Ways to Avoid Having Your Home Linger on the Market

Although there are a lot of sound reasons for hiring a real estate agent to help you sell your home, objectivity is near the top of the list.

Homeowners, when left to their own devices, tend to overprice their property and overlook easy, inexpensive ways to improve curb appeal and overall marketability.

There's both an art and a science to effectively selling residential real estate, and when either of these aspects are neglected (the art or the science), opportunities for a speedy sale are often missed.

Whether it's because of emotional attachments to the property or a lack of knowledge about real estate marketing, home sellers sometimes undermine the sales process and send prospective buyers scurrying. If you're considering putting your house on the market in the near future, here are a few tips to help you maximize your chances for producing the best possible results.

• Avoid the temptation to price your house too high. Other than emotional attachment, some homeowners inflate their asking price because they're not on a strict timetable and can afford to wait. They incorrectly assume that if they wait long enough and show their home to enough interested prospects, they'll eventually get their high asking price. While that strategy may seem to make sense at first, it's actually based on a false premise. Once an overpriced house lingers on the market for months, its desirability drops sharply. Not only will prospective buyers assume that something's wrong with it, but they'll also catch on quickly to the fact that you're asking too much for the property. Unless an eccentric millionaire comes along who is absolutely in love with your house and has no qualms about writing out a large check for more than the house is worth, chances are your property will linger on the market indefinitely. In the vast majority of cases, house hunters are looking for a home that makes financial sense and provides a decent amount of investment value. Also worth considering is the fact that a property priced well above its fair market value could make it difficult or impossible for an interested prospect to obtain bank financing.
• It's usually a mistake to assume the house will sell itself. Failing to price a property competitively, maximize its curb appeal, and keep the interior looking impeccable at all times is a recipe for disappointment. Since first impressions are crucially important in attracting prospective buyers, no detail should be overlooked when putting a home on the market. When you consider the competitive nature of the real estate market and the fact that most serious prospects are going to carefully evaluate all aspects of a home before making an offer, it makes sense for you, the home seller, to avoid placing barriers, stumbling blocks, or disincentives in the path of potential buyers.