If You’re Thinking of Selling Your House This Fall

Here are five key things to consider when selling your house in Alexandria and surrounding areas.

1. Follow the Latest Market Trends

With higher mortgage rates, moderating buyer demand, and changing conditions, staying on top of the latest market information is crucial when you sell.

To help ensure you stay updated on what’s happening, you'll want to comb through several publications each day, such as the BrightMLS data feed, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, and set up a google news search for anything popping up on your local area. Know your local area and follow national trends too. Most importantly, you will want to preview all the homes you will be competing against for approximately 6-12 months before you sell your home. Ideally, you should view each one of them in person whenever possible.

2. Maximize Your Pool of Buyers

This is a tough one, and there's competing advice here. The traditional argument is you want to show your house to EVERYONE. That means if someone in Timbuktu is wondering what a 3-bedroom house in Del Ray has for a backsplash in the kitchen, you want your listing in front of them. The other side of the argument is you want your house only in front of the people who are currently looking for a house like yours and are ready to buy it today. After you decide which way to go with that, you can set the rest of your marketing strategy.

For most houses, you'll want to combine a virtual experience with a real-world experience for would-be buyers. That means a fabulous set of photos, 3d virtual space, floor plans, videos, and more to engage people online. Should you even stage or not? The answer depends on the current competition, your budget, and honestly, mostly gut feeling and experience. Oh, you'll need a website or landing page for all this. You could make your own or hook into a platform like FSBOs and things like that.

Before you even do all that, you should think through what repairs and or upgrades make the most sense. Buyers don't want to buy money pits or have to make expensive repairs and updates. Be careful here as not all items have the same return on investment, and buyers view things differently than you, so make sure to get outside your head on this one. Also, get competitive bids from vendors to make sure you get a good deal on anything you do. 

Oh, don't forget to target Realtors. After all, the vast majority of buyers are looking for a home with an agent, so the best way to reach the buyer is through the agent. There are thousands of agents, so you'll need a way to figure out which ones work in your area and have the right connections for you to work.

Investopedia explains why it’s risky to sell on your own without the network an agent provides:

“You don’t have relationships with clients, other agents, or a real estate agency to bring the largest pool of potential buyers to your home. A smaller pool of potential buyers means less demand for your property, which can translate into waiting longer to sell your home and possibly not getting as much money as your house is worth.”

3. Understand the Fine Print

In a shifting market like the one we have today, the stakes are high, and pressure is intense to get a contract to the closing table. Buyers will be nervous and be looking for any way to protect themselves. Make triple sure your paperwork is locked in and has all the necessary disclosure requirements, or you could be looking at a voidable contract or potential lawsuits. Most lawyers in private practice can help you through this process, and they will charge you an hourly rate with a retainer. They will be paid upfront regardless of whether your sale closes or not.

Today, more disclosures and regulations are mandatory when selling a house. That means the number of legal documents you’ll need to juggle is growing. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains it best, saying:

“Selling a home typically requires a variety of forms, reports, disclosures, and other legal and financial documents. . . . Also, there’s a lot of jargon involved in a real estate transaction; you want to work with a professional who can speak the language.”

So you'll want to make sure you can explain EVERYTHING in the legal documents to buyers, title companies, appraisers, etc. The buyer may have their legal counsel or agent, so be prepared to deal with the questions and tactics they'll use to get the best deal for their client.

4. Act Like a Trained Negotiator

You’ll also be solely responsible for all the negotiations. That means you’ll have to coordinate with:

• The buyer, who wants the best deal possible
• The buyer’s agent, who will use their expertise to advocate for the buyer
• The inspection company, which works for the buyer and will almost always find concerns with the house
• The appraiser, who assesses the property’s value to protect the lender

Don't forget buyers have regained some negotiation power as bidding wars ease. Instead, you will be going toe-to-toe with all the above parties alone, and they are ready to negotiate, so be prepared.

5. Set the Right Price for Your House

This is where the "rubber meets the road," as it is the most important thing you will decide when selling your home. If you price too high, buyers won't be interested, and if you price too low, you may leave money on the table. You'll need to figure out where the market flow is right now. Don't price your house on where the market has been (these are the most recent comparables). To find the right price, you need to price the market on where it is headed, which means pricing based on current homes under contract and ones coming soon to market. This is a tough one, so be prepared to make lots of phone calls, and I hope you have healthy self-esteem because it's very rare other sellers want to disclose privileged information and most of them will blow you off.

Today, pricing a house requires even more expertise to ensure you get it right. NAR explains it like this:

“A great real estate agent will look at your home with an unbiased eye, providing you with the information you need to enhance marketability and maximize price.”

Bottom Line

Whether following local and national trends, finding the right buyers, understanding the fine print and protecting yourself from litigation, negotiating like a pro, or pricing your house right, you'll want to ensure you are prepared for anything. 

OR

You could hire a professional who does this every day, with hundreds of successful transactions under their belt, who can walk you through each step, protecting your most valuable asset and sanity along the way.

If you are thinking of selling your home, don't go it alone. Get some professional help. You will be glad you did. Let's connect and see what this market holds for you.