Savvy Buyers Shop in the Fall

Dear Pat,
We've been working on our house for months, but now we're not sure we can sell. We notice the signs are staying up much longer; even our neighbors weren't able to get the asking price on their home. Has the bubble burst?
---Anxious

Dear Anxious,

Relax. There is no bubble; you're simply watching the normal market cycle. In spite of the lowest interest rates in decades, we're experiencing our typical seasonal cooling of the market--which usually has more to do with school years, job transfers and a general reluctance to move in winter than it does with any perceived economic conditions. So we have fewer new sellers, and fewer buyers, in the mix than we saw in the spring and summer. Add the holdover listings from earlier months that didn't sell for a variety of reasons--perhaps overpriced, or poorly maintained, or badly located--and you have the recipe for a slower market.

What does a slower market mean for a buyer? A chance to take more time to choose wisely, for one thing, and a chance to get a thorough inspection before the contract is completed (something which should always be done, in my opinion). The fall is always a good time for the savvy buyer who is willing to climb the snowdrifts on moving day!

And what does a slower market mean for sellers like you, Anxious? Well, of course, when a truly special or unique home in a wonderful location comes along, we often still see multiple offers above the asking price. But most sellers need to plan for longer selling times, and they need to pay extra attention to details in order to make their house stand out from the competition. Here are three important areas I have pointed out previously, but which bear repeating:

---Remove objections before buyers see your house. Tour open houses, visit friend's 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 problem spaces 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 possibly 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.