It is no secret that it is currently a buyers’ market for houses and condos.  Sellers are facing the prospect of listing their properties for less than they bought them for, and sometimes less than what they owe on their mortgages.  If you bought your current two bedroom condo for $500,000, you may looking at a market where prices are in the $300,000-$400,000 range or even less. So what do you do if you want to sell your condo?

 

One option is to list it for the price you want and hope it sells.  This involves playing up your condo’s advantages and making it extremely attractive to buyers.  Condos come with amenities like pools, maintenance, security, gyms, tennis courts, and a condominium association.  There is a definite advantage to living in a condo because you get these features that you may not have been able to afford on your own. 

 

If you are selling, you also need to make your condo look as good as possible.  Clean, clean, clean before you have potential buyers visit.  Have some plants, make the lighting inviting, make sure small repairs are taken care of, make it smell nice.  Anything you can do to make your condo seem homey is necessary.  You need to convince people that this could be their home. 

 

If your home isn’t selling, enlist the aid of an experienced realtor.  They know the market, as well as tips to showcase your condo. You can get advice on covering some of the closing costs or financing costs for an interested buyer, review your asking price, or discover new ways to advertise your condo.  Reviewing your asking price is particularly important – you may need to come down in order to sell.  You may also have to include financial incentives to buyers.

 

If you find that selling at this time is not the most financially prudent thing to do, you can pursue a lease option. This is an area where an experienced realtor can help you. In a lease option, you locate an interested party.  This party may not want to purchase for a number of reasons, but leasing may be ideal.  This is a basic overview of how this works:

 

• The owner agrees to lease the condo for a specified period, usually one to three years.
• At the end of the lease period, the lessee has the option of buying the home at a preset price.

 

This allows owners to settle their property sooner in down markets. It also benefits the lessee because a lot of the time, a portion of their rent can go towards the down payment if they decide to purchase the condo at the end of the lease period.

 

Condos are more susceptible and sensitive to fluctuations in the housing market, so a leasing option may be the best way to handle the sale of your condo.  Work with your realtor to try to sell your condo; but if you find the price is not right, try leasing.