No matter where you are our United States of America.... it IS a BUYER'S market. That means buyers can negotiate for a better price, maybe a credit to go towards closing costs. Maybe they just transferred to Hawaii with the military and are staying in a hotel and need to close quickly.
It is NOT a seller's market like it used to be. If sellers need to sell their home or condo they need to change with the market in their local area. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.
It IS a BUYER'S market.
The following points listed should give sellers a clue that it is more of a buyer's market when listing their home for sale:
- You are getting fewer showings than you would have two to three years ago. In fact, it is REAL slow today. (one showing every couple of days is a far cry from 5-10 a day and four contracts overbidding) As time goes on the showings decrease even more.
- Your Realtor® showed you comps from six months ago up to the present and the prices have declined a little in that timeframe. (3% for Hawaii)
- The number of sales declined drastically over the past year because the financial institutions cracked down big time on lending criteria. GOOD! (had to throw that in) Buyer's are also being very cautious.
- Buyers have a BIG inventory of homes and condos to choose from. It's literally Christmas every day for them! They can have their pick and most certainly will choose one they do not have to upgrade and all they have to do is.....MOVE IN.
Healthy Boundaries are good for any individual to have but when a seller tries to protect themselves by putting up big barriers (conditions and demands) and burns bridges along the way it becomes a losing battle for not just the seller; but the Realtor® who has invested a lot of time, hard work and effort to market a property.
This Realtor® spends countless hours to prepare your home for marketing:
- Research and pull up tax records, building permits and documents pertaining to the property.
- Prepare the listing agreement & profile sheet and go through all of the contract with you before signing.
- Prepare the Sellers Real Property Disclosure Statement and answer any questions you may have
while you fill it out. (we have a four page detailed itemized questionnaire and it does take time to go through the whole thing and then answer any yes questions in detail on the last page) - Creating a specialized flyer and property portfolio to display in your home for potential buyers during regular showings (with their Buyer's Agent) or during Open Houses. This is no couple of minute job because it can take me up to an hour to get the flyer "just right" and the portfolio up to three hours!
- Take pictures of your home for the listing sites.
- Advise you on what you can do to get your home ready for showing (so please don't take it personal like I'm criticizing your home...I'm doing my job!)
- Enter the listing into our MLS system and Century 21 site and add photos and make slide shows. (Lots of time)
- Creating specialized Real Estate Shows and burn them to printable cover cd's. (this take some time!)
- Entering your listing on countless sites that I subscribe to and post your photos. (this takes LOTS of time) and enhance your listing on Realtor.com (this takes some more time)
And this is JUST THE BEGINNING! I set up showing appointments, do Open Houses, refresh and update all the listings I submitted to sites as time goes by, I present all offers to you and advise you on your options. I give you sound advice and remind you of the market conditions and the current comps. I go through the whole transaction with you, order condo docs, surveys and termite inspections. I accompany you to signing and help you with anything to do with the sale of your home.
The only thing I am unable to do is MAKE someone to buy your home.
There are contingencies in our contract that protect the buyer if they need to back out of the contract. It could be that the buyer lost their job. (they are NO LONGER qualified for a loan) Maybe they didn't like something they saw in the home inspection. There are contingencies to protect the buyer to NOT buy your home. There are also contingencies to protect the seller but the bottom line is that if the buyer has a valid reason it does not automatically entitle you to their deposit.
Remember, when you signed that Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement? It specifically states that the "Seller agrees to consider all offers presented by the Brokerage Firm and to act in good faith to sell the property".
If you REALLY want to sell your home:
- You make your home appealing to the buyer who is coming in to view your home
- You allow your Realtor® to do their job and give you their expert advice. You don't take their suggestions as a personal attack on you but letting the Realtor® do what they are trained to do.
- You realize that when a Realtor® is working for you it involves giving you advice. Working for you
does not mean you are telling the Realtor® to do it YOUR way even though the market, circumstances and comps say otherwise. - You don't assume your home is the best on the market and therefore should be priced as high as the others...... if you did NOT upgrade anything at all.
- You keep an open mind and allow your Realtor® to go through the CURRENT market conditions and current comparables in your immediate area and trust that they are NOT lying to you.
- Be willing to negotiate with the buyer to sell your home when it IS a buyer's market. Maybe you could make demands a couple of years ago but the market has changed in favor of the buyer. There are MANY other homes and condos on the market to choose from. (this does not mean give it away by all means. But fighting over a couple thousand will cost you more when months down the line your home is still sitting on the market.)
- That you, the seller, do not hold a Real Estate license and it is advisable to LISTEN to the direction, advice and opinions of your Realtor®. A seasoned agent KNOWS what they're talking about and is thinking in your best interests to get you a fair market price and get your home SOLD.
This Realtor® is going to tell you the truth and will NOT tell you just what YOU want to hear.
If you choose not to listen to your Realtor® it could cost you the sale of your home.
© 2009 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman, All rights reserved
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Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocating to Hawaii, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents. Website: www.hawaiihomesmarket.com
Sally - this is an excellent read. Great advice for sellers in this difficult market to help point out the realities of what must be done, and what should not, in order to be a successful sale. You clearly have a good handle on the market conditions in Hawaii real estate.
Jeff
Jeff: Thanks much Jeff. Though markets differ from state to state....neighborhood to neighborhood we are now seeing a significant drop from 2007-end 2008 in NUMBER of sales. Not so much in sales prices. What is sad is that not only sellers and buyers believe another story ....so do some agents. EVERYONE needs to be a chameleon in an industry that has continuously changing markets from time to time. And EVERYONE needs to change with it. That's what makes a successful professional in this industry....who ensures a successful purchase or sale....it's all up to the client to heed the advice of an experienced Realtor® Thanks Jeff...ever the supportive peer :)
Boy that sounds like you are speaking from an experience. I have had a few challenging sellers. The biggest factor I see is they are too often listening to family and friends who are giving them bad advice.
Sally Terrific advise, yes the only thing we can't do is physical make some one buy the property.
Great post, Sally. You lay it all out in perfect detail. Going to bookmark this one.
Randy: Remember the one I had to drag you in on? Yeah, those are really some toughies when the seller believes they are more educated in real estate.
Jennifer: No kidding. No matter what, the buyer can back out if the home inspection shows repairs and remedies are to be made and seller doesn't want to do anything. If they don't like something in the house rules or condo docs they can back out. If there is something in the title they don't like they can back out. We make sure that they are given every opportunity there is to proceed (sign off on) so there is nothing that will bit us in the behind later on down the line.
Joan: Thanks much...I did try to get the details straight (and it was getting drawn out so had to clip and trim some :)
Sally- Really good info....many Sellers are having a problem with this, but it is a Buyers Market :) Nice job showing what we do to help the Seller, and I love the part about it's not personal :)
Sally, I like your summation of the work put into a listing by a conscientious agent. I'm always fine-tuning my listing message - your post is marked.
Kathy: It really isn't personal....PROMISE! lol!
Jeff: Thanks much Jeff...appreciate the compliment :)
Wonderful post, Sally! Every seller should be told these things. This is also a good outline for a new agent to follow as to what to discuss with their clients.
Susan: Thanks much! I hope it helps all...it does good to write and reinforce my own boundaries as well!
Sally, you put a lot of work into writing this, and it is on the money, especially the last seven points.
George: I did for a reason. There are so many (including agents) who con a seller into believing that the market is oh so great and that they will get their home sold...only for the seller to find out that they just wanted a listing and didn't care about informing them with clear facts. You'll notice that these are the ones that keep lowering their price and chasing the market down....therefore have been on the market for quite awhile. On the other hand ...there are buyers who are misinformed that this is a market to insult a seller with a riduculously low offer or a seller who believes that the market never changes. Go figure. I just know one thing. Our fiduciary duty is to give facts, the truth and straighforward advice.
Sally, I don't think you could have worded this any better. Until I actually worked with Real Estate Agents I myself didn't have a clue how difficult a job it is or what hard work and knowledge goes into it. Consumers need to listen to the experts if they want to sell (and should know all that's involved).
Thanks Carole. The past couple of years have been hard in convincing some that markets DO change. It's all a part of change....up and down and all around :)
Sally- That was one heck of a good post about a buyers market and what the seller needs to understand about the process and you also spelled out very well all the work that you put into a listing before it is ever sold, before you are ever paid.
Hi Sally!
I wish all our sellers understood your points and followed your suggestions. Unfortunately, the old adage that 'if you have lived in a house, you can sell it' still influences many sellers who think they know more than their REALTORS. It's important that the sellers who understand the reality of sales in 2009 also know how far they are ahead of their competition because they do understand! Thanks for taking the time to put all this together.
Katerina: Exactly. And the same goes for a buyer....we do sooo much before we even get paid....so why would I not make sure they're prequalified FIRST (just had a call for my listing and she pretty much did not want to get prequalified first lol)
Bruce/Mary: That's right on the mark. They need to understand (get educated...but can only do so if they listen :) and will be ahead of the game.
Sally Jo, sometimes it feels like a tightrope dealing with sincere (but unrealistic) sellers- you've done a brilliant job detailing this dilemma for them (and us)- thank you!
Thanks much Auntie! Never ending educating and explaining. But we do that well don't we?
Sally - Great points! While each deal is a little more complex right now in this market it only makes us that much better in the long run!!!