Advice for Sellers in a Slow Real Estate Market

Whether you like it or not, the real estate market has ground to a slow trot. Selling a home can be difficult and requires you to return to the time-tested basics of selling a home. Here are some keys to remember and use.

1. When you are selling your home, allow it to be shown at a moment's notice. Qualified buyers aren't "a dime a dozen."

2. When you are selling your home, keep it clean and tidy ALL the time. Let it get out of hand and an otherwise serious buyer WILL show up. If you don't have time to clean, hire a cleaning service.

3. When you decide to sell your home, giving the kitchen the once over is a good first step. Kitchens are unique in our daily lives. For some reason, we always seem to congregate there. Buyers know this and will be focusing on the condition of yours.

4. Whether buying or selling real estate, it helps to be flexible when it comes to negotiation. One mistake for sale by owners make is to pick a fixed position. If there is a roadblock in negotiations, try to think outside of the box to solve it.

5. Some offers for your home are better than others. A contingent sale is a bad one. The potential buyer makes their offer contingent on selling their own home first. Avoid these like the plague.

6. You're a seller who really needs or wants to sell your home within the next three months and the market is slow in your area. Getting enough people to come and look at your house is the secret to achieving your goal. Make price reductions until you do get 1 to 3 showings per week, and your home will sell.

7. You want to put your home on the market and want to be sure it will "show well." What do you do? Clean, clean clean! No home ever failed to sell because it was too clean. Pare down and organize what's in closets, garage, kitchen, and laundry.

8. If someone gives you their word they will do something, but doesn’t put it in writing, you cannot force them to do it. Make sure you get everything in writing!

9. Whether buying or selling, it is important to recognize the type of market you are in. After years of a hot seller market, the beginning of 2007 introduces us to a distinct buyers market. Home prices are falling, which means we have a volatile market.

10. Many people work so hard to get an offer on their home that they do not know what to do once they get one. Your choices are to accept it, reject it or make a counter offer.

At the end of the day, the real estate market slows down and speeds up. It never comes to a stop. Put another way, you can always sell a home. You just need to pay attention to the details and now you can.

Article Source: http://www.articles.ask-me-about.com

Get free one month real estate listings at FSBOAmerica.org.
Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the Unique Articles Submissions Service