[Thinking of selling] bad news, good news, bad news for Charleston home sellers
The bad news for Charleston home sellers is that only one of two homes that are listed for sale actually sell. The good news is that every home can sell if you really want to sell it. The bad news is that you really have to want to sell it if you're going to be successful.
Here are the statistics for the past 2 years from the Charleston MLS. Last year, 19,360 homes were listed for sale and 8849 homes sold which is 46 percent. This year (to date) is a little better with 15363 homes listed for sale (by the way, it's good news that fewer homes came on the market) and 8436 homes have sold which is 55 percent. But no matter whether it's 46 or 55 percent, that's still around 50 percent and you probably won't be very happy if you're on the unsold side.
If you want to sell your home in Charleston, I'd love to list it. I'm actually more of a buyer's agent than a listing agent only because I'm somewhat selective when accepting a listing. You see, if I don't think that a home will sell, why bother to spend the time and money only to fail.
There are several things that every home seller can do in order to sell their home.
Price is obviously important and sellers have to be realistic when pricing their home for sale. If your home is in pristine condition, all the better but if it isn't, it should be priced accordingly.
Availability is second. If buyers can't view the home without too many restrictions on showing times and dates and the amount of notice necessary in order to make an appointment to view the home, it makes a home more difficult to sell.
Third is flexibility. Everything is negotiable so it only makes sense to be willing to compromise somewhat in order to accomplish your goal.
Fourth would be to be open to suggestions. If feedback from agents showing your home repeatedly points out why their buyer didn't choose your home over others, heeding their advice and making the necessary changes is smart.
Finally, it's important for you to balance logic with emotion. Sure it's your home, you probably have loved living there but in reality, it's just a house to everyone out looking until someone makes an offer and wants to make it their home.
Disclaimer: If your home is currently listed with a Charleston real estate agent, this is not a solicitation for your listing.