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Off Season |
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Marketing Your Home in the Off-Season
As Thanksgiving approaches and our waistlines begin expanding, the newspaper’s real estate section starts slimming down. By Christmas, it’s not even big enough to use for kindling. If you approach it right, it can be the best time of year to sell your home. There’s less competition! The key to marketing during this time is to first adjust your expectations. The market is still moving; just not as quickly as it was in the spring. It’s like getting off the freeway and having to drive through a school zone. The speed change is uncomfortable. By preparing yourself in advance, you will not be caught off balance by the change in the market. As a general rule, expect market times to increase over the winter. Look at average market times like a bell curve. The homes that are closest in price to the average home sale price for your area will most likely fall into the "average" market time because there are more buyers in this price range. If your home is worth twice as much as the average home in your area, expect fewer buyers in your price range and longer market times. If your home is priced less that the average, you may think that because more people can afford it you will get more response, but remember that bell curves taper on both sides. Just as with the higher end homes, the starter homes priced below the average for the area have a fewer number of buyers that are looking in that price range. Keep your expectations realistic for the price range you are in. "Average Market Times" mean absolutely nothing if you are overpriced, especially if you are selling by owner. The accuracy of your price will be the biggest factor in your market time. It’s much easier to send in a real estate agent with a low offer, than to look the owner in the eye yourself and ask them to take less. The habit of adding a little negotiating room works for agents, but not for people selling by owner. After price, the next biggest factor in market time is exposure. With less competition, you can realistically get the attention of all of the buyers in the marketplace by advertising in all the places the buyers are looking. You have lots of options….Newspaper, TV, Real Estate Magazines, Internet, Yard Signs, Directional Signs and By Owner MLS Listings; use as many of these resources as you can to get the best exposure. Don’t wait to talk with a marketing consultant if you start getting frustrated with the process. Spokanebyowner has lots of experience and resources in helping you troubleshoot your marketing process. A |
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