What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

I live in an ok neighborhood, so-so- school district to many. I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch, not huge, on a 1/3 of an acre piece of land, it's nice, backs on to parkland and there is no one behind me but miles and miles of trees. Except for the kitchen every room has been redone, custom molding, new paint, beautiful VERY upgraded bathrooms, etc. We plan to price at a FAIR price understanding that we wil lnot get for selling price and would be willing to take 20,000 less, if we ABSOLUTELY HAD TO!!

So, my question is, what is the BEST way to sell a home today? In all honesty for a starter home this house would be PERFEct and a real, real upgrade to what a lot of others starters look like in the same price range....

ETA: We are looking to upgrade to a bigger home

Message edited 11/19/2008 6:23:22 PM.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

price, property taxes & location.
There is so much to choose from out there, buyers aren't feeling the need to compromise on much.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

Message edited 11/19/2008 6:56:41 PM.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

My parents sold their house in a day in this market!! They priced it to sell!! I think another major selling point was it has an attached apt which they had built on (its gorgous). Location also helped....end of cul-del-sac, good schools, really nice block!

GOOD LUCK

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

From what I'm seeing, unless you're in a GREAT town the only houses that are selling are bargains.

ETA: Good luck!

Message edited 11/19/2008 10:17:27 PM.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

Obviously pricing correctly is the biggest thing!! Also make the house the best possible when showing, clean, smell good
Make a good impression on the buyer

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

We are making an offer on a house this week. The most compelling factors for us were it's location, the school district and the condition of the house. It seemed really well cared for, freshly painted and was spotless!

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

right now- my main concern is resale value and the house dropping more in value (the end is NOT in sight IMO)

based on that-
location
schools
upgrades

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

Rather than dropping your price 20k I would look into getting an IKEA kitchen new floors and stainless appliances and then price according to recent comps in the area. make sure the home is staged nicely(neat, clean, smells good, no personal effects, clean lines-check out CaMacho's pics of her house) make sure your rooms are not too feminine or masculine-eg flowered shower curtain, pink paint etc.

Do some fresh flowers out front depending on season(mums pointsettas, etc. and make sure the grass in neatly trimmed. Clean the gutters and check the roof and get rid of any clutter. make sure the photos on mls show your house to its best advantage-make people fall in love with it before they get there even if you have to take the pics yourself.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

Price & Taxes are #1. Id say the condition of the home are also big. There is a lot of competition out there, most people who are buying homes now, dont have an extra 30,000 to put in once they close. The big things are always structure of the home, kitchens & baths. Minor things wont be set backs- but if someone walks in and sees kitchen and baths from 1970, they might keep on looking.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

If you want to sell it quick price it slightly below market. There is a lot of inventory and overpriced homes are just sitting. People need to remember that it isnt like it was 3 years ago. As soon as we dropped the price of our house, we had 3 offers.

Again this all depends on how badly you want to sell. We bought 4.5 years ago, and sold our house for $60k less than we bought it (never mind what we put into it) BUT we are also going to be buyiing low.... so it is all relative.

Message edited 11/20/2008 8:54:33 AM.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

We recently sold our house in 10 days after getting three offers. It was a starter home in a decent neighborhood, horrible school district, tiny square footage. Perfect for a young couple with no kids.

We needed to sell relatively quickly, so we priced it slightly lower than nearby houses, even though ours was the only one with upgraded kitchen and bath and full finished basement, and in pristine condition (I cleaned twice a day! ).

As long as you're going into it knowing that you won't get back what you paid for it (we were lucky to break even), you'll do fine. It seems like SO many sellers are being completely unreasonable about what their house is worth today.

Re: What do YOU think will make a house sell in today's market?

The house I am buying was priced below market value. We were one of several offers (all made the first day it was on the market) and we offered asking price plus $500 and our offer beat out the others by that $500.

They were in a rush to sell all the time, but I suspect with the low starting price they would have gotten more interest and maybe even could have gotten more money, although it does need updating and landscaping, so maybe not.