Charlotte Property Management Weekly: What Does it Take to Sell a House in this Market?

Most of the calls for our rent-to-sell program (rent-to-own tenant placement into vacant homes for sale) are about addressing one primary need; unfortunately, that need is not for our rent-to-sell program (per se)! The need they are addressing is selling their home as quickly (and for as much money) as possible. If a company existed that could do this consistently, they would be inundated with business (and profits)! It would be like owning the only service station with gas in city limits.




Every real estate company says they can sell a home quickly and profitably for a variety of reasons:



“We have an 11-point marketing program for new home buyers!”






“I’ve forgotten more about Google search engine optimization than my competitors have ever known combined. Your house will be on top of the search engines!”






“My astrological sign is telling me that whatever I touch will sell. Like ‘Tommy Boy Sr.’, I could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves!”




Alas, most of these claims have limited validity in terms of their actual effectiveness. What really works in this economy is having:



1. A special, unique house in a desirable area that people really like

2. One of the lowest prices for sale on the block



These are the two extremes of the spectrum of houses for sale. One end has great, unique homes offered at full price; the other end has abandoned (or trashed) homes offered at fire sale prices (foreclosures, auctions, short sales, etc.).



What about the millions of houses for sale in the middle of the spectrum? That is, regular homes that can’t be severely discounted by the owners?



That is the million dollar question. As of now, there are no sure-fire ways to sell regular houses within 90 days and for near full price. For these homes, selling is largely a waiting game depending on a degree of luck.



How are regular houses being sold? After all, some do sell everyday somewhere in the world!



These sales are usually happening due to a relaxation of one of the two major contract terms- time or money. This type of trade off is necessary to make sales happen.



To sell within 90 days (time), the price (money) has to be lower than other comparable homes for sale. To sell for full price (money), the time needed to sell must be much longer (think years!).



For owners of vacant, regular homes that can’t discount steeply (and don’t want to eat their mortgage every month), we are recommending the rent-to-sell method of selling. Rent-to-sell is creating a market of willing buyers and willing sellers and putting them into lease option (aka rent-to-own or lease purchase) relationships. Or said more simply, rent-to-sell is placing wanna-be buyers (people who can’t qualify for a bank loan right now) into the homes of wanna-be sellers (owners who have their vacant, regular homes languishing on the market). The wanna-be buyers then rent the home for sale until they can buy it.



So how do you sell a regular home in this market? The answer is to either give in on price (huge cut) or time (rent-to-sell). It’s that simple.



What trade off are you willing to make to sell your home?



Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)