The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home in a Seller’s Market

A competitive (buyers’) market can have a significant impact on the process of selling a home. Buyers are more hesitant to purchase when the housing market is oversaturated. 

In a competitive market, the home selling process can take nearly three months, whereas it can take as little as two weeks in a sellers’ market.

When the buyer’s market ends and house prices begin to rise, it can be a stressful time for sellers.

1) Consider staging your home

Even if you don’t want to go through with a full renovation, you can still make some changes, such as painting the walls and decluttering all of your belongings, to make it more appealing and easier for buyers to envision themselves living in it.

2) Be realistic about pricing

In today’s competitive market, sellers must be realistic about pricing. Don’t overprice it extremely, price it right and a flood of buyers will compete for it.

3) Plan the move to your next place

You may be able to sell your house quickly, but you will need a place to live, either temporarily or permanently. Consult with your agent about the strategy. Check to see if you need to sell first in order to buy your next home, or if you can carry two mortgages for a short time.

4) Showings

The home showing process is the most stressful after cleaning, decluttering, and staging. This is especially important if you have small children, pets, elderly, or sick family members living in the house. Strategic pricing and marketing will quickly bring a large number of qualified buyers to your home. Plan a weekend away from home so you can unwind while your agent is at work.

5) Negotiating multiple offers is an art form in and of itself.

One offer may appear to be better than another when, after considering all terms and conditions, your net proceeds or timeframe may make it more logical to accept a seemingly worse offer. Allow your experienced agent to compile all of the numbers into a net sheet so you can compare offers side by side. When I work with sellers, this is the most important step we must take together. I love seeing my clients smile as they complete this step, knowing that their hard work has paid off.

6) Option period and home inspection

In most cases, the buyer will request an option period to inspect the home and learn about its condition. They will hire a home inspector to perform this task. Based on their findings, they may request specific repairs or a price adjustment from the sellers. This is nearly the end of the negotiations. In a sellers’ market, this may be very easy for a seller because buyers are willing to deal with more issues themselves after closing. Remember that they may have made multiple offers on other homes, or they may simply be tired of looking, so they will be easier to deal with.

7) Appraisal

In today’s sellers’ market, the buyer is very likely to provide a full or partial appraisal waiver. That is, even if the appraisal shows a lower value than the offer price, they will make up the difference in cash in order to obtain the mortgage. This is great news for sellers. However, if they had a partial waiver and the value came back lower than that, you may still need to lower the sales price. When you accept an offer with a partial waiver, you will be aware of this condition.

8) Closing and funding.

Congratulations on reaching the finish line. Your agent will either schedule an in-person closing at the title company or arrange for a mobile notary to meet you at your preferred location to complete the signing. Unless the signing is before the closing of the title company, late on a Friday, or a mobile closing, funding is usually the same day. Funding will be made available the following business day, or when the signed documents are returned from the mobile notary and reviewed by the lender. If the buyer is a cash buyer, there is immediate funding.