Selling a home can be an unpredictable pursuit with a plethora of variables. Here are data-driven pointers from Zillow Research that help identify which homes are likely to fly off the market (in 60 days or less):
- Keep calm and price it right. The housing market is improving, but take care not to overheat your listing price. Homes priced more than 12 percent above their Zestimate® 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 Zestimate and six percent above it — a range where homes sell about as quickly as those priced below their Zestimates.
- 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 nationally) 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.
For more information, visit Zillow Research.
