Selling before the neighbors do
More sellers seem to face competition from others on the same street. I recently walked along a block with units for sale in three consecutive triple-deckers. Michael Royce, the Concord homeowner I wrote about Friday, says six homes are for sale on his street.
With relatively few buyers in the market right now, it is particularly painful to consider the possibility that someone might like your neighborhood, your street, even the general style of your home -- and then make an offer on the home next door.
Boston largely is sheltered from the worst version of this problem, which occurs in new developments when several identical homes can go on the market at the same time. Our housing stock tends to be more diverse, in part because -- like twins -- identical homes tend to grow apart with age. A row of Dorchester triple-deckers built to the same plan a hundred years ago often look remarkably different now.
At the same time, the very density of Boston increases the odds that buyers will have other options in the same neighborhood.
What is a seller to do?
A recent article in Newsday suggests that neighboring sellers should coordinate open houses to lure more prospective buyers. It also quotes a real estate agent suggesting neighbors should list with the same agent, "Because they will probably try to show both properties at the same time." The first idea makes sense, the second idea seems suspect -- why not let two agents market your street?
A recent blog post by Bart Foster, a Somerville real estate agent, casts the issue starkly in terms of pricing: If a bunch of similar homes are for sale in the same area, Foster writes, the one with the lowest price will sell first. If similar homes are listed for $405,000 and $395,000, list yours for $385,000. If they drop their price, drop yours. "The trick is to realistically identify ones competition, price a smidge below and then to proactively maintain your competitive pricing advantage," Foster writes.
It's true of course that you can sell anything by lowering the price sufficiently. But one might also look to homebuilders. Rather than offer the same home at different price points, builders try to create superficial distinctions -- a customized kitchen, a different entryway, a brick front. A recent article in the Washington Times talks about some of the ways to make your home stand out from the neighborhood.
Seems to me this is an age-old marketing problem with two solutions: Undercut the competition on price, or make your product seem more valuable.
Your thoughts?
Enjoyed this post? Get blog updates delivered to your reader. Click here.
My husband and I purchased a home in these exact circumstances in Methuen in the fall. We looked at a cape style home and loved the neighborhood- the house was much nicer than the condos that we had been looking at in North Andover, which is where our home search had been centered. We were ready to make an offer but our realtor suggested we look at two similar houses in the neighborhood. We ended up making an offer on a ranch style home that had a more open floor plan, a finished basement, a patio, 500 additional feet of square footage and more mature landscaping. The cape home eventually sold for 15 grand less than we bought our home for, but we are in it for the long haul and appreciate that we don't have to add all of those things that made our house more attactive than the cape in the first place. We definately used that property as a negociating point- which is what I would advise buyers (and sellers) to consider. Something like a floor plan is not going to come up with comp sales, but with two homes on the market at the same time that can make or break the deal.
It's also important to make your listing look better than the neighbors. I had exactly the same problem in New Hampshire, and I had professional photography done as well as a real video tour that walked through my house showing off all of it's attributes.
Many people eliminate properties based on the presentation they see on the MLS - I wanted mine to stand out as the others had horrible little photos.
Agreed with #2.
It's really not hard to take some decent photos and make sure your listing description is spelled correctly and error-free. You don't have to go all out and have your place professionally staged for a photo shoot by a pro, but a nice "clean" listing description goes a long way. If the listing and pics are sloppy, we will assume your home is, too.
First impressions go a LONG way - and nowadays, many first impressions are made on the internet listing.
I'm consistently shocked by the terrible quality of MLS listings, especially for foreclosures. One blurry cam-phone pic, a misspelled listing with no info about the home whatsoever, and a note to call MA-Pass for a lockbox code. And for that, the listing brokerage gets 2.5-3%?
Even if it's not a foreclosure, with so many homes on the market, a good MLS listing is crucial. When I started my home search 6 months ago, I looked at the MLS listing for every single multi-family in Boston in my price range. Literally hundreds and hundreds of listings. I was far more likely to go visit properties that had multiple pictures and descriptive descriptions than I was to visit others, and while I'm sure I missed out on some poorly described gems, at the end of the day it doesn't matter because I bought somewhere that was better described.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Recent Posts
browse this blog
by categoryINside Boston.com