As a Realtor daily grinding it out in this market, I see what makes the difference in a sale or an expiration or withdrawn listing.  The multiple listing service has a feature called “Hot Sheets”.  I check this fiendishly several times a day.  The hot sheets show any change in the market dating from the last time you checked the hot sheets.  So I check them, say, at 8AM and then again at noon.  At noon, I’ll see any change in the market since 8AM.  From spending years doing this and especially watching the market in the last three years–I can vouch to you that you see WAY more come onto the market, expire from the market, or be withdrawn from the market than you see in the “Closed” section.  A very typical example would be that you see 4 new listings to the market, 8 withdrawns, 15 expired listings, and 1 closed.  This is everytime I check the Hot Sheets.

How does a seller become the vital “one” that closes?  It really is no secret.  The house has to be priced very competitively.  Today’s market is not one in which the seller prices it higher in the hopes that someone will maybe give an offer in the ballpark or a lower offer in the hopes that they can come down to what they really want to receive.  As a seller, you need to figure out how low you can go and do that from the first.  This may seem painful but you want to sell your house right?  Plus if you are buying on the backend you will be getting a deal on your “buy”.

Condition of your house is paramount right now.  You might be priced great but if a buyer thinks they have to do work on home right now, they will buy the one that needs no work.  What can you do?  Watch home improvement, styling, and buying shows.  De-clutter.  Preemptively rent a storage space and get your personal effects out.  You want the house to look more staged than lived in.  Remember this isn’t your house right now but a product in competition with other products with scarce buyers.  Sounds tough?  What is tougher, decluttering and staging or not selling your house?  Paint as much as you can.  It helps with a crisp look and freshens up odors that you may have grown accustomed too but that turns a prospective buyer out of the door before they even look at the home.  Deep clean everything.  Not just the bathroom and kitchen, but the hardwood floors need to be polished, window sills needs to be scrubbed, door frames wiped down, cobwebs need to be wiped away in corners and much more.

Nashville’s real estate market remains better than much of the country.  However, it can still be slow for listings that do not cut price to the bone and are at tip top condition.  I want to help you be a part of the vital few that actually do sell.  You want to sell rather than “try”, right?