Selling your home fast in this market is actually easier than you think.  However, you first have to ask yourself…are you IN the market or are you simply ON the market.  There is a big difference.

Let me explain…

There are many factors that give a home value.  However, the truth is the seller is really only capable of affecting two of those factors…Price and Condition. A seller can’t control the taxes, the seller can’t control the rating of the local school, the seller can’t control the lot size etc.  However, the seller does have control over the price of the home as well as the condition of the home.

As I heard it explained once during a real estate webinar, there are basically three places you can be when selling your home…
1. On the market
2. No Man’s Land
3. In the market

If you are listed on MLS and not getting any showings or offers your are simply ON the market and it is very unlikely your home will ever sell.  If this is the case you have to adjust one of the two factors that you do have control over…Price and/or Condition. You can either lower your price and/or fix up the home (fresh paint, new carpet, landscaping etc.) Doing so will either bring you IN the market or possibly into No Man’s Land.

No Man’s Land is when the seller is getting showings, but no offers.  This can be a dangerous place to be as all it really does is help sell the other homes around you. In other words, your house is making all the other homes look like better deals. In order to get out of No Man’s Land and actually IN the market you must further adjust either the Price and/or the Condition of the home.

To be IN the market means that you are getting both showings AND offers. The only way to really sell your home is to be IN the market.
 
So the question is what is the right price and condition needed to get a home IN the market? Well, when it comes to fixing up the home you need to be careful about putting too much money into any project. You don’t want to over improve the home. It’s best to do the simple cost effective fixes.  It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint, steam cleaning carpets, landscaping etc. can do for the overall appeal of a home. However, you may want to stay away from the more expensive upgrades such as countertops, flooring etc. unless absolutely necessary. First of all, you avoid the headaches of doing the upgrades yourself, plus many buyers would rather the price come down a bit and be able to upgrade the home to their own personal liking.

The fact is, the easiest factor to control is price. The easiest way to get your home IN the market and sold fast is to simply lower the price.

So what’s the best way to price your home so it is IN the market? Simply have your agent do a comparative market analysis and then under-price your home by roughly 10%. Yes, that's a hard pill for the seller to swallow, but while a seller may lose thousands from the sale, he will likely offset that loss by avoiding months of costly bills accrued from having the home just sit on the market month after month without any offers.

Not only will this approach lead to more showings, but it will also get you multiple offers.  That’s right, under-pricing the home will not just bring in one offer, but rather multiple offers and this will often times lead to a bidding war. You see once someone has mentally committed to buying a home and has already pictured himself living there, he is much more likely to come up in price when he finds out someone else wants to buy his dream home.

Again, if you want to sell your home you must be IN the market. To do this you can either adjust the price of the home and/or the condition of the home. To sell your home fast we suggest doing only minor upgrades while focusing more on under-pricing your home to generate more showings and more offers and quite possibly a bidding war.

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If you're interested in selling your home in Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota, or Bradenton and would like more advice on how to sell your home quickly...including how to best use today's technology, then call Tanya Waxler, Florida Licensed broker and Owner of uKeepCommission Real Estate, at 941-465-9207.