Sellers Must Think Differently, Get Creative to Move Properties in Down Market

Helen Kolker and her husband, Jason, are selling their home themselves and are getting creative to find a buyer, according to today’s Sun-Sentinel.

The couple paid $295 to have their $519,000 Nautica Sound home featured on the Multiple Listing Service. They’re also trying to sweeten the deal by giving the eventual buyer a one-year service warranty for the appliances and paying the homeowners association dues for a year.

“It’s just like any business. If you want to market that business, you’ve got to think of different ways to do it,” said Helen Kolker, 36.

Selling a home in South Florida is no easy task. Since last summer, the number of homes for sale has doubled in Palm Beach County and tripled in Broward. As a result, many people are turning to perks, gimmicks and well-connected real estate agents for help.

While those might prove successful, experts believe that ultimately, the best formula is offering a clean home at a fair price.

Because of the glut of inventory, sellers must be realistic about prices. Agents say homes are priced correctly in today’s environment if the list price comes in at 1-3 percent above market value.

“Right now pricing is everything,” said Pam Orr, an agent with Balistreri Realty in Lighthouse Point.

One of Orr’s clients kept that in mind and ended up finding a buyer without ever formally listing the house for sale. Laura Averdesian thought about putting her three-bedroom Pompano Beach home on the market last summer for$450,000. She decided to wait until April, but by then the South Florida housing market had cooled.

Orr and partner Barbara Kelly told Averdesian that she had to lower her asking price, so she agreed to list the home for $439,900. The agents showed the home to a buyer who made an offer immediately. After some minor negotiation, they agreed to a price of $430,000.

So what did Averdesian learn from the process?

“You gotta pick the right Realtor, and you can’t list the home for some ridiculous price. People are savvy out there, and they don’t want to get ripped off,” the 43-year-old single mother said.

The five-year housing boom of 2000-2005 attracted thousands of wannabe agents nationwide. Many obtained their real estate licenses, hoping to cash in with quick sales and commissions, even though they have little or no experience in the profession. Sellers should hire seasoned agents, those who are used to marketing homes in tough times.

Experienced agents have the ability to draw on their vast contacts and get homes as much exposure as possible, Heilman said. To help one another find buyers, 70 or more agents from several real estate firms gather in one home for sale and share ideas and insight.

“You have to market to other agents because there are so few buyers out there,” Heilman said.

Year-over-year existing single-family home sales fell 34 percent in June in Broward County and 39 percent in Palm Beach County, the Florida Association of Realtors says. Experts say the seller’s market started transitioning to a buyer’s market shortly after Hurricane Wilma battered South Florida last October.

In a buyer’s market, sellers must think differently to capture people’s attention. Cathy Prenner, an agent with Campbell & Rosemurgy in Deerfield Beach, recommends people start advertising in magazines and international journals, not just the local multiple listing service, because many prospective buyers are coming from overseas.

“A lot of local people can’t afford to move,” Prenner said, noting the steep property tax hits that South Floridians take when they move within the area.

Another key for sellers: sprucing up, or staging homes to make good first impressions. That means neutral colors and no clutter or pet smells. Even something as simple as the aroma of a freshly baked pie or cookies will help make potential buyers feel emotionally attached to a home.

In fact, many sellers now are hiring professional stagers to offer tips for making their houses more inviting. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP), based in Concord, Calif., was founded in 2002 and now has 1,168 members nationwide, including 138 in Florida.

With Florida mortgage loans up significantly from a year ago, and home prices resulting in sticker shock for many would-be buyers, it’s certainly worth a shot.