Homes that are listed reasonably and correctly are selling. It’s important to be realistic about the value of your home, but it’s also important to list the home the way people buy. Consumers have been brainwashed by the “99” world that we live in. Almost everything you see is listed for $9.99, or $199, or three easy payments of $49.99. And people tend to list their homes that way. Let’s take a look at a customer who is selling their home for $399,990. While this may seem like the correct way to list the home, it minimizes their reach. Here’s why:
Most buyers initially search for a home online, but if they are qualified for a home up to $400,000, they are not going to search for every home on the market up to $400,000. They typically search in $25,000 increments, so they would search homes between $375,000 and $400,000. The home listed at $399,990 would show up in this case. But what if they were qualified up to $425,000? They may search for a home between $400,000 and $425,000 so your listing at $399,990 will not show up. The computer doesn’t know that it’s only $10 difference or that it may be the best option for them. It only knows it’s not in between $400,000 and $425,000. And if it doesn’t come up in the search, it won’t get seen and it won’t get sold.
Here’s the solution: if you want to sell your home faster and double your listing exposure, list your home at even $25,000 increments like $400,000; that way you straddle both search criteria.
I’m Christopher Graves and that’s this week’s Mortgage Minute.
