Make it appealing, but price it right

In a market where inventory keeps growing and sales keep slowing, sellers and builders are turning to feng shui, the unseen world of energy, and Catholic saints to get their homes sold.

INVENTORY: The number of homes on the market today has grown 28 percent since the end of 2006 to 6,203 homes.

Condo inventory is up 11 percent from the end of 2006 to 9,598 condos, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

PRICING: “Any time you get a changing market where we’ve got a heavy inventory, you see all of these things come out,” said Tom Maeser, president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate. “I hate to disillusion everyone but there’s only one reason a house doesn’t sell and that’s price.”

Offer to pay your buyer’s closing costs even if you have to raise the price of the home. Buyers usually need more help with upfront costs than they do on their monthly mortgage payment.

STAGING: Home stagers on the Grand Strand are seeing a surge of interest from real estate agents, who are filling up staging classes in order to learn how to make a home “pop” for guests.

The goal is to make the home feel good, so buyers stay longer, and focus their attention on the home’s best points.

Michael Corbett, author of the book “Ready, Set, Sold!,” talks about home staging: the importance of curb appeal; making it smell good; adding flowers and plants.

Corbett says the main thing is to make those needed repairs, declutter and depersonalize, and take your pets out. He says, “Save it, store it, sell it or chuck it.”

Source: Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC