between the seller’s assessed price, the asking or listing price (market value), and the price at which the home sells (sale price). Let’s turn to what the homeowner/seller can do to elicit offers at the listing price, or even above, in a competitive market. The seller’s time, effort, and investment are the most important parts of the process. The seller’s willingness to adequately prepare the home for presentation by improving, freshening, landscaping, and generally making the home pristine — and to live in that presentation-readiness state for the time it takes to sell the property — will greatly affect both the sale period as well as the price at which the home sells. A market in which homes normally sell in no more than 5 or 6 months is considered balanced or neutral. Meaning a sizable number of homeowners are selling and buyers are purchasing; therefore, neither has an upper hand. A variable, for instance, like a major company entering — or moving from — an area will tip the scale toward homeowners to make a swift market or toward buyers to make a slow market. The typical selling time in a swift market might be 1 or 2 months, while that of a slow market may be up to nine months. Typically, any number below 5 or 6 months is considered a seller’s market.
LIVING IN A SWIRLING FISHBOWL
A house on the market requires keeping the home in a constant “show-ready” condition and adjustment to changes in day-to-day life that are inherent in the process. Sellers get out-of-business- hours phone calls from unrepresented prospects and buyers’ agents to show the home in addition to showing appointment messages from their listing agent. When the home hits the market, there are repeated showings. This requires the homeowner to keep their home in pristine
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