Know Your Real Estate Market Sweet Spot
Two overlooked secrets to selling your home are knowing the real estate market sweet spot and the current area showing activity. In every market there is a price range of homes that are in the most demand. Knowing where that range is and adjusting pricing accordingly can make a huge difference in the time it takes to sell your home and if buying in that range, you will find less competition just outside of the range limits. Your agent can determine this information by looking at past sales.
Where Is Our Sweet Spot?
- The sweet spot in the North Texas market is between $200,000 and $400,000 .
- These homes account for 40% of the homes that have been selling year to date.
- There are only approximately 2.3 months inventory of homes currently in this price range.
If you list your home in this price range, you better start packing! Be prepared for buyer’s agents falling all over each other to show your home! You can see that if you are just a little lower than the range it would be beneficial to bump your price, especially in a hot market. In the example above, homes selling between 200 – 249,999K account for 15.1% of the sales but just under 200K, it falls to 3.5%!
My tag line is, “It won’t sell if it’s not spotted!” Agents will tell you to never over price including me but if overpricing a small amount puts you in the faster selling range, why not do it? You want as many eyeballs on your home as possible and this is the one time going against the conventional wisdom makes sense. Of course, if you are just a little higher than the top the same applies in lowering.
What Is The Showing Activity?
The second overlooked secret to selling your home is understanding your areas showing activity. What price range are the buyers looking at? I am sure you have heard that investment disclaimer that says, “past performance is not a guarantee of future returns”. One would expect more showing activity for homes in the sweet spot but what if the market is changing?
Look at the showing activity in addition to homes sold when pricing your home for sale or when evaluating an offer, regardless of the sweet spot. Homes sold is past information but showing activity is current and will show you the number of available buyers. Remember, without showings there will be no offers so if your showings are lacking, ask your agent about your market showing activity.
In our MLS area, most agents use a showing service and in addition to providing a means for showing feedback, the service tracks showings booked by zip code and price range. Just like the sold price sweet spot, you want to know where buyers are looking now. This is another useful real estate market indicator when listing or adjusting pricing.
If the pool of available buyers is small there may not be many showings. For example, there is a much smaller group of luxury buyers in the upper price ranges. If you own a million dollar home in the North Texas market it could take almost a year to sell. The showing service data can be useful to prove how many serious buyers are actually there. Finally getting an offer and learning from the showing report that your home was the only one shown or one of two homes shown in that range could be very useful in evaluating the offer and your competition.
This is a sample of a nearby cities showing report for the last 31 days. Note where the most buyers are and at how being just over or under priced at the 160 – 180K level could make a big difference in who sees your home.
Home Price Not In The Hot Range?
As mentioned, if you are close to the hot range you may want to raise or lower your price to fall into it. Not having to pay several more months of mortgage, insurance, taxes and maintenance may save you a lot of money in the long run. Your neighbor may brag that he got his price but how much more holding costs did he have verses you pricing right, attracting more buyers and selling fast?
If your home price can’t be in the sweet spot or where the most showings are for your area, then you have to look at other alternatives. You need to attract eyeballs to your home so consult with your Realtor on the best way to market your home. It could be anything from freshening up the outside for curb appeal to offering concessions to attract buyers. In rural areas, it could be as simple as splitting up the acreage so the price could be lower, then stating more acreage available. There are numerous ways to market a home depending on your unique situation.
Wondering About Van Alstyne Real Estate?
This is where you have to call me! I can tell you that the Van Alstyne,TX sweet spot is considerably lower but the percentage of homes selling in our sweet spot is a little over 35% so your price could make a big difference.
We have many things favorable to buyers including our small town atmosphere, good schools within the Van Alstyne ISD, great Texas weather, nearby lakes including Lake Texoma, a vibrant business district and nearby recreational activities like horseback riding and casino gambling within a short drive.
Realtors have many tools, knowledge and experience that enable us to sell your home faster and for more money or ensure you find your dream home without overpaying. We have access to current and historical market data and understand how a subtle price change or listing price can make a significant difference. When you are ready to buy or sell your home or acreage, contact me through my website or call/text 469-233-1234 and I will use these tools for you. I will evaluate the location, competition, and condition of your home. Together we will develop a plan to market your home so it will “get spotted” by as many potential home buyers as possible!
