Its A Buyer’s Market… Why Should Someone Buy Your Home?

Our local real estate market has flipped from a sellers market to a buyers market for the first time in over 10 years.   With longer days on the market, greater inventory, and fewer buyers do to money being more difficult to get,  it is important for your home to stand out in the crowd to be seen by the qualified buyers.  Although nothing beats pricing your home correctly and keeping it in optimum condition, here are a few ideas to make yours STAND OUT and GET NOTICED!

• Down-payment help: As home prices hold steady and credit tightens, more buyers are hard-pressed to put money down on a home. A little help with the down payment can help them deal with this issue.
• Mortgage buy-down: Are your buyers nervous about their prospective monthly house payments or the interest rate on their loan? You can lower both by buying down their mortgage; each point you pay equals 1 percent of the loan amount. First-time buyers or young families can often use the help to free up cash to furnish their new home
• Homeowner/condo association dues: Welcome your buyers to the neighborhood by springing for their first year of association dues.
• Maintenance fees: If the buyers will be contracting for lawn maintenance anyway, or if they will be required to do so in your community, paying a year of their maintenance fees is money in the bank for them. The same applies to a year of pool service.
• Home warranty: As the cost of service calls increases, a year of home warranty coverage is becoming a commonplace incentive to attract buyers. Typical policies cover service to the home’s interior plumbing, HVAC, appliances and fixtures such as lights and fans. Typically excluded are pools, hot tubs, sprinkler systems and attic fans. Their only expense: a per-call fee, usually around $60.
• Closing costs: What buyer wouldn’t welcome some help with those teeth-gritting closing costs (legal, title, filing fees, etc.) that, according to a Freddy Mac estimate, typically run between 2 percent to 7 percent of the loan amount?
• Landscaping: Springing for a few shrubs, new turf or other landscaping features can help a buyer feel right at home.

Ok, all of these things are wonderful, but make sure that your home is priced right, or all these other incentives go right out the window!

Want to know what your home is really worth?  CLICK HERE to receive a FREE CMA!