You are hearing about the real estate slide which is true in many parts of the country.  But, it all comes down to price, condition & location, location, location!!! 

Desirable towns and cities like Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, are areas that offer superb location due to the strong and stable economic factors including 2 major univeristies, continue to sell quickly when priced right. 

My latest listing went from listed to sold in 1 day - just by someone knowing this listing was coming on the market they called me and it was put under contract for full price.  My listing just prior to that went from listed to sold in 14 days.  Another of my previous listings, after being marketed unsuccessfully by another realtor in town, I received a call with the plea of "Get My Home Sold ASAP".  We did some minor updating and within weeks it was under contract as well.  Why, because the home was now positioned as the best home against competing properties and were perceived as true values.  This created a sense of urgency as buyers realized the value and made them know they needed to react.  In addition, I use the internet to market very heavily on various sites, so the exposure is increased about 500% (realtor.com statistic).

I had one client recently who saw a property the first day on the market, before the 1st open house.  Seeing and realizing the value and knowing that if it got to Sunday there would be many people who would see the same, my client came in above asking just to take it off the market.  If they had waited, the likely-hood was high that it would have sold for much more with multiple parties trying to purchase the property.

Why did this happen?  The property was priced right and was in a great location.  People are always looking for location.  Their next question is if the property has and offers value.  In this particular case, the answer was yes. 

 The most important time frame for a seller is the first 7-14 days.  The people coming through the door in this time frame are almost the most knowledgeable, understand the market, market values and are in the buying mode.  That is why they are out to see the property immediately when it comes on.  People who come in the later weeks are usually just starting their search and beginning to build their knowledge base for what they want and what values are in the market place.

The most important thing to note is that most buyers who come to a property, leave and don't make an offer, and won't be back.  They have assessed that the property is not right for them usually based that at the given price it is not the right property.  Even when the price eventually comes down, all they will remember is that it was wrong..  Not that it now may be a good value.  It is rare that they will come back.

The motto here?  Price it right to start and it will get sold, sold quickly and hopefully with multiple interested parties that will give you the highest price possible.  Call Christine to help you make the Smart Move!