It’s not always about location, location, location-although location is important. Lots of other factors make a house hot and another one not. Here are some pointers from Zillow Research that help identify which homes are likely to fly off the market.
Keep calm and price it right : The housing market is improving, but do not overprice your home. Homes priced more than 12 percent above their estimated home values are almost half as likely to sell in 60 days as those priced closer to their estimated values. The sweet spot is between the estimated home value and six percent above it.
Take a picture, but not too many : The optimal number of listing photos is 16 to 21, but it’s better to have too many than too few. Having fewer than nine photos lowers your chances of selling in 60 days by two percentage points.
Size matters : As a rule, smaller homes (under 1,100 square feet) sell the fastest – about nine percentage points faster than the largest homes in a 60 day window – but that doesn’t hold true for all markets. In San Francisco and Indianapolis, for example, small homes take the longest to sell.
Get the word out : Page views on Zillow are a strong indicator of how quickly a home will sell. Listings with 280 or more page views in the first week were three times as likely to sell in 60 days as those with fewer than 100 views. That’s powerful incentive to make sure your agent spreads the word early by posting your listing online.
