Today’s real estate market unequivocally favors sellers, and it’s been that way for a few years now. Buyer demand has held firm while list and sale prices have risen dramatically. Even as new construction has slowed and interest rates have risen, sellers find themselves in an excellent position, especially in enviable neighborhoods in and around Denver. If you’re looking to sell, now’s the time to go through with it.
It’s fair to say that sellers should be confident given current market conditions and buyer behavior. There’s a difference, though, between confidence and rashness — between doing it right and cutting corners. That difference can mean many thousands of dollars and is most apparent in the way some sellers are listing their homes on the market.
A certain kind of real estate agent notices the glut of sellers on the market and sees dollar signs. They figure it’s faster to match sellers with off-market buyers, or to list their homes on the market for just one day. Instead of delivering their clients the best possible price, which takes patience and effort, they advertise speed disguised as efficiency. Vulnerable sellers may jump at the first few bids and end up leaving far too much money that could have been made in negotiations. That’s why it’s vital to know the differences between listing for a few weeks versus one day or not at all.
For the purposes of this guide, we’ll refer to sped-up / off-market sales as the “rush order approach” and our sales as the “Elevated Life approach.” Use this guide to determine which agent’s approach will benefit you during your sale. Remember, a successful sale benefits you before anyone else.
1. Offers fielded
Fielding offers is fundamental to the vast majority of luxury home sales. A quality agent will work with you to set a list price that leads to the highest offer price, both through the number of bids and the types of bids.
Rush order approach
Say you cap your home’s listing for a single day. If it gets full-price offers in just a day, that indicates that it should have sold for more. If you sell your home off-market, that data point disappears, and you live with the possibility that the property could have netted you much more money. As a rule of thumb, question any agent who wants to conduct your sale privately, behind closed doors.
Elevated Life approach
Whereas expedited sales lack data, a thorough sales process takes advantage of data (and might only take a week). First, we competitively price your home. Once your house is on the market, we pay close attention to bidding patterns, including provisions like backup bids. If a buyer loves your home and places a backup bid, they essentially pay you extra to guarantee they get the last say in a bidding escalation.
2. Local inventory and demand
In any housing market, supply and demand correlate with list and sales prices. When the inventory of homes on the market is less than the demand for purchases, you’re selling in a seller’s market. That’s the case in Denver County: in the past year, inventory is down 10% and the average sales price for a single-family home is up 12.8%.
Rush order approach
As mentioned above, the conditions for a seller’s market tempt slick agents and uninformed sellers to cut corners in the sales process. If the average sales price is trending up by 10%, sellers might assume they can make less of an effort. So when an agent promises them an instant sale, it’s hard to say no — without industry knowledge, how can such clients ask relevant questions or formulate an objection?
Elevated Life approach
In June 2022, the average Denver County home spent nine days on the market (up from seven days in June 2021). Let’s make an extremely conservative estimate and say we list your home for 21 days. If you’d gone with the rush order approach, your home would have stayed on the market for one day max. What would the housing market have to be like for the rush order approach to win?
The median sales price for a single-family home in Denver County has increased virtually every month since January 2017. Aurora, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch real estate — it’s all selling. On a micro scale, the bidding for a luxury home follows that same path: the sales price can only increase. So to make more of a profit on your sale in a single day than in 21 days, you’d have to make one of two irrational conclusions: (1) that the Denver housing market will crash in the next three weeks, or (2) that out of hundreds of prospective buyers, your ideal buyer will find you on day one and blow away the competition with an extravagant offer.
3. Buyer pool and community buzz
Successful marketing and community buzz lead to a larger buyer pool and an escalating bidding war for your house.
Rush order approach
Without successful marketing, your buyer pool shrinks, and you don’t benefit from high online ratings or word-of-mouth. In this respect, the rush order approach seems designed for sellers who are in an absolute time crunch and must sell their house in a matter of hours. Even if you’re diametrically opposed to home staging, a savvy online listing can spark conversations centered on your property.
Elevated Life approach
Think of your buyer pool as a demand chain. The better photos and marketing you have, the more buyers will view and favorite your house online. Some buyers will contact your agent directly and others will show up at your open house. The better your home is staged, the more buyers will be impressed at showings, leading to a larger serious buyer pool. From there, you’re poised to field a high volume of quality offers and ultimately make the most on your sale.
Choose the best real estate market to secure or sell your home
After learning about our approach to selling homes, you can now make an informed decision about moving forward with your real estate transaction. Whether you’re interested in buying or selling Denver-area properties like Highlands Ranch real estate, you need to work with a real estate team with a high level of expertise in the luxury real estate market.
Elevated Life Real Estate has accrued 100-plus years of combined real estate experience and successfully guided numerous buyers and sellers through various real estate markets. They are a top-rated team with a large amount of knowledge of Colorado real estate. Reach out to the team directly when you are ready to buy or sell imminently.
