Selling Your Home in Today’s Market

Today’s Wiki Wednesday Feature: Selling Your Home in a Slumping Market

Thinking about selling your home? Well, with home prices and home sales continuing to dip across most of the country, it’d be no surprise if you’re worried about wading into this uncertain market. Who wouldn’t be?

But if you’re set on selling, there are certain things that you can do to help your home generate interest. According to Stephon Carradine, a real estate agent with Century 21 Success, you just need to follow some tried-and-true rules to make your home stand out from all the other listings.

As Stephon says in Selling Your Home in a Slumping Market, an article he posted in the Real Estate Guide: “You can successfully sell a home in a declining market, and even profit from the sale, if you set realistic goals and work a little harder at it than your competitors.”

Setting realistic goals includes not getting too greedy with the asking price. Most sellers think they can get more for their homes than they really can, so you (and/or your agent) should spend some time researching comparable homes in your area to determine a realistic selling price. Also, realize that you may have to give in on certain things in order to make a sale. For instance, you may need to offer to pay the buyer’s closing costs, or negotiate on certain appliances or fixtures that either stay or go.

Other ways to make your home more attractive to buyers include having your home professionally inspected before putting it on the market, staging your home, and sprucing up your curb appeal.

Okay, so you’ve done the legwork and your home is in tip-top selling shape. What about when you do get an offer? Well, as Stephon points out in the article, there are certain warning signs that signify that the deal could go sour.

Ed: Wiki Wednesdays is a weekly feature that highlights helpful or interesting articles from the Real Estate Guide.