Selling Real Estate in Pagosa Springs
There’s no question about it, if you are thinking about selling your real estate here in Pagosa Springs or Archuleta County, you are facing a brutal market. As we kick in to 2012, we have over 1200 properties for sale right. More than 370 homes, 800 parcels of land, close to 100 commercial properties and a few dozen ranches are up for grabs, and these are just listings on the MLS. There are likely dozens if not hundreds more properties for sale as owner sales and pocket listings. We also expect there’s a fairly significant “shadow inventory” of homes and properties that are in some stage of foreclosure which will end up on the market in the coming months. That’s in a county of just over 12,000 people. Wow.
On the other hand, as we begin the 2012 selling season, it should be noted we saw over 500 property sales (a 20% increase over 2010) to the tune of $114 million dollars in 2011 (a 31% increase over 2010), and again, that’s just sales that have gone through the MLS. Certainly a few dollars more have sold in private transactions (find the movie title in that last sentence and I’ll buy you a beer).
If your property is priced right, is presented properly, and gets exposed to serious buyers, it will sell. In fact, if these three things are done correctly and in a carefully considered fashion, your property will likely sell quickly. More than a third of the homes sold this year sold in less than 90 days and about two thirds of the home sales took less than 6 months.
If you bought high and expect to sell high, it’s not likely to happen. But if you need to get your property sold, or just want to, and carefully consider the market we are in, it is possible to get it done.
So, how do you do it? These are the three keys: Price, Presentation, Exposure.
Price:
The best way to determine what the best price for your property is, is a careful market analysis. Typically we call them Competitive Market Analysis (CMA’s), but why don’t we just substitute “Careful” for “Competitive”? If it’s not done carefully, you’ll never compete. Worse yet, you could over compete – sell your property for less than you should. Ask Lisa or I to write one up for you. We'll do it free of charge with no obligation. Of course, if you don't list with us, you'll break our hearts, but we'll live.
Presentation:
We could find you the perfect, most saleable price for your property (the sweet spot), but if it’s presented poorly, the buyer is likely to move right on to one of the other 1700 properties. If you’re selling a home, it has to look sharp – from the road as the buyer approaches it, to the buyer’s first impression walking in, right to that back closet you haven’t looked in for 6 months. If it’s a parcel of land, the same holds. Got a bunch of standing dead trees or brush? Maybe a broken down fence or a bit of junk (“hey – I’ve got plans for that old ’42 Willys”). Well, maybe a bit of clearing is in order.
Exposure:
Bill Clinton’s famous campaign remark “It’s the economy, stupid” could just as easily be applied to real estate sales today: “It’s the Internet, stupid.” OK, I’m not calling you stupid, but I hope you get my point. If your property is not fully exposed on the internet, you will miss 80% of the buyers out there, maybe more. How do you get that exposure? Find a good broker (or brokers – remember Lisa and I?) who has some internet savvy and who belongs to a good Multiple Listing Service and demand he or she do the job you are paying them to do. A sign out front doesn’t do it any more.
Thanks for visiting, more soon - Joe LaMastra, January 5, 2012
