Selling Season Is in Full Swing

If you consider the best time to sell a home, many would say to have your house on the market May 1 through July 31. These are the three months that would represent a family moving in the summer and being settled when the kids get back to school.

Do you currently have your house listed? You must ask yourself a few questions and then based on the answers, make some adjustments to take advantage of these three premium months.

How many showings are you currently getting? The rule of thumb is that if you are not getting two to three showings per week, the home is probably priced too high. Another rule of thumb is that if you have had 10 showings and no offers, your house probably needs a small price adjustment as well.

Where is your home being marketed? Outside of MLS and FMLS, is your Realtor getting exposure on other web portals? Realtor.com, Trulia.com and Zillow.com are just a few. For example, when I list a home, each listing is sent out to over 30 real estate websites. Also, are you or the Realtor taking advantage of Craigslist, Twitter and Facebook to market your home in some way? The days of open houses and caravans are long gone. Today's real estate is Internet and social media driven.

The last question and maybe the most important: Are you being realistic with your price? I have written several articles addressing the mindset of the seller. I can only stress again that the market did in fact affect your house. I can only stress again that, YES, we have to consider foreclosures when pricing a home. Just because you are selling at a price lower than what you bought it for five years ago does not make it a deal. Pricing aggressively to compete with other homes currently on the market makes it a deal. Price it right now, take your loss and then move on and be aggressive and take advantage of these low prices when buying your next home.

So, we have June and July left, with school starting the second week in August. Make sure that you are positioned with the right price and the right marketing to get your home sold. If you don't make an adjustment now, it may be too late. Good luck and good selling.