Selling a home for top dollar quickly is every sellers wish
Selling a home fast and not losing money in today’s market depends on you and your real estate agents marking skills and local knowledge.
It’s not really that hard to get top dollar for a home if the sale is planed well from the beginning. Today we will talk about a couple proven factors that determine our goals when selling a home.
Emotional attachment
Have you ever visited your neighbors home and thought to yourself, I like my back yard much better and or my floor plan is much nicer. I bet your neighbor would discretely disagree. How about that new custom paint? the neighbor only has neutral colors. We experience emotional attachments with sellers and their homes (including some Realtors®) all the time in the Real Estate industry. Avoiding the emotional attachment when selling is extremely important. Home buyers often have their own tastes and many like to redecorate before they move in anyway.
Pricing a home to sell
Understanding your local market and pricing accordingly is also a huge factor when trying to get the highest price in the shortest time. In some cases pricing a home below market value can yeild a higher price than over pricing.
- I can not stress enough the importance of pricing a home correctly based on your local market conditions at the beginning of the listing. Many buyers and their agents have their eyes peeled on new homes that hit the market. As time goes by, your home shows how many days it has been on the market (DOM). The longer a home sits on the market the less people pay attention to it including Realtors® that are looking out for their buying clients.
- A reputable Realtor should have a pretty good idea on their local markets. When taking a listing it is important for a Realtor® to understand which way values are heading for the type and scale of the subject property. The way a house is priced and marketed should be determined by several factors including the current market conditions for that particular property.
In Orange County, market conditions are all over the board at this time. Currently 3/19/2010 some property values are increasing while some are declining and the others are stable. You may have heard the phase “All markets are local” this is true however the scale of a home plays a big part as well.
Scale, location and local markets
What I mean by scale is the difference between entry level and luxury homes. Some people will have a different opinions on what they consider a entry level home. In my coastal Orange County market I consider a entry level home as anything under $500,000.
Entry Level Homes in Orange County
- In some cities I service such as Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Irvine, Costa Mesa, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano you can not get much for less than $200,000. This is considered a lower end entry level home. In this value range you are limited strictly to condos and Townhouses.
- As you scale up between $300,000 to $500,000 range, still at the lower end you will find yourself limited to condos and Townhouses but once you get over the $400,000 price range you will start entering the lower end single family homes and detached Condominiums.
- In my local market today (3/19/2010) our local market on these entry level homes are the easiest to get top dollar for and sell quickly. Over the last 18 months or so from my experience these homes have been the first to recover and the first to see values increase. In this time frame all the entry level homes we have sold have had multiple offers over asking price in the first week of being listed. These properties are now at a level where first time buyers that were once priced out of the market can finally afford to purchase. Investors have also seen the opportunity and I believe these are the main two reasons that has driven the recovery on this scale of home in Orange County.
Entry level homes in my local market are currently increasing in value.
Step Up Homes In Orange County
- The next level is what I like to call step up homes. Step up homes in my market range from $500,000 to $999,999. In this price range you would usually find home owners that have previously owned and have stepped up the scale to a larger house. As location has a lot to do with property values these properties are in slightly upper scale neighborhoods and/or closer to the coast. I also highly recommend now is the perfect time to trade up to this scale while the values are just off the bottom and beginning to see some appreciation.
Step up homes are currently stable in my local market and seeing some appreciation.
Million Dollar Homes in Orange County
- Once you hit the million dollar + market, I like to call these the million dollar homes. Priced between $999,999 and 3,999,999. These million dollar homes are in some of the most desirable location’s of Orange County including Guard Gated communities, and some have ocean views.
Million dollar homes are still losing value in some local markets.
Luxury Homes in Orange County
- The Orange County Luxury homes, Homes priced over $4,000,000. In my market you will find these homes in Coastal OC such as Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Corona Del Mar, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills etc. This scale has seen very little impact as far as distresses homeowners. The owners in this scale are usually pretty well off and can afford not to sell if they don’t need to. But if you fit into this category you should be well prepared for a long wait as we see no light at the end of the tunnel as of yet.
Today’s Luxury market is very slow and declining. For those trying to sell Luxury homes at this time it is recommended to pay extra attention to the competition and get the extra maximum exposure needed such as Internet and international advertising.
Each property is unique, unique with market value, location, condition, scale, desirability and any combination of each. Doing your home work and listing it correctly will pay off in the long run.
If you need to sell your home for top dollar quickly, feel free to give me a call.
Brett Dalbeth
Newman Realty
888-399-4844
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