Reno home Sellers: Be as shrewd as snakes..

You'll be surprised to know the number one definition of shrewdness in the dictionary:

"Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical."

Ok, to be fair the second definition was "cunning practices,tricky."  But no, we're not going to talk about that.

Sellers.  Please be advised: 

• You cannot "flow" with the market (ex: if you really want to sell, you must be the best priced home and condition in the neighborhood, you cannot be just like the neighbor). 

• You cannot  be part of the herd (back in 2007 I heard a lot of people say, "oh I'll just wait for 2008 to sell my home). 

• You cannot do what everybody else is doing. 

Well, that is if you want to have the advantage in getting the most money from your house.

The very first thing that you should be asking yourself (after you've laid down your personal financial goals) is where is the market heading a year or two from now? 

Booom! Chaos begins... 

Are you some kind of a fortune teller Joe or worst, do you want me to go to one? I am aware that many people preach that you cannot know what the market will do.  But I think you can.  Check out the past.  Learn from history. 

Here's an example:

In the summer of 2007 when people were already hurting from the real estate market, many so called experts were still giving false hope to people that the market will be stronger the following year.  But the market had a clear story of what was about to happen:

And this was in 2005.  It took two years for the majority of people to finally realize the brutal truth of the real estate meltdown.  So when CNN had some breaking news last week that we are currently in a recession starting Dec 2007...  Don't ask me.  I'm just as confused.  

Anyways, so as sellers you may not know exactly what will happen with the market, but you can have a feel of the what will happen.  Spend a few hours doing a bit of research on the market. 

The reason why you need to do this is primarily for the positioning of the price of your home.  This is more important than others might think.  To be more specific-- the time frame of setting the price.  Should you test price with a higher asking price? Or should you cut your losses as much as you can to attract potential buyers?

Here are three things to look out for(to get a "feel" of your market):

1. Median Price

Ex: Caughlin Ranch

2. Supply

Ex: Caughlin Ranch

3. Demand

Ex: Caughlin Ranch

And sellers, after you've done all these things, don't forget the second part of that famous Bible quote...

"and innocent as dove"