Attention Homeowners! Keep Showing!

Everyday there seems to be more stories about the housing market being "soft," "declining," etc. from all different media outlets.  While many of these stories are blown out of proportion, the fact of the matter is that most parts of the country are in the middle of a buyer's market.  One story that based in truth, but also exaggerated by the media, is the state of the mortgage industry.  The media likes to toss around words like "crisis" and "meltdown," but truthfully, we are merely returning to a more "normal" mortgage market where buyers are facing stricter guidelines to be approved for a loan.

If you are a seller in the current market, your home has probably taken longer than you had hoped to receive an offer that you found acceptable.  It is quite likely that you've grown tired of the whole process of keeping your home in showing condition and having buyers come through your home interrupting your life.  Once you've finally agreed on a price with a buyer, you probably feel a sense of relief that the process is over.  Unfortunately, the process is just beginning, and getting to the closing table requires much more effort than just agreeing on a price.  In fact, when a deal falls apart, you usually have to begin the process all over again, but it doesn't have to be that way.

In the current market, deals die all of the time, at various stages of the sales cycle.  While there is no way that you can be 100% certain that the deal will be consummated, you can take measures to make sure that the chances of closing are maximized.  So what can you do to maximize your chances of having a successful closing?  I can't speak for the rest of the country, but these are the steps that you should take when selling a home on Long Island.

1. Choose the most qualified buyer, whether or not they are the highest offer.
2. Have your attorney send contracts out right away.
3. When the contracts come back, make an appointment to sign them right away.

All of the above suggestions are fairly logical, although greed sometimes gets the best of people and they choose the highest offer even when the buyer is not qualified.  The one suggestion that is not made often enough to sellers is that they should KEEP SHOWING THE HOME UNTIL IT IS IN FULL CONTRACT!  As a seller, you may not want to hear this advice, but it is something that you need to hear.  No deal is guaranteed, and you should not lull yourself into a false sense of security that your deal is done upon agreeing on a selling price.

Is it inconvenient to keep showing a home when you think that you've found your buyer already?  Absolutely.  Do you feel like the buyers are the ones that you want to buy your home because you like them?  Maybe, but you shouldn't let your emotions or sense of loyalty prevent you from making a smart business decision.  As emotional as the home selling process can be, you must do whatever you can to put your emotions aside and treat the sale of your home as a business transaction. 

• In a worst-case-scenario, you may end up with a back-up offer (or back-up offers) in case the deal falls through.

• You keep the pressure on the buyers to act swiftly in having the home inspected and signing the contracts as soon as they reach the buyer's attorney's office.

• Most importantly, you are able to negotiate from a position of strength when the home is still on the market, instead of a position of weakness if the home has to go back on the market.  Homebuyers today stay on top of things, and if they know that a deal died, they will inevitably make lower offers if they sense desperation.

We all must face the realities of the market when selling a home.  The reality of the current market is that there are more sellers than buyers.  The ideal buyer is ready, willing and able to close on a home.  If a buyer does not meet all three of these very important criteria, then they are not ideal, and may very well be considered "risky." 

Home sellers on Long Island, I encourage you to take the road less traveled, and keep showing your home until it is in full contract.  It may seem like an unnecessary inconvenience, but in the long run, you'll be better off than the home sellers that have to put their homes back on the market when a deal falls through.