Fall Demand is Still Strong, But . . .

Dear Pat,
Are home sales slowing dramatically in our area? It seems to take weeks, instead of days, for the "sold" sign to go up on many of the houses for sale around the neighborhood. We need to sell soon. What can we do?
 -- Selling Concerned

Dear Concerned,
Yes, home sales have slowed, but not dramatically. Traditionally, because the inventory is larger in the fall, buyers feel they can afford to take their time. Feverish demand which lasted unusually long this summer-and the chill of recent affairs-contributed to your sense of a dying market, but it's really just the seasonal cycle we're experiencing.

Before we go on to your second question, Concerned, please note that current low interest rates are keeping unusually large numbers of buyers in the market this fall. I've had as many calls from prospective buyers this month as I did back in May and June. But fall sellers need to pay extra attention to details in order to make their house stand out from the competition. Three important areas:

    * Remove objections before buyers see your house. Tour open houses, visit friends' houses, get a fresh perspective. Then look at your house as if you were seeing it for the first time. Funny how those pet odors and junky, filled-up rooms just felt like home, isn't it? Get to work on repairs and problems by thinking like a choosy buyer.

    * Spark the imagination of potential buyers. Rip out your carpeting, sand those lovely wood floors, throw colorful rugs on them, decorate with flowers and interesting objects, paint your walls with dramatic popular colors. Store away the furniture and other stuff which makes your home useful to you but which may well make it crowded to others.

    * Price your home competitively. This above all! In the fall, or at any time when the demand is less than feverish, your house should be in the top three homes on the market. This means that the price and condition together add up to make it one of the best three candidates for any given buyer in its price range.