Q. Tom, I have decided to sell my home; should I place it on the market now during the holiday season (mid-November to mid-January)? I am getting differing opinions with the prevalent advice being to wait until the springtime 2011 market. Does this mean I should wait until March or April?
You actually have a couple of good options here. First of all, please allow me to dispel the real estate myth that houses don’t sell during the holidays … they do! And the main reason houses sell during what is traditionally viewed as a ‘slow period’ is that so many other sellers temporarily take their homes off the market over the holidays thereby creating less competition. Keep in mind that motivated buyers typically stop looking for homes only during the four day Thanksgiving break and from late December through very early January. Every other day those buyers & their agents are actually shopping for the right home. So, here are your two options: 1) place or keep your home on the market now and through the holidays and keep the holiday decorating to a minimum or 2) hold off until after the holiday season but don’t wait too long. The springtime real estate season starts as early as mid-to-late January and is typically robust until about the end of May. In either scenario, I strongly recommend pricing your home accordingly for current market conditions as the one constant that everyone agrees on is that the 2011 market will remain price-sensitive. In other words, price your home to be a GREAT value.
Q. My spouse and I disagree regarding what we should do to get our home ready for the market … more specifically the importance of curb appeal. I think we should invest our limited improvement funds on the interior and she thinks we should spend more money on the exterior because curb appeal is critical to getting prospective buyers in the door. Who’s right?
She’s right hands down! As we say in the business, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” And no matter how many pictures or virtual tours of a home are posted to the internet, the reality is that upon personally visiting a home a potential buyer feels an ‘emotional hook’ within about 10 seconds based on its physical appearance—or not! So it is in your best interest to consider touch-up paint, new door/lock hardware, clean doormat, refreshed landscaping (grass and scrubs), power-washed walkways and sparkling light fixtures. Everything leading up to and including the front door shows to the prospective buyer the seller’s pride of ownership and is usually an excellent indicator of the overall condition of the rest of the home. Unsolicited advice … don’t look at the improvements as an expense, look at it as an investment that you’ll get a return on. Remember if the buyer never gets out of the car and through the front door, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the house and backyard look like.
Q. Tom, what’s the prognosis for the 2011 real estate market … weaker or stronger?
My personal belief is that it will be about the same as 2010 but it really depends on where you’re buying or selling and your general price range. For instance, the $600,000 to $900,000 price range in the San Francisco Bay area is forecasted to be a bright spot in the overall California market. But I remind you that condition, location and price are the key factors in the marketability and desirability of any particular home in a given community. Optimistically, the recently published California Association of Realtors® 2011 economic forecast predicts California homes sales to increase 2% to 502,000 units (over 2010) and the median California home price to climb 2% (over 2010) to $312,500.
You can contact Tom at 925-355-1187 or tom@tomhart.com
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