Learn how to make the best of a market in transition

To sell, or not to sell? That might be the question for a modern-day Hamlet if he found himself among home sellers who face a growing number of “For Sale” signs on the Clark County landscape. Despair not, according to real estate experts, who say home owners can increase their chances of selling in a reasonable amount of time by following a few good guidelines.

While the local housing market hasn’t reached the high drama of a Shakespearian tragedy, this year it became perplexing to buyers faced with a maze of choices and owners trying to distinguish their home from the next. It’s a tricky time to be either buying or selling a house.

The inventory of houses on the Clark County market has steadily increased, rising from a seven-month supply in March up to 12 months in September, according to Portland-based Regional Multiple Listing Service. The number means it would take 12 months to sell all the homes on the market if no new listings were added.

In September 2006, the RMLS reported a 6.4-month supply of houses for sale in the county. This year’s market represents a vast change from the boom times of 2005, when RMLS data for September recorded a 2.6-month supply of homes for sale. In 2005, “buyers learned they had to get there early and offer a bit more just to get the house,” said Scott Mikel, a real estate broker and owner of Scott Mikel and Associates in Vancouver. “Now, we’re seeing buyers offering less money and asking for more in the way of repairs.”

“To thine own self be true.”

Sellers must face reality and realize the red-hot market has faded, Mikel said. “The problem is the sellers still think it’s a sellers’ market and the buyers think it’s a buyers’ market. We’re in a transition period,” Mikel said, an interval characterized by home prices that have softened by nearly 3 percent countywide.

Sellers need to put ego (and stubbornness) aside when it comes to setting an asking price, said Lisa Wunder, a real estate agent with the Vancouver office of ReMax Equity Group “Home owners are disappointed because their values are not where they hoped they would be. They’re still good values, it’s just not what we saw in 2005,” said Wunder, who specializes in pre-owned home sales.

To set an asking price for a new listing, Wunder researches only the most recent selling prices of comparable homes nearby. “I don’t look at anything further back than three months and I look at pending sales in the last six to eight weeks,” Wunder said. “That gives us an idea of how the home needs to be priced to be in line with offers being made.”

When it comes to prices, buyers appear to be more informed, said Chad Sessions, a broker with Prudential NW Properties in east Vancouver.

Armed with information from Internet sites such as RealEstate.com and Realtytrac, “buyers need to feel like they’re getting a fair price” because they know how much similar homes are selling for, Sessions said. “They have more resources and they’re definitely savvy, which means sellers have to be priced right at what the market is bearing,” he said.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

Curb appeal has taken on even greater importance these days because buyers won’t think twice about a home that looks like too much work, said Terrie Cox, a real estate expert with ReMax Equity Group in Vancouver. Your home’s exterior “is a direct reflection of how you keep the rest of your home,” Cox said. “Start with fresh bark dust and a clean yard that’s free of debris with bushes and trees trimmed away from the house. The roof should also be clean of moss and the gutters should be crisply painted, not mildewy,” Cox said.

For the interior, “I would probably hire a good house cleaner prior to putting the home on the market,” said Cox, who advises clients to “De-clutter. Use plastic bins to organize your things.” A vase of fresh flowers makes a good impression just inside the home’s main entrance. “That’s where people stand and wait when they first come into the house, so get rid of the cobwebs,” she said.

Cox also counsels clients to pay for inspections up front and put the report where potential buyers can see it. “If you’ve had the furnace serviced, tape a copy of the report right to the furnace,” Cox said. “Take care of objections before they pop up. You’ll have less to overcome at the time of the sale.”

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.”

Despite their best efforts, sellers may still end up paying for repair work to appease interested buyers, said broker Mikel. “In the past, sellers have said, ‘No, I’m not doing the repairs.’ That has started to shift with the building inventory (of homes on the market),” he said.

Mikel said he sometimes acts as a buffer between buyer and seller “to keep the emotional level under control.” He called the cooling market an often humbling experience for sellers. “Because buyers can walk away at any time and they’re not that easy to come by,” Mikel said. “It’s important to do what it takes to bring the deal together. A good agent will help you do that.”