How to Stand Out When Selling Your Home in a Buyer’s Market
Expert Strategies That Work
What Is A Buyers Market?
Although we’ve been in a seller’s market for a number of years now, we finally seem to be making the shift towards a buyer’s market. So what is a buyer’s market and how do you know when you’ve made the shift? Lets discuss.
You may have seen the headlines a few years ago of buyers lined up to see homes for sale, sellers receiving multiple offers, and even bidding wars happening among buyers. That happened because the number of buyers looking for houses far surpassed the number of houses for sale. In other words, the demand for houses was far greater than the supply of available homes for sale. That is what is called a seller’s market.
Those were the “good ole days” for sellers and those days seem to be behind us in most markets. A real estate market becomes a buyers market when there are far more homes for sale than there are buyers to buy them. In other words, the supply of homes is much greater than buyers looking to purchase a home.
Why Does This Happen?
Well….there’s no short answer to this question. But let’s take a stab at it. When there is an extreme seller’s market, as happened in late 2019 to around late 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for housing skyrocketed. When demand goes up, so do prices and this is exactly what happened. In some instances, housing prices increased by upwards of $100,000 over the course of just one year! This lead to the big “I” word. INFLATION.
When inflation rears its ugly head, this triggers the Federal Reserve to consider taking action to slow things down a bit because they don’t want the price of housing to become so high as to become unaffordable for the majority of the people.
This caused the interest rates to increase from around 2.5% to over 6% in the course of 12-18 months. This means that fewer buyers are able to afford to purchase as the payment is no longer affordable which lead to a substantial slow down in the real estate market, reducing the rate in which prices were rising. This has brought us to where we are today. A buyer’s market.
What This Means for Sellers
Buyers no longer have to settle for just any old house and sellers no longer have the luxury of doing absolutely nothing to the house and the buyers will buy anyway. These days, the sellers have to present their homes in the best possible light in order to get their house sold. So let’s take a look at what attracts and keeps a buyers attention.
Boost Curb Appeal
First impressions matter! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve driven with or met a client at a home and they asked me to keep on driving because the exterior of the house was a disaster. If a buyer sees that you haven’t taken care of the outside of your home, then they are going to assume that you haven’t taken care of the inside either.
Create A Clutter Free Zone
Buyers need to be able to see themselves in the space and you’ve got your stuff everywhere, they just can’t do that. Also, no one wants to be stepping over a lot of clutter to see a property.
Cleanliness is Imperative
Make sure your home is clean. And I don’t mean clean to your standards, I mean professionally cleaned and you’re just maintaining during the home selling process. Your home needs to look and smell fresh and clean. Keep your beds made, bathrooms need to be kept clean with toilet seats down and kitchens need to be clean and tidy. Stick those dirty dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on.
Order A Pre-Inspection Prior to Listing
Hardly anything tanks a real estate sale more than hidden repair issues. A home inspection prior to putting your home on the market can avoid unwelcome surprises later on in the transaction.
