(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
When is the best time to list your home for sale? As soon as you are thinking about selling it. When you DON’T need to sell. If you are thinking about selling your home, then it is probably time to list it for sale. Your housing needs may have changed. Either the children have grown up and gone away. Or you don’t get as many overnight guests as you once did. Or the home and/or yard is just too much for you to maintain. The opposite end of the spectrum – children are on the way, and you need more space. Or you need more room to provide for a loved one. The worst time to sell is when you HAVE to sell. Either because of a job loss, divorce, illness, or worse, a death in the family. If your current circumstance involves one of these dire situations, you will be put in a situation where you need to sell. You may become desperate to sell. You will sell your home for less money because you need to sell. You will leave money on the table because you will not be negotiating from a position of strength. You will not be in control. Fate will control your decision-making process. Our advice? If you are thinking about selling, there is probably a particularly good reason for this. So, list your home for a price that is realistic and competitive with the existing market. Put yourself in a position of strength while the negotiations are taking place. Realize that eventually we ALL sell our homes. This is what we do. We move, downsize, upsize, or the home is left to someone that will probably have to deal with selling it anyway. So, you choose the timing. Don’t let the timing of an adverse situation control you and force you to sell your home.
One last thing. Earlier I recommended you list your home at a realistic price. What is a realistic sales price? Ask your realtor. They know what the current real estate market is. They know what comparable homes like yours are selling for. If you price it unrealistically, it is not going to sell. You are wasting your time. You might as well not list it for sale. It can be disappointing to finally list your home for sale and get little to no interest from potential buyers. We all love our home and the wonderful memories it has brought us, but a buyer will not look at your home the same way. They may not feel that your price matches up well with other homes on the market. So, please, if you are going to take the plunge, price it so it compares favorably and is appealing to a buyer.
