July Homes Sales

If you currently have your home on the market or you're thinking about putting your home on the market, there is hope. July's numbers came out today and although they are down slightly from last month, houses are still moving, thanks to interests rates staying low.

July 2009 vs July 2010

In July 2010, there were a total of 1936 active listings in Montgomery County, slightly higher than the 1901 active listings in July 2009. Closed sales in July of this year were 215 homes compared to 381 last year. In case you're a numbers person, like me, this shows that your house better be in tip top shape if you expect to sell. Last July's absorption rate (percentage of listings that actually sold) was 20% versus only 11% in July of 2010. On a positive note, the houses that did sell last month spent less days on the market (average of 73) and on average sold for more money ($167709) than houses sold during the same time a year ago (84 average days on market and $160654). As far as how much sellers are getting compared to their asking price, we're holding pretty steady just over the 97% mark.

What Do You Need To Do?

If your home is on the market or you're thinking about putting it on the market, here are a few things that you should consider:

• Don't panic if you don't have people beating down the door to view your home
• DECLUTTER!!! When people look at your home, they need to see themselves in it, not you. So if the kids have a million toys they don't play with, box them up and get them out of there. If your kitchen has a toaster, coffee-maker, blender, spice rack, stand-up mixer and utensil holder on the counter, box them up. If you have so much stuff on your walls that you can't tell what color the wall is, box it up. You get the idea.
• Consider repainting your home to a neutral color
• Add curb appeal. When buyers are sent a list of homes, the first thing they see is the outside picture of your home, if it doesn't look good from that picture, they're going to skip to the next house. Whether it's freshening up your mulch, repainting shutters or adding plants, it's well worth the money.
• Make sure your agent takes lots of pictures of your home. It may seem crazy, but more than likely, the first contact a buyer is going to have with your home, is the internet. If there aren't any inside photos, they often times think there's something wrong with the inside.
• Keep your house clean! The cleanliness of a seller is often a sign of how well they've maintained the house. If you don't take the time to throw your dirty clothes in the hamper, you probably haven't taken the time to change the air filter either.
• Clean your baseboards, ceiling fans, bathroom vent fans and A/C intake, once again, this seems trivial but a little elbow grease goes a long way in impressing buyers.
• Make sure your home smells good. The fastest way to chase a buyer out of your house is a bad smell. If your home has a smell, you probably know it, so make an effort to resolve it. Some simple things that work are placing cinnamon sticks around the house, Oust or Febreze and air fresheners. You may also try placing dryer sheets, cups of baking soda or scented powder laundry detergent in closets. You may also consider having your carpets professionally cleaned.
  
• Listen to your agent, they're not your enemy. They have a vested interest in your home selling. Rather than taking offense to their advice, be glad you hired an agent who is willing to give you advice.
  

These are few simple, low-cost ways to get your home looked at and potentially sold. Just remember, your house needs to be in the top 11% of the market if you want it to sell. There are 3 reasons homes don't sell: location, condition and price. You may not be able to do anything about the location but you can control the price and condition.

All statistics provided are from Realtracs Solutions, Brentwood, TN