A Boston North Shore home that’s priced correctly and has an overall general appeal should sell within 30-45 days in a good housing market. That’s the consensus among most real estate agents and industry experts. When a sale doesn’t occur in that timeframe, some home sellers and real estate agents can get discouraged, frustrated and antsy. It makes matters even worse when homes in your neighborhood with less time on the market sell quicker than yours!
What to do to Sell Your Boston North Shore Home
A typical scenario goes like this: The real estate agent may recommend a price reduction. The home seller senses the agent wants to make a quicker sale. Within the first few weeks of the house being on the market there exists a discord between seller and real estate agent. Agents know from experience — the longer your Boston North Shore home stays on the market without much movement — it loses momentum, newness and interest. It’s soon replaced with dozens of others that may be more attractive simply because they are new listings. Plus, prospective purchasers will adopt a mindset that a particular house is undesirable if it’s on the market for awhile.
Consider these ideas to spur more offers on your Boston North Shore home:
Real estate professionals agree that location, condition and price are the key elements in why some homes sell faster than others. Because the location can’t be changed, let’s focus on the other elements.
A Boston North Shore home that’s been on the market for several months with few showings or offers is a candidate for reassessing its condition and its asking price.
As a seller, you could be getting feedback from potential buyers and/or their agents about certain features of your home. If it’s something that can be changed or improved, consider taking your home off the market and performing the work that is necessary to help the house “show” better. Many times it could be minor flaws or cosmetic blemishes that can be rectified easily and relatively inexpensively.
If the home’s condition isn’t an issue, or if the seller is unwilling to take the time or spend the money to make necessary changes, the remaining option may be to reduce the asking price. Hopefully, you and your real estate agent discussed the sales price at great length prior to listing your home. However, market conditions change and some homes move faster than others — and for a variety of reasons.
So, it’s probably a good idea to reassess where you and your real estate agent are in your relationship. If you’re not thinking the same way on the sales price, strategy, staging and timing, something has to give. Changing real estate agents can sometimes be the only remedy to a frustrating situation.
If you’re thinking of selling your Boston North Shore home or if you’re contemplating hiring a new agent, meet with him or her and discuss your plans and needs. A good agent will listen to what you want, and a smart client will listen to the trusted real estate professional.
Understanding your options in the real estate market is important to ensure your home will sell — even if it takes a little longer than you anticipated. You don’t want to price your home too low and leave money on the table. But, if the home is priced too high and you aren’t open to reasonable or competitive market offers, it could be on the market for an extended period of time.
Of course, every situation is unique so it’s important to select a real estate agent that will work with you to sell your home as soon as possible and for the best price the current market will bear.
See more articles pertaining to Boston North Shore home selling in the Boston North Shore Home Selling Tips section of our site below Boston North Shore Real Estate Categories in the column to your right.
Remember, we also post tips daily on Twitter and Facebook. Check us out there too.