I’m sure most of you have heard some of the common real estate myths out there. Although they may contain some truth, they tend to be fairly black and white instead of the gray area that lives somewhere in the middle. Here are some of the more frequently heard myths and the real truth about them.
1. The first offer is always the best. This one is usually true. When a home first goes on the market, it has the most appeal to buyers. It is usually when you will have the most activity and hopefully generate an offer. Generally, the longer the home is on the market the less the offers tend to be when they come in. Buyers assume if your home as been on the market awhile the seller is desperate to sell or there is something wrong with the property. Either way, the offers tend to get lower the more days it has been on the market.
2. If your house sells quickly, it wasnít priced high enough. This is usually not true. If your home sells quickly, it was priced correctly. Buyers are smart these days and do their homework. A buyer knows when a home is priced competitively and will choose this home more often than one they know is overpriced. A home that is priced correctly will usually sell for closer to asking price and in a shorter amount of time as opposed to an overpriced home that will take longer to sell and will usually have to settle for a much lower price.
3. I donít have to fix anything, I will just lower my price. Unless the property is in foreclosure, buyers will expect things to be in working order. If a buyer knows things arenít working or they notice a lot of deferred maintenance, they will either give you a low ball offer or no offer at all. Sellers are usually money ahead to fix any problems they are aware of before they put their house on the market.
4. I don’t need to spend the money on an attorney at closing. Definitely not true! Most of the time, closings happen without an issue. If you do have a problem at your closing, you will wish you had spent the money to hire an attorney. Realtors cannot practice law and will be unable to help you with any legal issues that may arise. For most people, buying a home is the largest purchase they will ever make. It seems silly not to spend several hundred dollars to have an attorney represent you when you may be spending several hundred thousand dollars to purchase your home. If something does come up before or during the closing, you have an attorney there to represent you and if not, you still have the piece of mind that an attorney reviewed the closing documents before you signed them.
5. The 3 most important things in real estate are location, location & location. This one used to be true but since the housing market crash several years ago, the 3 most important things now are price, price and price. While it is still true that location matters to buyers and can impact the price, it is a buyerís market and they are looking for a good value. If there are 2 similar houses at the same price and one has a superior location that one will probably sell first, but generally speaking in this market, buyers are looking for the best condition, location and price they can get and price is usually the most important factor.
Although some of these real estate myths are true, not everything in real estate is black or white. Depending on the situation, there is a broad gray area. Working with a local Realtor will help you successfully navigate the pitfalls of the real estate market.