How Long Will It Take to Sell

How Long Will it Take To Sell My Property?

A big question that is very difficult in all honesty to answer accurately.  What I will tell you is based upon statistics from the MLS of past, timing when to place your property on the market, correctly listing your property at a price that is acceptable to the market conditions and the effectiveness of your listing Realtor.

Here are some current statistics pulled from the Summit Association of Realtors Multiple Listing System, for 2013, which remarkably do not vary hugely from year to year.  The statistic used is Days On Market (DOM).

Single family homes in the Breckenridge area take on average 255 Days on Market, for Summit County as a whole 218 DOM.

Townhomes and Duplexes for Breckenridge are at 229 DOM and Summit County 178 DOM.

Condominiums for Breckenridge are at 246 DOM and Summit County 255 DOM.

Vacant land for Breckenridge at 670 DOM and Summit County 649 DOM.

So these are the average figures, which are obviously affected by the supply and demand for the particular product.  With current market conditions for Breckenridge and Summit County, I predict that these figures will go up slightly over the next 12 months.  Our supply is slowly increasing and our prices will level out this year.  When compared to the rest of the nation, this is an extremely good situation to be in during a recession!

If a property is listed at a price that is too high for the market then it will take longer to sell, either by adjusting the price down or waiting until the market catches up with the price that you are asking.  If a property is priced to high you will not get the support of the Realtors to show the property because it is a waste of their precious time with their client.  Clients spend a lot of money to come to Breckenridge and Summit county to look at property.  Airfares, lodging, time off work and a good Realtor is conscientious of this and will want to use their time as effectively as possible.  If a broker has viewed and over-priced property they will not really want to support showing it again and will also tell their colleagues their opinion of it.  It is paramount to have a listing that is supported and liked by the Realtor community, 95% of the time it will be a cooperative broker that sells the property.

Having a good Realtor to represent you in selling the property has a direct potential on how long it will take to sell the property also.  Make sure the broker that you choose is highly experienced and is a full time professional.  Not a part time Realtor who has another job.  Ask what the Realtors Gross Dollar Volume was for the last few years.  You want someone and a company that is fully dedicated to selling your property.  The company will need to be available to show your property up to 363 days of the year.  You would be suprised how many times I have tried to set up a showing with another company only to find that the listing office is closed.  Ask exactly what this broker is going to do to sell the property, see examples of their marketing.

The real estate market in Breckenridge and Summit County is quite cyclical.  Over 70 % of all real estate transactions occur during the summer months.  This is because many people will visit Breckenridge or the area in the ski season.  They are generally with their family and friends and here for skiing.  They then get curious about owning property here and invariably walk into a real estate office or pick up one of the local real estate magazines.  They will probably want to see one or two properties, but not take up too much time from their ski vacation.  The Realtor will try and show them a few properties which in ski season  can be difficult.  Many properties, especially condos are occupied with guests and obtaining access is either impossible or limited.  So if the Realtor and potenital Buyer are lucky, they may get into one or two properties.  However, the Buyer many times feels as though they did not see all the properties they wished to see or did not have time to investigate more thoroughly.  They will end up coming out in the summer to see what Breckenridge and Summit County are like.   When they visit in the summer there are more properties on the market as most Sellers will put there property up for sale after the ski season when most of the rental income for the year has been collected.  

This means there is more choice available for a Buyer to look at in the summer.  So, most of the sales occur from June through October, before the next ski season.  This is why even in a very hot market, the average days on market for a property to sell is approximately 180 -200 days (if it is priced right)  according to the MLS (Multiple Listing System) statistics.

There is also the strategy of listing the property in ski season, as there is less competition, meaning less similar type properties for sale and the Buyer has an incentive to buy and assume income for the rest of the season.  This obviously only works for certain types of property that are on a rental program already.

If you have a property that has a super garden or water feature that is only visible in the summer, then that is propbably the best time to sell in the shortest period of time. 

Ultimately the best thing to do is speak with your Realtor about marketing strategies and how it could affect or maximize the potential of getting the property sold in a reasonable amount of time at the best possible price.

If you would like to discuss this further, please give me a call, Andrew Biggin at 970-547-7751