How to Sell Your House Quickly In 2009

Help! I have to move soon, and I need to sell my house before I move. But I can't seem to attract any buyers and I've had no offers at all. What can I do to sell my house quickly in 2009?

This will be the most common concern among sellers in 2009, and for various reasons discussed below. But even in a slow market, it's possible to sell your home quickly. You just need to have the three P's in place -- proper pricing and preparation. If you set your asking price to high (as many sellers do), your house is going to sit on the market for a long time. I promise you that much.

The same is true if you fail to prepare the home for the market (staging, repairs, modernization, curb appeal, etc.) Competition for buyers is fierce right now. So when you sell your home, you need to go above and beyond to make it appealing. Anyone who is serious about selling in this market will know this, and they'll put in the extra effort. So if you fail to make such an effort in this market, your house will stand out in a negative way.

In a moment, I'll explain how you can sell your house quickly in the current economy. But before we get to that we need to address the current challenges sellers are facing. You have to understand the 2009 economic landscape in order to succeed with your home sale.

The Challenge for Sellers in 2009

Our economic meltdown has shrunken the buyer pool considerably. Millions of Americans are losing their jobs right now -- just turn on CNN and see for yourself. And on top of that, lenders have become stricture with their lending criteria. So you need to be better qualified to get a mortgage loan these days (higher credit score, larger down payment, better debt-to-income ratio, etc.).

If all this were not bad enough, home sellers in 2009 must also contend with a surplus of homes on the market. Many of them are foreclosure properties, which often represent a bargain for buyers.

When you combine the reduction in buyers with the increase in inventory, you have a buyer's market -- the extreme version. So if you want to sell your house quickly in this kind of market, you have to price it effectively and prepare it well. In other words, you need the three P's -- proper pricing and preparation.

How to Sell Quickly

Let me clear up an important distinction, before we go any further. Selling your house quickly is one thing. But making a quick sale while also recouping your investment ... well, that's another thing entirely. And it might not be possible in this market, depending on where you live.

For example, if you paid $300,000 for a home at the top of your market, the same property might be worth much less in the current market (depending on how bad the market crashed in your area). It might be worth closer to $200,000 today. Could you sell the house quickly in the current market? Yes. Would you be able to sell it for close to what you paid? No. Sorry, but that's the reality of the situation in many cities across American right now.

As a seller, you have to accept this harsh reality before you can price your home effectively for the current market. What you paid for the house when you bought it is almost entirely irrelevant. This is a whole new economy, with new pricing models in place.

So proper pricing is the first step to success. For starters, you need to get some recent sales data to see what homes are selling for in your area. The more closely the sold properties match your own home, the better. Real estate agents refer to these as comparable sales, or "comps." The three most important qualities of a good comp are timeliness, proximity and comparative likeness. In other words, you should base your asking price on recent sales from comparable homes located as close to your neighborhood as possible.

It might also be a good idea to have your house appraised by a professional home appraiser before you list it for sale. This will give you a good idea where you stand, in terms of value. Just keep in mind that a single appraiser's opinion is not gospel. You must consider it along with the other data you've gathered.

Proper home staging is another critical step in the process. If you want to sell your house quickly in the 2009 market, you need to stage the home for sale. Plain and simple. Many sellers hear the word "staging" and automatically assume it means spending a lot of money. But this is not necessarily the case. There are many free and low-cost staging ideas you can implement throughout your house.

Selling a house in this economy is a fierce competition. Sellers are competing for the attention (and ideally the offers) of a reduced number of home buyers. So the smart sellers -- the ones who understand this dynamic -- are going above and beyond to spruce up their homes. They are painting, landscaping, de-cluttering, staging and modernizing. They are also pricing their houses based on current sales data, as painful as it may be.

If you hope to sell your house quickly in this market, you'll need to do the same thing. The worst-case scenario is to have a property that is overpriced and under-prepared. You won't even attract any visitors if this is the case. But even if you price it right to attract buyers, you still need to go above and beyond to stage and present the home.

Related article:
How to Sell Fast - Home Selling Workshop

I hope this article has opened your eyes to the economic reality of selling a home in 2009. More importantly, I hope this advice helps you sell your house quickly and for the best possible price. Good luck!