3 Common Seller Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Listing Your Home

Selling your home quickly and for top dollar in our market means overcoming obstacles and avoiding some all-too-common mistakes other sellers make.

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If you plan on selling your home soon, there are three common mistakes you need to avoid if you want to maximize your sale.

The first is forgetting that first impressions are important. Imagine that you’re going to a new restaurant for the very first time—how important is the first impression you get when you pull into the parking lot? Does it look appealing or dirty and rundown?

The same logic applies to your home sale. Your home starts “interviewing” for the job of being someone else’s the moment a buyer pulls up to the curb to look at it. After they get out, they’ll be scanning everything from the front yard’s landscaping to the entire front-facing exterior, and this focus gets even more magnified once they reach the front door and have to wait for their agent to open it.

So, pay attention to the area from the street to the front door and make sure it heightens buyers’ expectations of what the inside of the home looks like.

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We absolutely have our finger
on the pulse of the market.

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The second mistake is not hiring a team of experienced professionals to represent you. We see nice houses listed all the time that get passed over because they’re overpriced or their listing photos don’t look good, and having a team like the Anderson Hicks Group by your side will ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to your home.

Because we’re in a seller’s market and inventory is low, it’s widely believed that every home will sell no matter what. While most homes will end up selling, they won’t maximize their sale price without specialization and expertise. You need a professional to handle each phase of the listing process. If you do so, you’ll sell for 5% or even 10% more.

The last mistake is not having your finger on the pulse of the market. The market is changing quickly, and knowing how to put your home in a position to sell is crucial if you want to get the best deal possible. This is one more reason why having a team like us by your side is crucial—we absolutely have our finger on the pulse of the market.

If you’d like to know more about this topic or you’d like to start the home selling process today, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

The Importance of Pricing Correctly in Today’s Market

Pricing your home correctly is essential, and today we’ll explain why.

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With between one and three months’ worth of inventory available in our market right now, buyer demand is high. Some sellers assume this gives them the license to price their homes however they want, but this isn’t the case. To sell quickly and for top dollar, strategic pricing is key.

Even in a low-inventory market, overpricing your home is a surefire way to deter buyers. And, usually, by the time you realize this is happening and decide to lower the price, buyers will have moved on. The longer a home sits on the market, the less likely it is to attract the interest of buyers.

Ultimately, it’s the market, not your preference, that dictates the price of your home. You’ll need to work closely with an agent if you want to maximize your profit when selling, as they’ll have the necessary tools and resources to choose a price that reflects what buyers are willing to pay for a home like yours.

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It’s the market, not your preference,
that dictates the price of your home.

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When you work with the Anderson Hicks Group, specifically, you can trust that our professional marketing strategies will help boost the amount you can earn for your property even beyond what it would ordinarily bring in. It’s all part of what we do as your trusted real estate resource.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What to Know About Our “Guaranteed Sale” and “Instant Offer” Programs

If you want to sell your home and have a safety net while doing so, one of these two programs may be perfect for you.

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Our market is facing a massive problem: There isn’t enough supply to meet current demand. In response to this issue, our team has created two options to help sellers ensure their success. After all, any seller trying to find their next home while listing their current one has enough on their plate as it is.

The first solution is our guaranteed sale program. Through this program, we list your home at fair market value, but also sign a contract stating that we’ll buy it from you if no buyer comes along by an agreed-upon deadline. This allows you, as a buyer, to submit offers that are contingent upon the closing of your current home, rather than the sale of it.

If the guaranteed sale program doesn’t sound right for you, you may be interested in our second option: the instant offer program. With this program, we cut straight to the chase and buy your property outright. Generally, we’re able to close within the week. So if time is of the essence, this may be the perfect arrangement for you.

If you have any other questions, would like more information, or would like to speak more about how we can approach your specific circumstances, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Drawbacks of Using Zillow

While I have nothing against Zillow, there are a few problems with their Zestimate tool and the data they offer on homes listed on the market that you need to be aware of.

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Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, there are a couple drawbacks to using Zillow and their Zestimates that you need to be aware of.

First, I want to say that I’m not against Zillow. Their website is easy to use (I use it myself) and it does provide a lot of value for a lot of people out there. Their most valuable tool is their agent-finder tool. They’re in the business of working with agents and collecting reviews on those agents from consumers who’ve worked with them. If you want to learn more about the Anderson Group and the value we provide to our clients, I invite you to go on Zillow, use this agent-finding tool, and read our reviews.

Now, what is a Zestimate exactly? A Zestimate is an automated valuation tool you can use to get an estimation of a home’s worth. It gives a home’s valuation by compiling data of other comparable homes. There are a couple problems with this tool, though.

If you’re a seller in our Southwestern Idaho area, the first problem is the lack of data. Also, the owners of homes that are on Zillow can edit and update their own home’s information, so the data that Zillow does have regarding homes that are comparable to yours may be false.

Secondly, our area doesn’t have the number of home sales necessary to allow a valuation in a fully automated fashion. It requires hundreds and hundreds of homes to be able to remove the personal element and expertise out of the valuation process and calculate an accurate number for your home.

In fact, Zillow has their own disclaimer that states that their Zestimates are only typically within 15% to 20% of your home’s true value. That disparity can be worth as much as $80,000, so that’s not a valuation anyone can really trust. This is why you need the eyes and experience of a professional agent to help you figure out what your home is worth.

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You need the eyes and experience of a professional agent to help you figure out what your home is worth.

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In the meantime, if you want to use a home search website that’s updated in real time and connected to the MLS, head over to our site www.idahofallspropertysearch.com.

The fact that the data on Zillow isn’t current is an especially big challenge for buyers. Oftentimes, Zillow’s data is two or three days old. If you’re a buyer looking in the $175,000 range, many of those houses are sold within 48 hours of hitting the market.
 
If you’re trying to search and buy a home on your own, you’re typically at a disadvantage anyway, which is why it’s critically important that you work with a professional agent. In your case, work with an agent who’s experienced, who will go to bat for you, and works exclusively with buyers.

How Does a Hot Market Affect Appraisals?

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Our marketplace is currently experiencing rising prices. Likewise, an appreciating market leads to challenges with appraisals. In the last month, I had this situation come up five times. Prior to this year, I probably saw it five times in nine years of selling homes.

Recently, we sold a home in Idaho Falls. After we conducted a market analysis, the home was worth somewhere around $145,000. However, with all the work they’ve done on the property, we ended up listing it at $159,000. The sellers accepted a full-price offer within a few weeks!

The appraiser came back with $153,000 valuation on that house, even though it sold for more. In situations like this, the buyer can walk away if they’re not pleased with the listing price. Their lender might only loan up to a certain percentage as well. On the flipside, because buyers have limited options, you have a higher likelihood to walk away with top dollar.

When you aggressively price a home, it’s a matter of finding a buyer willing to buy it. Sometimes, there will be a dissonance with the appraiser's judgment. However, that’s only one perspective and everyone looks at home values differently. Some buyers are extremely limited and will pay the price for the features they want.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in Idaho Falls or the surrounding area, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to help you and answer any real estate questions you might have!

Idaho Falls Real Estate Market Update

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Last year at this time, we had a 4.9 month supply of inventory. Five to seven months of inventory is considered a balanced market, and anything under five is considered a seller’s market. So in 2015, we had just crossed the line into a seller’s market, and we have stayed there ever since. Today, there is only a 2.7 month supply of homes on the market, which is a very strong seller’s market. There is a shortage of homes available.

The good news for sellers is that the current list to sales price ratio is 99.6%, meaning sellers are netting almost all of the asking price. Buyer concessions are not calculated into that ratio, but this is still great news if you’re a seller. The market can be a bit challenging if you’re a buyer but there are still some great deals out there. If you work with the right agent, you can still find a property at a good price. Last year, the list to sales price ratio was 98.14%.

Homes are selling faster than they were last year, too. In 2015, the average days on market was 92, and this year, homes are on the market for an average of 75 days. That’s a significant drop.

The average sales price in Bonneville is up from $155,000 in 2015 to $172,000 this year. Those numbers do not reflect the exact amount of appreciation in our market, as the average sales price is pulled up due to the growing number of sold luxury homes. However, we have definitely seen about 7% to 8% appreciation in the last 12 months.

If you’re a buyer, it’s critical to have an agent looking for properties for you every morning. Although it might seem easy to sell in this market, you still need a professional on your side to maximize what you get out of your house.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!