What does it take to sell your house faster than your neighbor’s house?

Recently a situation arose where two Snohomish County homes, does not sound to unusual, were located next door to each other competing in the same pricing point. This is a situation that many sellers are going to face as they look to sell their home in 2008 since standing inventory was at 7,331 the end of January 2008, an increase of 9.5% from December 2007.

The challenges faced by today’s seller are tremendous and understanding the whole picture is critical to selling a home. When selling a home it is important to remember that it is not only the condition but the price, location and year built that determines how quickly a home will sell and according to an article in the Herald, quoting Meribeth Hutchings, “we’re seeing an improvement in the market”.

Barnett Associates Real Estate, LLC has also seen market improve but the question still remains: is this going to be a long-term change or is it just going to be a short lived adjustment to Snohomish County’s real estate market? Only time will give that answer and as soon as there are more statistics we will publish them.

The condition of the home is very critical because there are two side to this coin, seller point of view and buyer point of view. Since homeownership is a very personal situation, sellers typically feel their home is in perfect shape and/or the perfect because of the emotional attachment owning property generates. It is natural but separating feelings from actuality is in the seller’s best interest and there are some simple measures a seller can take to increase the homes curb appeal.

• Tidy up the home’s landscaping and driveway
• Fix any squeaking doors and sticky locks
• Deep clean the carpets and windows
• Depersonalize the interior with family pictures

Pricing a home on the other hand is more in depth. Pricing a home is determined (or should be determined) on homes that are comparable in bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, what similar homes previously sold for and what the current real estate market with bear. The term “previously” should be kept in the context of the short term because what a comparable home sold for at the beginning of 2007 may not be able to sell for at the beginning of 2008. That is why it is difficult to use automated system to price a home because what happened a year ago may not be what the real estate market can support right now.

Location affects the speed in which a home will sell as well. The same home will sell faster in Seattle than it will in Lake Stevens. Why? There is far more demand for homes located in a certain cities and/or neighborhood of a city than others. Snohomish County is no different than the many counties and cities in the United States. So if a particular home is in a more desirable area it will sell faster and it is an item that cannot be change. But it does lead-in into an up coming post…“how to make your neighborhood more desirable”.

In the current real estate climate there are many choices for home buyers to choose from with high inventory numbers from resales, condos and new construction. If a buyer has to choose between a resales that is priced in the low $300s and a new construction home priced similarly in the $300s a buyer may choose the new construction home, for various reasons.

The condition, price, location and year built all effect how fast the home will sell. The challenge for sellers is to get their home in front of as many buyers as possible and making it stand out above the rest, the ruby amongst the sands.