Dear Olivia,
I’m an empty nester and no longer need my large house. However, I’m a little worried about selling in this market. What should I expect when I list my home?
Sincerely,
Nervous to Sell
Firstly, let me just say that the trepidation you feel is shared by virtually all sellers right now! We enjoyed a long period during which home sales were incredibly strong and prices were historically high. Though that’s come to an end, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still realize a nice profit on your home when you sell it in 2023.
Selling a home is a complex process, and the experience is a little different for everyone. That notwithstanding, below, I’ve outlined three things to expect when selling your home this year.
Manage Your Expectations About the Price of Your Home
If you list your home with a Realtor, they will use a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a target price for your home. Their goal is to maximize the price you get for your property while minimizing the time it spends on the market.
It goes without saying that the market has changed. During the height of the pandemic, sales prices were sky-high, and sellers sometimes even had multiple offers on their property, which drove the sales price even higher. Low inventory pushed home prices higher, too.
By and large, that is no longer the case. This doesn’t mean that you can’t still get a fair price for your home, but it’s important to manage your expectations about the list price. You want to price your home to sell, not sit!
There’s Likely to Be More Competition
As interest rates have risen, home sales across the nation have fallen. This means there’s more homes on the market, and in many areas, this also means the market has changed to more of a buyer’s market.
In a buyer’s market, there’s more inventory than demand, which means every home that’s for sale has increased competition for fewer buyers. If you list your home for sale in 2023, you’ll need to keep this in mind and let it inform the decisions you and your Realtor make.
For example, you might need to make some repairs or updates to your home to make it more enticing to buyers. Something as simple as painting the front door or replacing the hardware on your kitchen cabinets can go a long way in improving the impression your home makes. These are just simple examples – your Realtor can give you advice about what you can do to make your home more attractive than the competition.
Be Open and Realistic About Negotiating
One of the hardest things we have to do as Realtors is tell our clients that their home is priced too high. But, with the changing market, it’s a conversation that needs to happen more often than it has in the last few years.
If you go into the process of selling your home with realistic expectations about price, you’re likely to get an offer (and sooner) with fewer (or no) price reductions. Again, the goal is to price your home to sell, not sit! By taking the emotions out of it and pricing your home according to what the market supports, there’s a much greater likelihood that your home will sell at or near the sales price.
As I mentioned earlier, every situation is different, so be sure to work with a Realtor that listens to your needs and wants, gives you quality advice, and helps you make the smartest decisions for your specific situation.
As always, if you have other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Wind River Realty at 307-856-3999!
~Olivia