignoring a weak point, you are actually communicating to them that you are comfortable with it and so they may be less likely to see it as a “big deal”.
Use these tips when you sell and, of course, get a good broker who specializes in your type of apartment in your price range.
For instance, if you are selling a $10,000,000 condo in Tribeca, find a high-end real estate specialist in that area who knows everything about condos and the buyer’s that look in this price range.
Having a specialized broker will make your job a lot easier and along with knowing these other points, you can achieve a higher price, even in a Buyer’s market.
