Important Statistics for Sellers:

I'm wanting to sell my house. How can I get better educated on what type of statistics I need to review before selling? What statistics do I need to evaluate when selling my home? 

1.  What is the current average time on market for my area?  This is important because you need to be aware as to how long it will probably take to sell the home.  The hard part about the average time on market is that a lot of homes that sell end up selling within 30 days because they are priced perfectly.  Then you have homes that sit without much activity for 330 days because they are not priced well.  So the average time on market is really misleading because it accounts for all those homes that were overpriced for so long before they ended up lowering the price and selling.  Look at the average time on market as just a gauge for demand in a particular area. 

2. What is the average sales price for my area?  What about the median sales price?  This is important because every area is different.  If you live in an area that has really large and expensive homes and your home is half the size and in a small pocket not representative of the area than the average sales price and median sales price would not be a very good measure as to what your home is worth.  It would reflect a lot higher than what your home is actually worth.  In many cases though the average sales price and median sales price confirm what very accurately what the market it doing around your home and what your home could be worth too.

3. Of the homes that actually closed last month what was their average time on market?  The average time on market is very important because it will tell you how long it will take to sell your home.  You need to be able to get an idea as to the estimated time involved in a real estate sale.  It is very tough for sellers to always have their home in shape and looking good.  If the average time on market is 5 months then a seller needs to be mentally ready for tougher times ahead.  Sometimes sellers lose thousands of dollars in a sale because they lose patience and cannot stand always keeping the home "sale ready".  When an offer comes along they just accept instead of allowing the agent to maximize their profits.  Sellers need to be prepared for how long it should take to sell their home.  Also in weird markets the average time on market is not a very good measure as to the time it will take to sell their home.  For example, in a declining market homes will stay on the market for a very long time because as the home is be sold the prices decline and the sellers many times will not continue dropping the price with the home.  Then you have the other side of the coin where sellers understand the declining market and price their home 5%-10% below the market to adjust for a future decline providing value initially and the home sellers right away.  Well if you have 100 homes and 50 of them take 12 months to sell and then the other 50 take 1 month to sell then the average time on market is 6 months.  This is not a very good measure as to what the average time on market will be for your home sale because it depends on what the sellers' goals are and what they are wanting and able to do.

4. What percentage of these closed homes were bank owned, short sales or other distressed type properties?  This is important information because you need to understand who you are competing with.  If there is a mass quantity of homes available and there are a very high percentage of distressed properties than you will have to price your along the same line price points as those distressed homes to give your home a chance to sell.  If in your area there are a low percentage of distressed homes than you should price your home in line with the normal non-distressed home prices.  There are many factors involved when it comes to selling your home.  You need to have an agent who understands your market and can get the job done. 

5. What is the difference between the asking price and the selling price for the last two months of closed sales?  This is information is important to know because the seller needs to understand what kind of offers people will be writing on their home.  If there is a mass quantity of inventory and demand is slow than there should be a large gap between the asking price and selling price of closed sales.  When demand is high and inventory is low than the gap should be very small.  Sellers need to be prepared as to what the market is like and what people might offer for their home.  This information is crucial to the sellers bottom line and may completely change the sellers mind as to if they should sell their home in the first place.

Please provide me with the latest market condition report for the Portland Greater Metropolitan Area.  I understand that on this report it will have all the current statistics broken down by area.

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