Tips to Sell in a Buyer's Market

"In a buyer's market, supply exceeds demand. Sellers enjoy competition and a greater selection of potential buyers. The most important thing is to be aware that this is the case and act accordingly."

In a buyer's market, supply exceeds demand. Sellers enjoy competition and a greater selection of potential buyers. The most important thing is to be aware that this is the case and act accordingly."

-  "Sellers have the luxury of not being in any sort of hurry or desperation to sell their property because there are countless others for them to choose from. When a seller knows this, they can afford to wait for the right deal. Why would anyone pay a premium price if they're going to receive several offers at or near asking price? So the most important advice I can give any seller is to remain patient, wait for the right offer and then sell your home when conditions are in your favour."

-  "Having said that, there are some things a seller can do to increase their chances of getting a good deal. First and foremost: Don't be greedy! A buyer's market means no one has time to waste over an unrealistic or unreasonable amount of money. Be realistic about what your home is worth on today's market by having it professionally appraised. If you are doing most of the work on your home, try to involve a professional clean-up crew to get rid of clutter, etc. This will help to create the illusion of a freshly painted and decorated home."

-  "Adapting your price to match the buyer's market is extremely important. I know it can be frustrating for sellers who think their house is worth more than what buyers are willing to pay, but in my experience this is not generally the case. The best approach I've taken over the years has been adapting my price as an average multiple of the last proven sale. For example, if someone bought my home for $300,000 in late 2007 (which was a strong buyer's market at the time) and sold it in early 2009 for $400,000, I know that I would typically want $325,000 on any new sale."

-  "If you need to put your home on the market quickly, unless you have a large amount of equity in your home or are in dire financial straits, avoid listing with an agent who is not affiliated with a well-known real estate brokerage. The compensation that larger brokers provide can be worth several hundred dollars at the time when you may be desperate to sell your house. Having a stranger handle your listing is also risky as many of them are inexperienced, uninformed or disorganized. When facing a buyer's market, you don't want to put your house on the market with a novice in charge."

-  "One common mistake I see professional sellers make is competing with other real estate for display space in newspapers. They think that by advertising their home for sale in the same newspaper as another home in the same neighbourhood sells for a higher price than theirs, they can compete and sell for more than asking price. This is simply not true! Competition like this only brings down your property's price through word-of-mouth... without any good reason. To avoid this, I have no problem at all with you listing your home on the Internet or other non-traditional advertising media. You will be competing against other homes for attention, but that is something that is necessary to the process of selling in a buyer's market."

-  "Finally, if you are expecting to receive offers quickly (within just a few weeks), you should reconsider your asking price. This is because in a buyer's market, buyers are not looking to compete with others over your price. They are looking for an opportunity to purchase your property at a fair value, which might mean waiting until closer to the peak of the market. In other words, an offer which comes in at the high end of your asking price may not be considered a great deal by the buyer, thus your best chance to get a good deal is to wait until the peak of the market and then sell at some point during the decline. Of course, if you are selling because you need money to help you out of a tight spot, then hang on in there and don't think about timing. If you have time to wait for the right offer, then it's all right to list with a less-than-perfect agent. On the other hand, if you don't have time to wait, then it's all right to consider a less-than-perfect agent but be sure to negotiate a higher selling price."

-  "My best advice for a seller is to simply trust your instincts as you get ready to put your home on the market. If you're not happy with your agent or feel that they don't know what they're doing, search for another one. If you are in a buyer's market and prices are going up, keep your eyes out for some listings farther down the street that seem like they might have sold recently. If your price seems too high compared to the other homes in your neighbourhood, remember that at this time a buyer may not be willing to pay more than some others because they're competing with you. If you're going to list your home, remember that it's only just a few minutes of your life... so don't sweat it too much! Just take a deep breath and relax. You will be fine!"

This article is from Greg Novack http://www.gngnrealty.com/marketing/buyers-market-tells-cheap-sellers-to-hurry...

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Like this: Like Loading... Related I hope you enjoyed this article. Please share it with your friends! So they can enjoy the freshness, too! http://www.gngnrealty.com/marketing/buyers-market-tells-cheap-sellers-to-hurry... Advertisements Permalink Leave a Comment Comments: The comments to this entry are closed. Thanks for your contribution. My name is Matthew and I'm a writer from Toronto, Canada.

Conclusion- High end pricing is understandably unattractive to I'm sure all of you who wrote in. Some of the comments you mentioned were spot on, but some were only partially so. I'd like to add a couple of points and clarify a few issues. The first point is that high end pricing is indeed attractive to some people. That said, it's not all that popular with buyers today.. Second, the results of the original study showed a very similar percentage finding the price to be too high (32%) and too low (31%). That's right...