5 Tips to Sell Listings Faster This Summer Season

In these pre-summer weeks, agents are busier than ever trying to sell listings faster. Spring and summer are traditionally the best seasons to make any real estate moves and if you work with sellers, you know this all too well. But what can you do if your property is sitting on the market for months, even when the season is hot and the market does not have excess inventory? 

How to sell listings faster

Take a look at these tips from the pros so sell your real estate listing faster and more effectively.

1. Upgrade the property

If a property lacks important home improvements and aesthetics, the best-case scenario is it will sell for a lower price. In the worst-case scenario, it will sit on the market for months and no twilight photos will help.

Home selling experts say there are crucial things to do to sell listings faster. Here’s a very good recap of them all.

2. Review the price

Together with the poor home appeal, incorrect pricing is a major reason the property can’t be sold for a long time. Sure, your sellers want to sell at the highest price but if they’re unreasonable with their request, this can turn into a huge problem.

According to John Rand, these are the most serious pricing mistakes to avoid.

1. Setting your price based on unsold inventory.   

Ideally, agents should look at two kinds of prices when pricing a home: the one for the homes currently on the market and the one for sold properties. But more often than not, agents only look at the first one. Their reasoning is that this is the price they need to be competing with because it’s currently on the market.

As John Rand argues, it is exactly the second price you should look at because it shows what the market is ready to consume. The bottom line? Consider pricing based on recently sold homes in your area rather than other just listed properties.

2. Overestimating the amenities

It’s 100% true that newly installed/renovated amenities help sell a home at a higher price. But pricing 10x more the original cost is unreasonable and leads you nowhere. Avoid this trap.

3. Aiming at the full compensation for home improvement projects

If you invested serious money in renovating your home over the years, you naturally want to get that money back upon selling.

However, as John Rand shares, it’s virtually impossible to get the full value back. In fact, it typically amounts to only 60 to 70 percent (as per “Cost versus Value” report by Remodelling Magazine).

4. Pricing according to what sellers want

Every seller has certain expectations as to what the best price should be. But that has no power over the market which is shaped by inventory supply and demand more than one’s personal expectations.

In other words, you should price the home according to what the market dictates, even if it’s lower than you want.

5. Relying on automated valuation models (AVM)

As real estate is getting shaped by digital trends, automated valuation models are becoming increasingly popular. Sellers can get a home evaluation with a few clicks of a button but can they be sure this estimate is accurate?

If you want to price your home the right way and see it sold within a short time, you need to rely on a live evaluation from a real professional.

6. Not adjusting the price over time

It’s funny that even with all these mistakes in mind, they might not matter that much in the end. In a free market, you can set any price you like but if it’s not realistic in the current conditions, that market won’t react and you’ll have to adjust. In other words, your biggest mistake is not reacting to the market signals.

According to John Rand, the best strategy is to listen to the market and review the price based on what signals it sends you. That gives you a wide window of opportunity to sell listings faster, rather than set a super high price and hope for the best.

3. Add more photos and videos

Would you rather walk through a home that has 3 photos online or 20? More photos create trust and make a better first impression. If you can add a video, even better.

(And here’s a quick guide on how to optimize the images so they load fast and look professional).

4. Fine-tune your descriptions

Can you spot flowery exaggerations and clichés in your listing copy? That could be putting buyers off because everyone is tired of the same old real estate sales language.

Compelling real estate copywriting is a detailed topic, check this great guide on how to write standout listing descriptions that evoke trust.

5. Maximize exposure

Have you tried at least some of these ways to promote your listing? All of these are good techniques to sell listings faster:

• set up a property landing page;
• promote via social media;
• launch email and direct mail campaigns;
• host and promote open houses;
• launch retargeting campaigns;
• publish a printed brochure;
• network with other agents, etc.

Given that 98 percent of people start their home search online, it looks like online marketing tactics help sell listings faster. However, everything will depend on your local market and the audience you target. Oftentimes, a combination of online and traditional techniques is the winning combination.

What’s next?

Review your marketing strategy to sell listings faster and good luck with your summer deals!