Now’s a Good Time to Put That Hard-to-Sell Home on the Market

[Published on Jan. 15, 2015, adapted from a column originally published on May 29, 2014. What I wrote then is just as true now.]

In “normal” times, some homes are harder to sell than others. However, these are not normal times. Homes which would normally be hard to sell can sell quickly now.

Take the example of a home backing to a busy highway. In the past I would have expected such a home to sit on the market for a long time, as buyers went for other homes with little or no traffic noise.

Nowadays, there is such a shortage of listings and such an abundance of buyers that buyers are being much less picky. That house next to a highway, even if priced above what it would probably appraise for, can attract multiple offers before even holding an open house. If priced right (see my column above), those offers would likely be above full price.

Homes have other negatives besides highway noise.  Perhaps the home is close to a power line, or the adjoining properties are unattractive, or the driveway is steep and north facing.  There are lots of reasons why buyers might have looked elsewhere in the past, but those considerations are out the window, because the typical buyer has lost out on so many offers to buy other homes that he/she is willing to accept conditions which might have turned him or her off in earlier times.