This new year, 2018, brings in with it some real-estate related changes and trends you need to be aware if selling a home in Martinsburg and Hagerstown in 2018 is your goal.
A lot of it has to do with the Internet, young buyers now becoming able to buy, and certain legislative changes. But no matter what comes along in 2018, if you pay heed to these urgent things, you should be prepared.
Selling A Home In Martinsburg and Hagerstown – 5 Urgent Things You Need To Do Now
1. Use More Online Listings and Marketing
Consider this startling statistic: 95% of buyers use the Internet when searching for a home to purchase. So if you’re not using the Internet for selling a home in Martinsburg and Hagerstown in 2018, then you’re falling behind. Online marketing and listings are now essential.
First, you can pay a little extra at the major online real-estate search portals to have your home featured, thus garnering many more views.You can also do a lot yourself by utilizing your personal social media accounts, especially the biggies like Facebook and Twitter.
2. Adjust for Supply and Demand Equalizing
Currently, supply is slowly catching up with demand, and, as result, it will cease to be a purely seller’s market later in the year. This means you will have to make some pricing adjustments and probably put more effort into marketing.
The good news is buyers won’t be experiencing such a sense of frustration and will be out actively searching again. And with price increases slowing, they may be able to actually find and purchase a home that aligns with their financial needs.
3. Use Coming-Soon Listings
Some agencies have had marked success using coming-soon listings (another part of aggressive online marketing). Those involved in real estate are grasping the sales process and the value of a sales funnel. So try to get buyers into the mouth of the funnel with coming-soon listings and hugely increase your chances of selling a home in Martinsburg and Hagerstown in 2018 during its first week on the market.
4. Be Ready for Millennials
Even though many of them are saddled with student loan debt, the millennials are coming, and a good portion of them will be looking to buy a home. Their incomes are growing, and many of them are finding ready access to home financing.
Millennials will make up the largest US generation to reach the 20-to-30-year-old age range when people begin to settle down, start families, and buy homes. In fact, by the end of 2018, millennials could account for 43% of home buyers taking out a mortgage. And since mortgage rates are predicted to reach 5% by the end of 2018, these millennials will likely be very eager to buy while rates are lower.
Knowing that these people will be a huge share of your target market will just make marketing and related tasks that much easier.
5. Hit the Basics Even Harder
Yes, 2018 brings new challenges and new solutions. But even more of it will remain the same, so you need to keep hammering away those things that have been proven to work. You know, prepping the home adequately, pricing right according to market value, being willing to negotiate skillfully, and so on.
With the huge influx of millennials into the home-buying market, one of the basics will become more important than ever. And that is staging. For successfully selling a home in Martinsburg and Hagerstown in 2018, you probably need to engage the services of a home staging professional.
Truthfully, selling a home in Martinsburg and Hagerstown in 2018 is much the same as it has always been – with change as the one constant. But knowing these 5 urgent things you need to do now will help you meet the challenges on the very near horizon.