Thought-provoking statistics for those who sell and buy homes have just been made available via a national survey conducted by Keller Williams (KW) Realty. Based on transactions made by over 2,000 KW Realtors and the homes they sold during a 6-month period ending December 2009, these home marketing results have just been published in a KW “White Paper” of sorts. Market Navigator 2010. Below is a summary of some of the highlights from the sections dealing with those who are specifically selling a home. Two of the important variables in selling a home have to do with preparing your home for sale and pricing the home for the right value: and marketing during a home sale.
Preparing your house to sell
- Realtors recommended that those selling a home should do a pre-listing inspection and then make an effort to complete any suggested repairs and improvements. Only 1 in 11 home sellers have had a pre-listing inspection. However, on average, pre-inspected listings received more offers than non-pre-inspected listings (on average, one additional offer). Realtors cited 2 of the top 5 reasons contracts fell through were inspection issues and appraisal issues that could have been addressed prior to listing. Sellers spent an average of $500 to $2,383 on any necessary remodel construction/repairs. The most common repairs were electrical work, pest control, and roof repairs (over 60% of listings performed).
- Those preparing to buy a home have been found to be attracted to location, neighborhood, floor plan, home improvements and curb appeal. Of those, only two can be improved: upgrades and curb appeal. Which brings us to the condition of the sale condition of the home. 84% of home buyers said the condition should not be compromised. Homes in good to excellent condition sold 16 days faster and 1.6% more, with 0.4% fewer price reductions than homes in fair to poor condition. Those who sold homes spent an average of $3,562 on improvements when preparing their home for sale. Common updates were flooring, paint, light fixtures, appliances, plumbing, and hardware, often at the realtor’s recommendation. Work typically began 2-6 weeks prior to listing on the real estate market.
- Which brings us to the icing on the cake: the staging. Staging one home meant at least two more showings on average and achieved a higher percentage of listings for sale…1 percentage point higher. Only 1 in 3 sellers did any form of staging while selling their home. If you’re preparing your home to sell, consider the 1% increase and stage accordingly to increase your return on investment. Those who didn’t show up said they didn’t think it was necessary or didn’t want to incur the additional costs of selling homes.
Pricing for Correct Home Value
- When KW real estate agents gave price recommendations, less than half of those selling homes were listing at the recommended price (listing higher). Those who accepted the real estate agent’s recommendation for a home price quote sold their home 38 days faster than those who didn’t…which was more than a month’s mortgage and tax payments saved. They also sold it for more than 2 percentage points more and with a price reduction less. More than half of those who followed the initial recommendation did not report any reduction in price. One-fifth got the price of their home after a reduction.
- Overall, 87% of the homes in the survey sold after two or fewer price reductions. Most of the price reductions occurred within 4-8 weeks, with an average of 6.4 weeks before the price was reduced.