Preparing to sell your home can be a daunting and confusing process.
To provide clarity, local real estate agent Ashley Brigham of ARC Realty in Homewood answered some key questions to consider when starting the selling process.
Q: How should homeowners determine the right time to sell their home?
A: Really, over the last five years, there hasn’t been a bad time to list a home in Birmingham.
I would say, generally, the optimal time to list a home is in the spring. […] Our markets here really start to ramp up in February, and I would say our spring market runs all the way through Memorial Day.
Q: What factors should sellers consider when choosing a real estate agent?
A: Two main things: You need to trust your real estate agent, and they need to tell you things you’re not excited to hear. […] I think agents who are willing to say things to their clients and sellers that they might not want to hear usually do so because they care about their best interests.
Q: What are the pros and cons of selling by owner versus using an agent?
A: Whenever I have someone ask me about for sale by owner versus listing with me, I tell them […] real estate really falls somewhere between an art and a science in terms of how it operates as a business, and there are a lot of nuances to real estate […] that can get lost in a for sale by owner situation.
When you list for sale by owner, you open yourself up to more risk from a liability perspective. Agents are trained in ethics and in handling a variety of situations to decrease liability. At the end of the day, we are responsible for making sure a transaction runs smoothly and complies with all the ethics and laws that govern practicing real estate in Alabama.
Q: Are there market-specific challenges first-time sellers should prepare for?
A: Right now, a big challenge is rates. They’re high. […] So that is a challenge buyers are facing coming into the market. And sellers […] need to be prepared and have that conversation with their agent about how that affects buyers.
Inventory has been consistently low in our market areas for the last several years, and it’s an ongoing challenge that benefits sellers in many areas. But it’s something that […] any seller needs to discuss with their agent to understand how it might affect their specific market.
Q: What advice do you give sellers about pricing their home competitively?
A: This is the most important piece in selling your home. […] It is the conversation that I spend the most time on with my sellers. […] It is the best way to set yourself up for success in a sale, and if you overprice your home, it can be the quickest way to lose momentum. […] I often see homes that are overpriced struggle to sell and end up selling […] for less than they probably should have, just because they sat on the market for so long.
