With apologies to an icon of advertising copy, this is not your father’s real estate market. If you’ve been living in your home for a fair number of years and are entertaining the idea of selling it, Brendon DeSimone would like you to know that time is your enemy — and your friend.
The New York real estate agent and blogger has written a book aimed at demystifying what he calls the “new language of real estate.” Though the book, “Next Generation Real Estate: New Rules for Smarter Home Buying & Faster Selling,” is aimed at helping buyers and sellers, in an edited interview he focused on the things he thinks sellers, especially those who haven’t dipped a toe into real estate waters for a number of years, ought to keep in mind:
Q: Have you seen home sellers, particularly people who haven’t been through the process in quite a while, do things to sabotage their sales?
A: For one thing, they don’t know how much technology can influence who’s shopping for a home and how they go about it. Some people decide to list a home “just to see what happens,” and their agent sticks a sign in their yard. And there the house may sit and sit because it hasn’t been priced properly or isn’t really physically ready to sell.
Twenty years ago, only a few buyers would have noticed that sign (lingering) in front of your house. But not today, because something called “days on market” is out there for every buyer to see. Your local multiple listing service will keep a running count of how long it’s been for sale. And in this next generation of real estate, days on market are the thing that every buyer and every agent use to judge how well a home is priced, how it’s faring in the market and how motivated the seller is. The longer the DOM ticks, the more your house becomes damaged goods.
