It is no secret that real estate transactions in Jamaica have slowed somewhat in recent times. There has been an increase in local housing inventory and homes in general are staying on the market for longer periods than before. This can be attributed to the effect of the global recession on Jamaica's economy, the associated job losses, tightening of credit restrictions and general uncertainity. If you are a homeowner looking to sell during these difficult times, there are a few things you can do to help get your home sold as quickly as possible.
1. Ensure your home stands out from the crowd. Because there is much more home inventory available now, potential buyers have more choices than normal. You want to ensure that your home has as much appeal as possible to potential buyers, so make minor repairs, declutter, and repaint and redecorate where possible. Buyers may not want a home that they consider too much of a fixer-upper. This is even more important where your house is in a development where units very similar to yours may also be up for sale.
2. Ensure your home is priced to sell. Get an opinion of value from a reputable, professional valuator. This costs less than a full valuation report and is a good guide to pricing your home. Also, when the market is trending downwards and inventory is slow moving, the longer your house is on the market, the more value it loses. If the average time that it takes a house to sell now is 4 months, try to look ahead and ensure that your house is priced today at a figure which would be competitive in 4 months time. This will help avoid you chasing the market by having to reduce your price multiple times in order to attract offers.
3. Ensure your house is visible to buyers. Unless you are lucky enough to get a successful offer right off the bat, putting one advertisement in the newspaper classifieds is not enough. Plan to advertise your home for at least 4 weeks straight in order to ensure you reach as many readers as possible. Also, budget to spend a little extra for more words and bold text to make your ad stand out. Send out flyers to friends and family and ask them to let others know that your house is on the market. Letting a real estate agent advertise the house for you is also a good option, but just remember that you have to pay a commission. Utilize high traffic internet real estate classified ad websites like PropertyAdsJa.com which get lots of visitors, let you advertise your property with pictures, and which send leads from interested parties straight to you.
4. Be patient. Remember that buyers are now more discerning and it's taking longer these days for everyone to sell. Also do bear in mind that it's more difficult now to qualify for mortgage credit, which could be a challenge for some potential buyers.
If your house is attractive, priced right, and visible, you will connect with the right buyer soon enough!