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If you have read any of our most recent Denver real estate blogs, then you know that our crazy 2021 real estate market has cooled off some. However, maybe you’re thinking about selling your home and wanting to know what this means for you.

The truth is, if you’ve talked to anyone in the real estate market recently, you may hear them say something like, “It is crazy how quickly this market changed”, or “It is so slow right now.” Even though I generally agree with these two statements, I am not acting nearly as surprised or worried as many agents. Sure, this could be because I am in a unique position where I work on the transactions of some of the top producing agents in Denver, allowing me to have a bird’s eye view on the market that most agents don’t have. It could also be because this seasonal slowdown is something I suspected, simply because it is seasonal and like Old Faithful, happens every year around this time. This year’s slowdown also seems more drastic for many simply due to the crazy, record hot summer the Denver real estate market is coming off of. Enough about how this slowdown is not concerning right now, let’s talk about what it means to you as a homeowner thinking about selling your home. 

First, and probably the most important thing to know is that values are still strong. Homes are still selling (and often for over list), and it’s still a good time to sell your home, if you have to. So, then why am I even taking the time to write this article? Well, I want to make sure that you have a realistic expectation for your home selling journey. 

The most important thing a seller can do right now to sell their home is price it correctly. When we are coming from a hot market, especially one like spring and summer of 2021, a mistake listing agents or sellers often make is overpricing their home during a cool off in the market. In June or July, you could look at the most recent comparable home (comp) in your neighborhood and price your home right at or slightly above that home, and you’d likely sell in the first week and over list with multiple offers. Now, it’s important to understand that buyers have more choices and can be pickier than before. We no longer can look at the most recent comp and price it at or above that price point.

The best strategy right now is to make sure your agent studies the most recent comps and what is currently for sale to come up with a realistic price point to start with. In fact, right now starting a tad lower could result in a higher sales price. The reason for this is if a home is priced correctly or even slightly lower, then you will get more buyers through the home, and those buyers are still willing to go over list for the right property. By allowing more buyers to see the home and getting those bidding wars, you will get a higher sales price than if you start higher and only get a small handful of showings. Buyers are still comfortable offering over list, in fact they expect it. So, if you start too high and a buyer is not willing to go over that starting price, they simply move on. However, if the property sits on the market for more than a week or you are forced to do a price reduction, now the buyer’s mindset is they can get it below the new list price. This strategy will almost always result in a lower sales price.

TK Homes takes extreme pride in correctly pricing and valuing homes to ensure that the sellers get the highest possible sales price, ultimately netting you more money at the closing table. Before TK Homes lists any home, we create an in-depth market analysis to determine what homebuyers would be willing to pay for your home and use this to help you price your home correctly. We also take advantage of what we learn from other REALTORÒs’ transactions that we are involved in to help us keep up with the market conditions. This ensures we are deploying the best pricing strategies for today’s market conditions.

The second most important aspect of selling your home right now in Denver’s cooler real estate market is making sure your home is showing it’s best from the beginning. You only get one first impression. During this fall market, we will take a bit more time to ensure your home is properly staged for photos and showings. This will include removing larger furniture and any personal items that make the house feel like home to you but a house to a potential buyer. It is also important to continue to keep up on exterior landscaping, so it continues to show its best, even as we head into cooler fall and winter months. The extra attention to staging and exterior appeal will help make your home stand out from the competition in your neighborhood.

This fall slowdown is easily predicted and is nothing to get concerned about. It’s also short lived. Historically, once we get to mid-December, the tide starts to change, and although it’s stays cold outside, the market starts to come back to life. Often, many sellers choose not to list their home in December due to the holidays. However, buyers realize if they go under contract in mid-December, they will close after the first of the year. Is there any better way to start off the New Year than with a new home! This creates a feeding frenzy, if you will, for the few homes that are on the market during this period. In fact, this is when my wife and I personally chose to sell our first home. We listed it on December 18^th in the middle of a blizzard, and we had 14 offers with an average of $20,000 over list. If I were to sell again, I would not hesitate to sell in December again.

We hope that this article helps shed some light on how to effectively sell your home in today’s cooler Denver real estate market. If you’ve thought about selling  your home earlier in 2021, now could be the best time to act (make sure you see our recent article for buyers and the current slower market). Contact us today and let’s talk about your real estate goals and how we can make them a reality!      

~ Written by CEO/REALTOR® Trevor Kohlhepp