HOW TO SELL IN A BUYER'S MARKET - San Antonio and New Braunfels Sellers Tell You How To Do It In Days....

With more than half of the sellers dropping prices in the San Antonio-New Braunfels area, some see this as not the best time to sell a home.  But these three sellers prove that belief wrong as all got contracts on their homes within the first 10 days without giving up on their target price or having to do anything major to their homes!  Here is how they did it:

Sellers #1:  Northwest San Antonio in Wildhorse (mid 200K price point)

This retired couple have been planning to relocate to the Midwest to be near family.  They owned their home in Wildhorse (NW San Antonio) for more than -- years and had cared for it well and kept it immaculate.  They were overthinking all the things they may have to do to the home to put it on the market and were worried the transition from this home to the next would take a long time and be expensive if the San Antonio home would not sell and they may have two mortgages for a while.  We sat down and worked out a short list of items to knock out prior to listing the home (much shorter than they anticipated).  They did not include any major renovations -- just decluttering and some maintenance items. A few weeks later, they were ready, we listed within a few days with professional photos at the highest price the market could support.  They received multiple offers in the first few days, they chose one, the inspection went well, the home appraised and we closed exactly 30 days from the day the listing agreement was signed!  They transitioned smoothly to the home they chose in their new hometown -- loading the truck in San Antonio, signing the closing paperwork and driving straight up north and signing on their new home there!

Seller #2: Helotes 600K price point

This seller was ready to downsize after her family moved out and she faced retirement in a few years.  We met and came up with a list of items, including replacing carpet and doing some minor touch up painting.  A few weeks later, I revisited the Helotes home and it looked like a model she had done such a great job! As she wasn't living in most of the rooms, we staged the home to highlight the floor plan, maximize the listing photography and pique buyers' imaginations.  It did not need professional cleaning as she kept it spotless. We got professional photos to include aerials because of the home's unusually large yard size, its location on a dedicated forest greenbelt and because the outlying area showed beautifully. Keep in mind, this home was a bit of what we call a 'unicorn' in the business, because it is special and hard to find even though it was located in a gated community with a builder stock floor plan. Because of the high inventory in the area, she decided to price it fairly instead of as high as she could go. Still, this gave her fantastic equity to use as a down payment on the next house and and an expected quicker sale. Sure enough, once listed, we had good showings (--- in the first week) with all positive feedback, several considered offering and the buyers that made the move first got the home! --- days after listing, this seller closed.  We had negotiated a leaseback for her (allowing her to stay in the home for a week while she transitioned to her new home.  We found that next home during the first few weeks (after having the luxury of looking at 43 homes) while her sale was under contract and her speedy lender is closing 11 business days after receiving the contract. The home is bought was actually one day on the market, and still the seller paid half her closing costs, did ALL the repairs she requested and accepted an offer less than asking price. She will be driving the moving van straight from her old house to her new one.  Talk about a perfect scenario!!  The odds of this happening in a competitive market, like Covid or when interest rates drop, are slim.

Seller #3: New Braunfels 500K price point

"Moving for love" by his own description, this seller is relocating up north to closer to his girlfriend. After meeting with me, he decided now was the right time. Again, I was fortunate in that his home showed better than a model home -- with high-end upgrades he'd made and his design style.  After we met, and he'd seen the projected net proceeds for his home, he ran upstate and contracted with a builder to build a home from the ground up.  He chose to sell now and live in an apartment during the construction of his home rather than waiting because the numbers all looked good.  As he had to do nothing to the home, it was that pristine, we were able to list within a few days of our first listing visit.  Again, despite high inventory in that price point in New Braunfels, his home received a healthy number of showings in the first 10 days and we received an offer which we negotiated successfully and he was able to move up north for love with healthy equity to put down on his next home.

Factors that make now the Best Time to Sell a Home in San Antonio & New Braunfels?

1. If you must be or want to be contingent on the sale of your home to purchase another.  Because of high inventory and longer days on the market, sellers who might have originally listed homes that were either incorrectly priced or ill-presented are finding them sitting.  In many cases, these sellers have realized their errors and have re-priced and/or done the things to the home they should have done originally to list it (i.e., replaced carpet, refreshed paint, even just a professional cleaning).  These sellers can be ready to 'make a deal' and are often willing to accept contingent offers.  
2. If you aren't greedy and are willing to accept what, in most cases for homes purchased pre-Covid, is amazing equity, then this is the time for you.  It is very neighborhood contingent but in the entire market, the average home gained ---% equity from 2018-2025. There are exceptions to that. Seller #3 above bought his home during Covid and still managed to walk away with ---- equity.
3. If you are willing to invest the time and money up front into making your home well-presented and well staged.  What does that mean?  It depends on the home and what buyers are seeking at that price point.  Meeting with an experienced realtor who works full time in the business and represents both buyers and sellers is vital because what buyers look for changes year to year and market to market.  Seeing the competition helps a realtor advise the best framework for success.  The worst plan is to list as it is and 'see' what buyers don't like before addressing it. Not replacing carpet because you think the buyers would rather choose their own carpet does not work.  Buyers want to walk into a home that is move-in ready.  Not many have the imagination required to see the value in doing their own improvements. Light staging helps them envision themselves there.
4. Finally, if you are willing to invest in regular cleaning and yard maintenance. This seems like a no-brainer but it is discouraging how many sellers miss this important commitment.