Sell A House Even With So Many Short Sales And Foreclosures
Most of the time homeowners will start to get worried when they see a foreclosure notice tacked to the door or a neighbor’s house. If there are only a few Buy my house for cash on the market that are going through foreclosure or short sale it will probably not have a big impact on a traditional home sale. What if you want to sell your home quickly but you were one of the lucky ones that was able to avoid foreclosure. If you have more short sales and foreclosures then traditional sales in your area it can have serious implications on the sale and marketing of your house.
About ten year ago most appraisers would not use the price of distressed homes when they tried to figure the value of your home. However, due to the housing bubble, it is more common for appraisers to be aware of such concerns. When there are just a few distressed properties then most appraisers will usually calculate the home based on other traditional home sales. In a market that is dominated with short sales and foreclosure an appraiser will not have any choice but to use these distressed properties as comparables which will lower the price of your house, even if your home is being sold traditionally.
What You Should Not Do
If you are trying to sell your house among a lot of distressed property it is not time to be greedy. You do not want to rush into your marketing scheme or start updating things when you are not sure of the likely outcome. In a situation like this updates that you do to your home will not be given as much credit as they normally would so costly updates will only cost you money and will potentially alienate buyers that don’t want to pay so much. Do not make the mistake so many seller make and overprice your home. Many people that are following the steps to selling a house can rush to list the house, thinking the sooner they list the sooner they sell, but they fail to do the research to figure out what to price the house at. Making expensive upgrades or overpricing the house are two of the most common mistakes that people make no matter what market they are in, but in the current market it is an even bigger mistake. If you do these things your house will probably sit on the market for months on end with no real offers.
Where to start
Even if your home does have some equity in it you have to be ready for the fact that your house might not price at much higher then the distressed properties in your area. When potential buyers are looking at comparable sales they will be looking at price versus value. If you have a home that is a good value for what you are asking you will get more offers. Sadly this will probably mean that you have to price your home around the same price as the distressed houses.
The first thing you want to do is price your own property to figure the right price. You should pick houses that sold within about a half a mile and that are within the lines of your neighborhood because properties can change drastically from one neighborhood to the next. A comparable home will have a similar square footage (+/- 10%), of similar age, and same number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
Then determine what would make your property a better deal than the distressed ones in the area. Is it move-in ready? Are there particular amenities? Buyers may be willing to pay more for a home that requires no repair whatsoever versus a foreclosure sold as is. Knowing this, price your home slightly below the market to attract buyers who come for the price. Outbidding will ensue as multiple offers heighten the sales price as buyers will then negotiate for the deal.