The average bank-owned home in today’s market is selling for 5 percent to 10 percent less than its fair value. This is true even for homes that are in good shape. Short Sales: Buyers and their agents hate short sales, because they are tricky and unreliable. A buyer will often fall in love with a short-sale home, only to find out the banks won’t approve the short sale. Agents don’t like to show them for the same reasons. As a result, the pool of buyers for a short sale is much smaller than for a regular listing. Ugly Homes: These are homes that are unappealing and aren’t kept up. People buy homes because of emotion. Logic doesn’t always apply. As a result, a well-kept-up home will sell for more money. We have seen well-maintained homes sell for 10 percent to 15 percent more than an unappealing home. We have seen professionally staged homes sell for 20 percent more than an unstaged property. Yes, the condition of a home counts. Don’t use an ugly home as a comparable. Are you in a buyer’s or seller’s market? While you’re scouting other homes for sale in your area, pay attention to how long they’ve been on the market. Sites such as Zillow and Realtor.com often have a little section under each home that tells how long it has been up for sale in their systems, although not necessarily how long they’ve been on the market. If homes in your neighborhood are getting snatched up right and left, you stand a good chance of the same happening for you, as long as your home is priced right. This is referred to as a seller’s market, and you could get more profit from your home’s sale. On the other hand, if the “Home for Sale” signs in your area seem to be growing roots and taking up permanent residence, you might benefit from setting a little lower price than your competitors. You might not make as much profit as you would have liked, but some profit is better than none at all.
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