Selling a house can be challenging and worse when one does it in a slow market. A slow market, also known as a buyer’s market, occurs when there’s an excess house supply in real estate, favouring the buyer more than the seller.
Selling a house is no easy feat. There are many tasks, including setting the appropriate price and gathering the customers. You must also negotiate to let go of the long-lived space, memories, and attachment to your beloved home. However, that doesn’t mean you cannot stand out among your fellow sellers in such a market. With some preparation, you can transform this milestone into an art that you’ll live to remember. Essentially, remain watchful of scrupulous ‘willing buyers’ who probably seek to rip you off your cherished property.
Let’s learn how to sell your house in a slow market:
1. Involve an Experienced Real Estate Agent
The main role of a real estate agent is to help clients buy or sell homes for sale in Orangeville. They help facilitate the transactions on the properties easier than the client would have performed single-handedly. In the case of selling a house in a slow market, you simply need to work with a qualified real estate agent.
The agents have more information about the current market situation than you, as they have probably encountered and conquered it before. They will also expose you to various potential buyers through promotions and contact with fellow realtors.
An ideal real estate agent should have enough knowledge of the local area or estate and impressive past performance. Ensure to stay watchful of scrupulous real estate agents all over the market to lure genuine sellers like you.
2. Work with a Professional Photographer
Your potential buyers will probably request comprehensive images and videos of the house on sale to have a picture of what’s waiting for them. They don’t just need photos but high-quality and attractive ones that will prompt them to purchase the property without a second thought.
Therefore, you need to work with a professional photographer with outstanding testimonials to perform the magic on your house and watch how fast it sells, regardless of the market condition.
Most realtors have extensively adopted drone usage to capture every corner of the house and locality. Thus clients love the new technique.
3. Get Your Neighbours Involved
While many people sell their houses secretly, involving your neighbours plays a vital role, especially in a slow market. After you have planned and settled to sell your house, you must let your neighbours know so they can engage other people who might be interested in buying the house. It can be their relatives, friends, colleagues, or anyone else.
You can also inform them about the house’s price, open house dates and times, and how interested buyers can contact or reach you.
4. The Perfect Price
The selling price of your house significantly affects how fast it will sell in a slow market. While you may want to consider the original price you bought the house at, how magnificent it looks, or how dedicated you’ve been to taking care of it, you still need to remain as realistic as possible in a slow market.
In a slow market, buyers would be attracted to lowly-priced houses (not awkwardly so low) that are still in good condition and require minor repairs. This way, you’ll attract a wide base of customers, and you might sell even faster than you anticipated. In contrast, highly-priced houses are vulnerable to remaining unsold for quite a long time, especially in a slow market.
5. Work on the Physical Appearance
The eyes love what they see even before it meets the heart. Your clients need to be enticed enough by the house on sale. Ensure the interiors are sparkling, not forgetting the exterior, the garden, and the surroundings.
Freshen the paint, work on the flowers, trim the grass, clean the windows, and replace the old interior and exterior lights. Small upgrades also have a significant role in helping your house sell faster in a slow market. These upgrades include replacing the curtains, repairing the broken in-built appliances, and working on the floor.
A tip: Ensure not to spend too much on repairs and upgrades by concentrating on minor areas.
6. Avail Yourself Fully for Viewing
Most buyers want to stop by the property before making further arrangements or requests. Therefore, despite how busy your schedule might be, ensure to spare enough time for viewing visitors to adequately show them around the property.
Providing too many restrictions to house viewing or requesting a prior notice from the guests before visiting might be a turn-off to your potential buyers, especially in the current super-competitive market.
7. Consider Seller Financing
As crazy as it appears, seller financing has remained a catalyst for house selling, especially in a slow market. Seller financing is whereby the seller offers or extends credit to their buyers, saving them from acquiring a loan or facing financial constraints during and after the buying process.
The technique exposes you, the seller, to plenty of willing buyers, and you might sell faster than you imagined. However, seller financing can be quite challenging sometimes if the buyer delays or defaults on loan.
Therefore, ensure to scrutinize your customers before presenting them the extended credit. You may need to involve the court or other legal steps to guarantee winning back your hard-earned coins.
