What Homes Sell in Today's Market?

For this post, I am focusing on Providence, and the East Side of Providence specifically, although I am not sure that it differs much from one neighborhood to another in the Rhode Island market, and for the U.S. for that matter.

What sells and sells quickly, is the combination of LOCATION, CONDITION AND PRICE. A seller MUST beat the competition in ALL of those factors, lest he or she risk following the market further downward.

 So what does this mean?

Location speaks for itself.  In an upmarket, ancillary areas are the first to rise with the tide and the first to recede.  In our market, on the East Side of Providence, the Mt. Hope section comes to mind.  Four years ago the condo converter from Boston was shown multi families in this area just poised for growth because of the "East Side" location.  Sorry. We would have stuck with Wayland Square or College Hill as better Condo Conversion bets. Now a lot of those developers have gone under and the resale value of these condos is dismal. Location is the name of the game in real estate. Stick with blue chip, proven areas. If you own a home in one of the ancillary areas, you must price yourself accordingly.

Condition.  Oh my - my standards are not that high if you look at my own home.  If I were selling it however, I would say that you need to take absolutely EVERY objection away from a buyer or price your property accordingly.  Fixer-uppers are just not selling.  The houses that sell quickly are no-brainers - move in condition at a fair price which leads me to ........

Price, Price, Price........

My father-in-law who I love dearly and is one of the most financially prudent people I know, called me asking advice on the sale of his condo in Sarasota, Florida.  Actually I thought his strategy was actually very astute so he needed nothing but a blessing from me.  His strategy, knowing there are many condos in his complex for sale, was to price the property 5% under the price of the competition so that his would stand out as a value.  He later called to tell me he was replacing the carpet so that it would take any objection out of the mind of the buyer. Well done!  My father-in-law has a background as a retail department store owner so he knows how painful it is to have unsold inventory.

There is a lot of inventory on the market, so how does a seller stand out? 

Be the most attractive, least objectionable, value priced listing out there.

Then, quickly take your money to the bank.

The rest, who do not follow this advice will have to wait.

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