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The Science Behind the Sale
Time To Wait LaDoris and Steven Puryear needed four months to sell their house in Springfield, but they were in no hurry and got the original list price.
(Buyer's Advantage)
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The sellers did not agree to be interviewed, but Salton said she had discussed with them why the price needed to be adjusted and why staying on the market for so long was making their situation worse.
Salton didn't like being in the position of "chasing the market down." And she said the lack of bids proved her theory that time is not a friend to home sellers.
"When your house goes on the market, the most showings will be in the first five weeks, particularly in weeks two and three. After five weeks, things just drop off. That's why it's so critical that it be priced properly and that it put its best face forward right when it goes on the market."
Paint, clean the decks and siding, or change carpets before you go on the market, she said. But be warned: "You can still get lowball offers in this market."
Kevin Miles, who bought the Ashburn house, said, "What stood out about the house is that it had a lot of the features that my wife and I really wanted and it showed really well. And the house looked like it was very well maintained."
Having a separate dining room was a must for Miles's wife, Tammy. Both wanted the extra space in the bedrooms after being in a townhouse with a 3-year-old and an infant. And they loved the two-car garage.
But it was the price that really got them interested, said Miles, who works for a defense contractor. The couple had looked with agent Charlie Rose of Long & Foster at about 22 other houses in Springfield and Ashburn. Their budget was $600,000. "When we saw this house, it had everything we wanted and the price was right."
Another plus: The sellers paid their closing costs.
Stagecraft
Meg O'Connell's empty condo in the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria was on the market for four months before she received an offer she and her husband would accept.
"We tried a lot of things," she recalled. "We thought, 'Oh, gosh, the appeal of Old Town is going to be the biggest draw.' "
But, "With all of the new properties on the market, we were just not able to compete."
So O'Connell, who lives in North Carolina, worked with agent Kelly Virbickas of the Schaeffer-Chetrit Group of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dupont Circle to even the odds. Their eventual solution? Staging -- meaning they hired a company to decorate the property so it looked warm and cozy.
