Williamstown real estate has for years been highly desirable. We understand the value of owning property in Williamstown MA. You want to sell your property for the highest price in the shortest amount of time and depend on us to get the price right in order to achieve that shared goal.
Here at Harsch Associates we work hard to get the price right before we list your Williamstown MA property whether it is a single family residence, a condo, or undeveloped land.
Priced right is half sold in this buyer's market. We use many sources to check the comparative properties sold in Williamstown in the past 12 months and add or subtract for differences in each particular property.
We recently began to take notice of the many "for sale" signs along busy Williamstown roads because they have become a permanent part of the landscape that doesn't seem to change over months. In the years prior to 2008 well priced properties sold much faster in Williamstown and the for sale signs were a temporary fixture.
Since the end of 2008 we can and do see "for sale" signs go up and then 6 months or a year later the signs are switched out for a new Real Estate Agency's sign. The seller wants to try a new real estate agent believing a new agency will overcome all obstacles to a sale ...this happens again and again seemingly without anyone realizing that "location liability" may be the prime issue that is preventing a sale not the agency with the listing.
In fact we know that you can think of at least 3 Williamstown homes/properties that you have driven by over the last 2 years which have switched out different agency "for sale" signs every six months. Many of the owners are on their third Real Estate Agency with no sale or even an offer in over 2 years. It is not the always current "buyer's market" causing this situation.
"Location liability" is something we always factor into the suggested listing price of a property. Many of these properties are affected by what we call the "Location liability". What is location liability? Read on...
Having a location liability will dramatically lower the potential buyers who will consider the property. The fewer the potential buyers the less the chance of an offer for the property..
These properties located on heavily traveled roads are affected by "the busy road factor". A residential property saddled with "busy road factor" is a like a hobbled horse and is going to go nowhere fast. A home seller can be literally dead in the water even prior to coming to the market if the seller does not account for the negative impact the "busy road factor" will have on their final sale price.
A potential buyer will be seriously considering whether living with the traffic noise, speeding drivers, potentially drunk drivers, lack of a pleasant view, the imminent danger to children and pets from moving traffic will be worth the asking price and subsequent issues (such as the cost of fencing, insurance, planting shrubs/trees to block the noise) that will be associated with all the above location liabilities. The seller should be considering how can I make this property the most desirable "buy" considering the issues that come with the property.
"Location, Location Location" is the real estate mantra. If your home is located on a busy road, you cannot change it. But you can change the price. In order to sell, it is necessary to price your home significantly lower than all other homes on the market with similar features but without "location liability" to attract buyers and overcome the location factor.
This "location liability factor" affects more properties than just those on busy roads! Some other location liability situations that are very tough sells even for the best agency when the market is very good are often located next to or near some of the following location liabilities:
- Poorly maintained neighborhoods/homes with much lower value
- Manufacturing or industrial sites
- Cemeteries
- Amusement parks or highly visible public gathering sites with a major noise factor
- Cell phone towers
- Windmill power generating sites
- Solar panel fields
- Industrial Parks
- Huge Power Lines/Transformers
- Gas Pipelines
- Landfills
- Airports
- Prisons
- Flood plains
- Train Tracks
- Shopping centers
- Gas Stations
- Open Land either that has undetermined development potential (who knows what will go in next year)
- Gun ranges
- Auto Salvage Yards and other disposal businesses
So how can you deal with the Location Liability Factor and still get the house/land SOLD?
SEE the property with OPEN eyes. Don't ignore the 1000 pound gorilla in the deal. Set your beginning price showing the buyer that you understand the location liability and have priced accordingly
- Show the BEST face possible. Change everything you can change for the positive. All repairs done, stage the home to focus on the BEST features.
- Work with a Full Time Experienced REALTOR® Your Harsch Associates Realtor® agent can guide you in pricing your home factoring in" location liability". Ask to see the market analysis to confirm that the asking price is a fair one based on comparative properties sold within the past year, not those sold 2-3 years ago when the market was much more active.
- Learn the magic four words in selling any property which are "I WILL CONSIDER IT". When buyers submit a purchase agreement for review, don't react emotionally and consider a low offer an insult. Make a Counter offer always and try to reach terms that are acceptable for both parties.
- Cultivate Patience. In most cases, a property affected by the Busy Road Factor, will required twice the market time to sell compared to a property not affected by location liabilities. Work with your Realtor(R) on modifying the price of the property until some interest is shown then patiently work through the offers until you have one you can live with. Do not allow the "For Sale" sign to become a permanent part of the property landscaping.