Sellers /On May 12, 2017

How Long Should It Take To Sell My Home?, Part 3: Competition

Back

How long should it take to sell my home?

That’s a great question, and absent a crystal ball, we have to rely on market data to answer that question. There are several things to consider, one being competition.

You must also remember that not all competition is comparable. What I mean by that is that buyers don’t always just consider a single neighborhood. A typical buyer will look at homes in a variety of neighborhoods, as well as new construction. Usually those homes fall into a certain price range that the buyer can afford, and also share other common traits like a particular school district, or a community pool, or a commuting distance to a military base or other workplace. In order to really drill down on predicting odds of selling, those calculations should be made using several different parameters (neighborhood, price range, school district, etc.).

A 27% chance of selling in 6 months seems slim. Yes, it does. And, that’s exactly why you must be careful not to get too focused on medians or averages – in both cases, although some homes sell more quickly, others take longer.

I am always amazed at how many listings expire after not selling in the first 6 months on the market. It’s not unusual for that number to be as much as 50%!

That’s precisely why the “days on market” calculation is the least reliable. Although the MLS system will generate a report showing us how many days a listing has been on the market, it does not show how many days the same house may have been on the market under a prior listing.

Click below to download "How Long Should it Take to Sell My Home?" and have all of your questions answered!

Are you interested in hot real estate topics, tips and trends?
Click below to subscribe to our blog!

Lynnette Tully

Previous Post View All Next Post

Browse by topics

About the company

Liz Moore & Associates is a boutique real estate agency renowned for having the region's top agents, with extensive market knowledge and local expertise that is only achieved through relentless training coupled with Liz's extremely high standards for professionalism. When you're buying or selling a home, experience matters.