Sold!

That, of course, is every home seller’s goal.  But the best path to follow to reach that goal isn’t always clear.  Should you try to hold out for the highest sales price possible?  Should you try to get your home sold as quickly as possible?  Trying to balance the competing interests of time & money is the key to a successful sale process.

Any house will sell in a hurry if the price is set low enough.  And a house will sell for any price if you can afford to wait (for years, in some cases!).  Selling a house is all about getting the best information available, and crafting a specific plan to achieve your goals.  It’s important to understand how your own personal situation – financial goals, timeline, tolerance for risk, etc – can be impacted by the market situation.  How many other homes are for sale in your area?  Are prices moving up or down?  Do you face competition from new construction?  All these factors and more can have a big influence on your sale. 

When most people begin to think about selling their home, the first thing they want to know is how much it might be worth.  In the Phoenix area, this is usually pretty easy to determine.  Because most of the homes here are built in large subdivisions with many similar homes and similar neighborhoods, there is a lot of very good data available, and we can typically find several recent sales that will provide a good indication of what your home is likely to sell for.  If you are curious what your home might be worth, just let me know and I can whip up a Comparative Market Analysis for you.

Of course, there is much more to selling a home that just picking the price.  (For a good discussion on the basics of selling a home, try browsing the ERA Answers Book).   Staging the home so it shows as well as possible, using a variety of media to advertise the home as widely as possible, knowing how to negotiate the best terms with a buyer, and managing the contract to a successful close of escrow are all essential parts of the process. 

We could talk about all the variables & permutations for a long time, and there is certainly more to discuss than you would ever want to read here.  If you are considering the possibility of selling your home, let’s find a time to sit down together and continue the conversation in person.