Seems like we are always “speaking” to sellers about staging their home and how to get top dollar. But on the other side of that conversation is the conversation with buyers. They want a good deal right? They should actually be out there looking for those houses that are NOT staged. Buyers want to try and look through all the clutter, mis-matched furniture, dings on the walls and ugly wallpaper – these are good things for buyers really…the buyers savvy enough to see through all that! The good news about ugly furniture is that the seller will be taking it with them! Buyers should hope that there are gorgeous hardwood floors under the old carpet that’s been there for 25 years (protecting those hardwood floors!)
Buyers want to look for “good bones.” Good bones include a great location (we’ve always heard the real estate mantra, “Location, Location, Location!) It’s true. Ideally as a buyer you want the worst house in the best location. You can typically improve the house easier than overcoming a bad location. Buyers want to check out the neighborhood, who are the neighbors? What are the other houses in the area selling for? What did the seller pay for the house? When? How long has it been on the market? Typically homes that have been on the market for a long time are easier to “negotiate down” in price. The closer to the list date a house gets offers, the closer to it’s list price that it gets. In today’s market homes are still selling on average about 95% of list price. So, if a house listed for $1 million dollars, it would sell in the $950,000 range. This is an average of course…some more, some less. Back to how many days on market and how many price reductions. Once a home gets reduced into the “right” price range, it will get more activity and in some cases generate multiple offers.
Believe it or not, in some cases, homes in the the Hollywood Riviera are still seeing multiple offers. About 2 weeks ago, July 10th or so….there was a house that got 8 offers. I showed a wonderful little house this evening here in the Riviera that has been on the market for 33 days (not even the average days on market for the area which is 69 days now.) It was attractively priced in the first place at $859,000 (it’s a well kept original 1948 home.) It was reduced in price twice – once to $849K and then 10 days later on the 25th of July (only 5 days ago) to $829,000 and now it has 3 offers on it. So, obviously, a seller can get a house priced in the range where they can get in themselves in the driver’s seat.
A buyer needs to get in front of that price and if someone would have made an offer prior to this price reduction, they might have been able to get a few more concessions from the seller. In this multiple offer situation, the buyer will have to be willing to do what it takes to get the house – if they really want it that is.
It’s a new market and in most cases, a great one for buyers right now. There are a lot of choices out there and as we move forward we will see how the market changes. It is not a static market – it never sleeps and is constantly something to watch….that is what makes it so exciting!
