All real estate is local. I did not coin this phrase although I believe it to be very true. David Lereah gets the credit for this as the title of his book published earlier this year. I hear quite often that “the national market is ___ ” fill in the blank, when at any given time you will find individual market conditions all over the spectrum across our nation.
It is however wise to look at any LOCAL market and understand it for what it really is. Currently Pagosa Springs has receded from the enormous boom that it has experienced for several years. It is important to know the reasons why we are in a slight buyer’s market, “no two times or places are created equal”. Our slow down is primarily a problem of over-inflated inventory with a hint of consumer nervousness. Both of these factors mind you can change very quickly. This is not the case for some parts of the nation ie. Detroit’s decline due to the decrease of automobile manufacturing or Denver’s sluggishness as a result of the massive over-stretching of sub-prime lending to the young tech industry buyers. Colorado resort towns are still seeing outside secondary buying power very strong. Interest rates are good and nothing has changed substantially to make Pagosa any less desirable place to live or vacation. So how can you sell your home in our LOCAL market right now?
If you are currently in a selling position there are many things that you can do to increase your chances of a successful home sale:
Price reasonably
Without this in place you WILL NOT sell your home. There are simply too many options out there right now. The goal in this market has to be to separate yourself from the crowd and this starts by being educated on current SOLD inventory and pricing accordingly. There are ways that consumers can find this out. Sold homes are public information, but sometimes it is difficult to find out this information without doing a lot of research. On my website, chrisliverett.com, I offer an option that lets you get specific sold property emailed to you. I am sure that their are other Brokers that do the same.
Stage
What can you do with your paint colors, furniture arrangements, accessories etc. that can set your home apart. This is so often overlooked by homeowners that are accustomed to the look and feel that their home has had for years. You must think about the first impression that your home gives when a person walk into it for the very first time. Could it have less furniture that would give a small space a larger feel? Are there unnecessary item on the bar that become a distraction? Ask your real estate broker for his or her advice on this subject, or better yet, hire a professional home staging service to help you stage your home. Statistically a few hundred dollars will make you thousands.
Creative incentives
Think outside the box. Are you selling a condo or a vacation home? Offer 2 annual passes to the hot springs at closing. Have a home on the golf course? Provide a membership with x country skiing passes. There are a lot of professionals that scoff at this but the name of the game is to have your home stand out from the rest and every thing that can differentiate in this market is a plus.
Show improvements
Give your Realtor® copies of all improvements to the home and any guarantees for anything like a new roof, furnace, or hot water tank. Having these things for your Realtor® to talk about during a showing can fill any dead space in a conversation with positive attributes about your home.
Quick showing time
If at all possible have an immediate showing time for your home, and keep it clean. Most real estate professionals will do everything they can to project showings a day or several days in advance. This is not alway possible in a town like Pagosa. Many times Mr. and Mrs. buyer blow into town and hit the ski slopes, fall in love with our town , and call the first Realtor® they see asking to look at homes “after lunch”. As a home seller, you may find this annoying, but they may also be the ones to write the check for your home.
Choose the right Realtor®
There are a lot of us out here to choose from. The longevity of any given Realtor® in this town can range from 25 minutes to 25 years. We have part time agents, full time agents, overtime agents, independent agents, large firms, small firms and all shades of personalities and experiences. These are all good things that make up a fun and diverse group of professionals. You should choose one that YOU can work with but ANY AGENT worth his commission should be able to answer some basic questions for you. How many comparable homes have sold this month in my neighborhood? What are the average days on market? What listing price puts me in the top 15% of homes like mine. None of us can shoot from the hip completely accurate on questions like these, but with todays technology we should be able to answer these and many other questions like these within a short amount of time.
I recently made an agreement with Pagosa Daily Post, an online news source that is among the top in our part of Colorado, to write for them on a regular basis. I will be providing them with a weekly “Real Estate Related” article.
