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STEP 26 – TO SELLING YOUR HOME – THE FIRST WEEK YOUR HOME IS ON THE MARKET
The first week your home is on the market, there are two very critical metrics which we keep a close eye on:
Number of Showings
Our goal is to have between 4 – 8 showings the first week your home is on the market and depending on the time of the year (homes over $600,000 will have fewer showings). If we don’t have at least 4 showings within a week, the market is telling us we’re not priced correctly. If this occurs, we need to have an honest discussion about what needs to be fixed. After the first week, our goal is to have 2–4 showings per subsequent week. Depending on the feedback we’re receiving at showings and the number of showings, we may need to talk about reducing the price if we don’t have an offer after the first 2-3 weeks.
The NWMLS Stats
The other metric we keep a close eye on is the NWMLS stats. Our goal is to have at least 200 people receive your listing via the MLS. This means your home matches the search criteria they are looking for in a property. Anything less than 200 means not very many people are looking for a home like yours, and the potential buyer pool is very small. If this is the case, we need to figure out how we can expand the number of people who might be interested in your home. Most people’s searches in the MLS are based on 7 main criteria which, they consider deal breakers: location (which we can’t change), square footage, and price. For instance, if your home has a one car garage can we offer another solution for more parking? Can we add in-unit laundry to make it more attractive? Can we create an additional bedroom?
In addition to looking at the number of people receiving your search, we also look at the number of people who have marked your property as Interested as well as the number of people who have marked your property as a Maybe.
So what happens if the metrics on my home are less than the above-desired stats?
First, don’t get discouraged; remember our discussion about the average days on the market in your area when you start to feel discouraged. This process doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, but eventually, we will find the right buyer for your home. Second, keep your home clean and tidy and approve as many showing requests as possible when they do come in. The more showings we have, the better the potential of getting an offer.
Third, we need to take a hard look at what we can do to improve the chances of your property selling. There are four important parts to the selling process: location of the property, condition of the property, the marketing/photography, and finally and most importantly, the price.
- We can’t change the location as it is what it is.
- For the condition of the property, ask yourself if there is anything you can do to improve the condition/staging of the home to make it more attractive to potential buyers? If the staging/condition is as good as it can be, then we need to look at the marketing/photography.
- How do the photos look? Anything we can improve in the description of your home in the MLS, on Trulia, Zillow, etc.?
- If the above three items are as good as they can possibly be then, the only thing we can change is the price. Remember, buyers tend to search in $25K increments, so to hit the next biggest group of buyers we need to be below the next $25K threshold. Therefore, if your home is listed at $485,000 we should drop the price to $475,000 to try and hit the next buyer group. $2,000 and $3,000 price reductions aren’t enough. Price reductions need to be substantial (at least $5K – $10K) to make any difference.
Fourth, can we add a monetary incentive to encourage buyers to put an offer in on your home? Perhaps a closing cost credit if the property is under contract by a certain date. Or we can offer an incentive to the buyer’s agent such as a bonus if the property is under contract by a certain date. As sad as it is, these tactics really work.
Questions? Contact us at andi@andidyer(dot)com or 360-734-6479.
This content is not the product of the National Association of REALTORS®, and may not reflect NAR’s viewpoint or position on these topics and NAR does not verify the accuracy of the content.
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RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
913 Lakeway Drive
Bellingham, WA 98229
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