VIDEO DIALOGUE
How long does it take to sell a house? Well, I’ll admit that’s a bit of a tough question to answer. No one wants their house to sit on the market for a long time, and in some cases you really need to sell in a short period of time, and of course you want the most you can get for it.
I will say around Nashville there are certain markets that seem to force houses to sit on the market for longer. And some markets seem to be the opposite. But I also see exceptions all the time. So what’s really happening when a house sits on the market for a long time?
Well, let’s be honest, not all houses are marketed properly. I’m not saying this to be rude. What I’m saying is that every house is unique, and has a unique buyer. If you’re not pinpointing who you want to come see the house, as in the perfect buyer for the house, that buyer will be forced to find you, which could take some time if it’s not being promoted.
Let me give you an example:
I put a house on the market earlier this year. It was an historic home where the sellers had kept the historic quality of the house in all their updates. We put it up as Coming Soon, and I immediately started getting calls. The people that came to see it all loved it and were looking forward to seeing a home that had history, and maintained the historical integrity of the house. In fact I only got one response from someone expecting a more updated house – they must not have read the description of the house or looked at the photos online.
That house effectively sold in the first day. We extended the offer deadline to the following Monday, and received offers all weekend long. But the first offer, the first person that came through – was the exact buyer for the house, and they proved it by being able to be first to the table and most competitive overall.
I also sold a house to a buyer from a “for-sale-by-owner”. That house sat on the market for over a year. It was a great house but the seller was tough negotiator and needed a very specific buyer with a good agent to make the deal work. Once I was able to connect the dots, we closed in a month.
In summary, how long it takes to sell a house depends on a few factors, but marketing is key whatever the market conditions. At the end of the day, it kinda depends on how much time you want to take because you can shorten the curve with proper direction. I hope this helps.