Harrisonburg Real Estate Guru

Playing Chess, Time Machines, Beauty Contests, and Ugly Children

December 14, 2009 on 3:52 pm | In Harrisonburg Virginia Real Estate, Harrisonburg a Great Place To Live, Work, and Play, Help For Home Buyers and Sellers, Real Estate Advice From a Pro | No Comments

Harrisonburg Real Estate News and Commentary

HGTV Can’t Sell Your House

Many people these days are wondering why the home they have loved and enjoyed has been on the market for many days and months without a contract….without a sale. One woman said to me, “I have had a professional designer stage my home, and I had a landscaper help to create the curb appeal HGTV said was so important.”  “We listed our home with professionals, and we have done everything you have asked without success.” “What are we doing wrong?”  She was doing a lot, but the most important thing that lures buyers to your home is price. She priced her home too high and then wouldn’t take sound advice to lower it to market price.

It’s a Chess Game and You Are Protecting Your King

Staging, curb appeal, and all of the other HGTV buzzwords are only a small part of what ultimately helps to sell a home. Like a game of chess there are a number of winning strategies you can employ.  But, protecting your king (price) so fiercely that you ultimately fail to achieve the goal of selling your home is ridiculous and a game loser. Your king may have to move to win the game!  Why are you wasting your time, and your Realtor’s time marketing a wonderful property when you really are not ready to sell?  When you have had your property listed for months with no bona fide offers or interest in your home, what makes you think that holding your price steady will sell your home? It has been rejected by the market! Ouch! 

It’s the bigger sucker theory at play, hugh?  You know the one I’m talking about….there must be someone out there so stupid that they won’t know my home is overpriced.  Likewise a strategy of reducing the price over time while following a retracting market is even more fool-hearty. You’re chasing your opponents queen all over the chess board with your pawn….another losing strategy.  If you consider the time value of money you will find that holding out for a price actually costs you money in the long run.  Like the true chess-master you need to see all the angles of the board in order to beat your opponent (that pretty little rancher or cape cod down the street) and secure that elusive buyer in today’s market.

A Time Machine Would be Helpful Right Now

In a buyer’s market where there are many sellers in competition, your best move is to price your home aggressively below the market right from the start.   Also keep in mind that all of the money you think you’ve made as your home appreciated in value over the years fluctuates up and down.  No real gain is recognized until you actually sell!  So if you are agonizing over the fact that your home would have sold for more money 3 or 4 years ago, try building a time machine, go back, and sell. That will be easier than trying to convince a savvy buyer, who has all of the information of the internet at their disposal, to pay you more today.  No one should try to time the market, buying and selling your home in order to make quick money.  This is a strategy best utilized in the stock market and even there should be done over a long term. 

More Than Just a Beauty Contest

Many people make the mistake of believing “..my house is better, bigger, nicer, newer, prettier, etc.. than they guy’s across the street, so I’ll be able to get more than he got.”  We all think our children are more beautiful than anyone else’s children. Is that the truth or are we deluding ourselves?  Where did all of us ugly people come from?  (Come on….my mother used to tie a pork chop around my neck so that the dog would play with me, but she thought I was beautiful.) Just because you added this upgrade or that addition to your home,.. or built and painted that,..your home will not necessarily sell for more. 

Case in point, I sold a house to someone who installed a beautiful pool soon after they purchased.  Years later they asked me to help them sell their home. We eventually sold it to someone who really loved everything about the home, but the pool.  The new purhaser wanted to pay less for the home because they saw a pool as a liability and they subsequently had it filled in. 

So remember, home buying is more about emotion to the buyer and seller than any other purchase in our lives. Which brings me to my final point…….

Hire a Professional to Help You to Win the Contests

Emotions aside, buying and selling a home is often the most significant financial event in our lives.  After you have uttered these words, “I think I would like to sell my home”, or “I think it is time to buy a home”, the next step is to hire a professional who will put emotions aside and guide you through the myriad of complex processes and negotiations with a goal of insuring you get your best deal. It will pay you dividends in the long run.

Barry Suttles - REALTOR

Kline May Realty

540-246-5666 anytime mobile

540-437-3671 office

www.BestValleyHomes.com