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Deep Breaths, people.....
You ever the see the movie "Apollo 13"? There's a great scene in it when the space ship has had an explosion and is venting oxygen into space, Ground Control is frantically trying to figure out what they can repair, and the astronauts have all reached their target hearts rates because they're worried they're not coming home. The flight director, Gene Kranz, stands up and asks the engineers, " Uh, what have we got on the spacecraft that's good?".
Let's talk about what is really going on in the market, and what is good. Not what your neighbor and the media and your buddy at work are saying. Facts.
Which homes are selling in this market?
I get this question a lot--"How can I sell my home in a buyer's market like this?"
The honest truth is that all buyers are looking for the best deal, and the best house they can afford. If you've ever been house shopping, I'll bet that's what you wanted, too!
Here's what the statistics tell us about this market:
- Homes in the TOP 30% of CONDITION are selling
- Homes in the BOTTOM 30% of PRICE vs. comparable properties are selling
A fellow realtor put it this way--"Buyers not only want the shiniest apple, they want the cheapest one, too!"
Right now the inventory of homes in my area is 12.1 months. That means at the current rate of sales, if no more homes came on the market, it would take about 12 months to sell the homes that are currently listed. I don't know many people who would want to wait about a year and a half to move and get their money out of their house, so if you're selling, be sure to ask your agent if they have suggestions on the house's appearance and pricing. Your realtor can tell you exactly what the market is in your area, and make solid suggestions how to catch a buyer's eye. Many people are using professional staging companies, the same companies that do the decorating and furniture arrangement for the beautiful model homes you may have seen. For a small investment, you can make your home stand out from the crowd, and that's money well spent.
What is your home worth?
There are some websites that will try to tell you what your home is worth. From what I’ve seen, they don’t seem to be very accurate at all.
The reason is this: they’re a computer, not a person. They don’t have up to the minute information about what the market is doing, or if a mall is being built next door, or if the urban growth boundary has just changed. They won’t be able to tell you if the property gets the prevailing winds from the pulp mill, or see if you just put in new carpet and painted, or if there’s a great new school being built in the area. Only a good real estate agent can really factor all those things in to get an accurate idea of what a home might sell for.
If you want to find out what your home is really worth, a Hometown Expert realtor ® can give you a FREE estimate of value.
WHOO FREAKIN' HOOOOOO!
After working on this site for months, to make sure people would be able to use it and not have it crash and burn, after tweaking it so it is pretty and has lot of good info, Hometown Expert is officially launched. Whew! Feels a lot like giving birth--sore afterwards, but so happy and hopeful that the world will be a bit better because of what has come along. Hope you enjoy your time here--we've enjoyed making it for you. I would've put a photo of me doing a happy dance, but didn't want to scare you! :)