Post by Jason Nichols Licensed Oregon Broker at M Realty
Fall is creeping up as summer is coming to end here in the Portland Metro area. Next weekend is Labor Day and the final vacations are in store before kids go back to school. The hot topic is how to market your home in these fall conditions? The hot question is it still a good time to sell?
July and August always seem to be a little slower than other times of the year for listing your home. Could it be all the vacations? Are the buyers taking a break from the brutal seller’s market? Or is something else? I don’t believe anyone really knows the exact answer to this question. According to the RMLS inventory has creeped up from 1.5 months of inventory to 1.9 months in the month of July, but is still just below 2 months of inventory and a healthy balanced market is supposed to be a round 4-6 months. Just looking at the numbers doesn't tell you the whole story, but it does show a slight slow down in the late summer market. Speaking with agents all over the Portland area it seems most are in agreement, it has slowed, but not for long. The following are some thoughts to consider when getting ready to sell your home in the fall.
Pricing your home is very important, I believe there is three levels of pricing. Blow out price, competitive price, and hoping for the moon price. I am not here to tell you to put a blow out sticker on your home, but with things cooling off from what seemed like an endless spring scramble for buyers. Sellers need to be considering these things, buyers are tired of getting beat up in this market, writing offer after offer, over asking, no closing costs, sellers not wanting to make any repairs, and the list goes on. I worked with several buyers this past spring and most landed homes they are just in love with, but it was an adventure to get to the finish line. This trending sellers market has brought one thing I don’t love and that is sellers whom think they can get whatever price tag they decide to put on their home. This is a bad strategy, this can lead to excessive time on market, price adjustments, and disappointment. Setting expectations for the process of selling in this market is one of the first conversations I have with my clients and is not always an easy one. By looking at the comps, pending and sold’s, you can begin to make an educated decision on pricing of the home. Make sure to address the area of the home, local amenities, school ratings, and in Portland; walk and bike scores. Get prepared for the idea of buyers asking for repairs. In reality most homes are not perfect and will be in need of some repair due to neglected maintenance and or upkeep to insure the buyers feel comfortable when purchasing. All of these factors play a major role when helping my clients decide pricing for their home. The more you can openly discuss upfront about the home sale and the process, I feel the more smooth the transaction will go.
Prepping your home for Realtor photo’s and video’s, buyer walkthroughs, and the internet is very important. I really love helping my clients create a checklist that is easy and budget friendly to begin the process of getting their home ready to sell. The simple fact of just having a clean home with clutter picked up, sparkling windows, spotless counters, no unwanted smells can lead the way to a positive selling experience. Beleive it or not less is generally more when it comes to furniture and decor, you want to leave some open space for the buyers imagination to expand and be able to picture themselves living in the home. The exterior can be jazzed up by general landscaping, cleaning of the roof and gutters, pressure washing the driveway, and making sure the grass is mowed. These items show sense of pride of ownership and can make or break the deal for some potential buyers. Remember, just like your parents always told you, first impressions are everything and this stands true with people coming to look to purchase your home.
Media is another item I would like to touch on, the days of showing up with your camera phone and taking some pictures and slapping them on the RMLS are far beyond over. At M Realty I am lucky enough to have a group of Medio’s that come to the rescue. They will come out and do a professional photoshoot, not only shooting photo, but video as well. Yes, video tours! The day and age of internet shopping is here and your home needs to look the best it can for all websites these buyers are surfing around on trying to find their next place to inhabit. Not to mention in Portland specifically we have a lot of out of town buyers moving to the area. It is tremendously helpful when these potential out of state buyers can go online and navigate through a full tour of the home. Accompany these marketing tools with an individualized property website and now you have a place those potential buyers can get even more detailed information about your fantastic property. Marketing of your home is one part that I feel more is always better!
I could go on and on about ideas and ways to make your home stand out from others on the market. These are just few areas to think about and really sky is the limit. Just remember, communication is key, and real estate transactions run a lot smoother when it is more of win-win type of transaction.
Friendly Neighborhood Realtor,
Jason Nichols