How To Tell If Your Home Is A Turkey

If your home is listed for sale and has been on the market for more than a few weeks, you have to ask yourself this question...

Is your home highly desirable, or is your home a turkey?

Value is in the eye of the beholder, and we can confirm or refute the expected value of a home by exposing it to people who are in the market to buy one.

And therein lies the rub. If you've been on the market long enough for your home to have sold (a home should sell in 4 to 14 days to maximize seller's dollars), has it been properly exposed to the right buyers in the market?

Liquidity Allows You To Sell Fast And For Top Dollar

Before continuing, there is one caveat to what is being said in this post, and it relates to real estate liquidity. If you're home is in a low-liquidity market (very few buyers for your home), then it might take a good bit longer to expose your home to the right buyers.

By way of example, we helped sell a house on acreage last year and it was the type of home that has fewer than 5 buyers per year. We also sold the most expensive home in Tallahassee, and it was the highest price sale in the Tallahassee MLS going back more than 6 years. Both of these homes were in "low liquidity" markets where buyers are few and the 4 to 14 day target time frame cannot be applied.

But if your home exists in a market where there are multiple buyers for it every single month, then selling it right away (within the first two weeks) is the best way for you to ensure you get top dollar for your home.

Don't Be The Real Estate Turkey

So if there is ample liquidity in your housing market, and you have been on the market for more than a few weeks, you have missed the window for ensuring top dollar.

More importantly, if your home is being shown but nobody is bringing offers, then you are the turkey that is helping your competition sell their home. Think about this ...

The agent who wants to sell the well-priced house down the street first brings them to your home. She shows all the great features of your home and then says ... "if you like this house at this price, wait until you see the deal down the street, it is a much better value."

If you don't think this is happening, just ask your listing agent for a list of homes similar to yours that have gone under contract since the time you listed your home.

Ask your agent to review the features and amenities of those homes and compare them to yours. If the homes are similar, then ask your agent why buyers are choosing the other homes and making you the turkey!

It's all about price and promotion once you hit the market. If you think your price is right, ask your agent about how the home is being promoted. Once reviewed, if you believe your home is being properly promoted to the right buyers, then unfortunately the problem is your price. Lower your price or keep your home.

Choosing to market your home at a price that will not sell is not in anybody's best interest. Do you really want strangers to continue to visit your home (or worse ... not visit your home) , while continuing to reject it as a place they would want to live?

Before you decide to sell a home, take the time to interview real estate companies until you find somebody that you respect and trust. Get them to give you a range of values that will get the home sold. If the values are acceptable, hire them to market and sell your home. If the values are not acceptable, choose to keep your home.

Remember, buyers set the price, sellers merely get to choose whether or not their house is being offered for sale at this time.

If you would like to know the real market value for your home, simply drop me a note and we'll set a time to perform a comprehensive analysis to determine the amount at which your home will sell.

Related Links

• Why You Must Sell A House Fast To Get Top Dollar
• Recognizing The Importance Of Liquidity In Your Housing Market
• Selling A Home: Are You The "Set-Up" House?