Our Oahu real estate market is moving! Just when you thought homes couldn’t sell any faster, they do! March sales of single family homes were up more than 20% over last year. The same was true for condos. And prices continue to climb, though not at the astronomical rates we’ve seen in the past. Year over year median sale prices are up just under 4%. Clearly, your Oahu real estate is your best investment.
In this kind of market, it is important to think strategically when selling your home. You’ll want to sell quickly with a minimum of inconvenience and you’ll want to walk away with as much cash in your pocket as possible. How can you accomplish that? Some thoughts:
Know where you’re going. Understand that houses on Oahu sell quickly if they are properly priced. Right now the median priced single family home is taking less than 20 days to go under contract for sale! Closing can take an additional 30 – 45 days. In this environment, it is not wise to put your home on the market until you have somewhere else to go within 60 days.
Price properly. That means at market value. It’s tempting when homes are selling so fast to push the price up, ask for a little more, try to cash in big. But that strategy fails over and over. Home buyers have lots of tools today to spot overpriced listings and most avoid them. Your aggressive price will limit showings and encourage low offers. Instead, price at market value and then let the market set the price. What you’ll find is that a great home in a good location will produce offers over and above asking price. And wouldn’t that be a nice situation!
Prepare the property. The day your home goes on the market it becomes a product that has to compete with other similar products. Before you make your home available for showing, make sure it is breathtakingly clean, neat and staged. You want every person who sees your home to dream of living there and the best way to do that is to make the home dreamy.
Plan to make a splash. Sometimes it’s smart to create urgency and anticipation when selling. ‘Coming Soon’ signs prior to the actual listing period can accomplish this, but I sometimes suggest other strategies. Having the first day of showing coincide with a well promoted open house – a Grand Open House – can ensure that the largest number of potential buyers see the property on that first day. Sometimes I suggest that we hold off reviewing offers until the end of the first week. This creates a sense of urgency, a deadline, and sets the expectation that there may be a bidding war for the home.
Listen to your agent. When you hire one of the professionals at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, you’re teaming up with a trusted consultant. We know this business and this market and there is no one better qualified to advise you every step of the way. Sometimes the emotion of selling can nudge you into poor strategic thinking. Our job is to help you stay focused on the business decision that selling a home should be.
Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties is a full service real estate company that provides exceptional service while charging less than ordinary Realtors. We’ve been successfully helping buyers and sellers all over Oahu for more than 12 years and we’d be delighted to help you achieve your housing dreams. Contact us at (808) 593-8811, or visit our website.