Looking for some advice from this group on selling used homes in your community. We’re located in the Champaign, IL MSA. We have two homes currently available for sale. Both homes have been deep cleaned and are in good move-in condition.
We have ran a few different ads. The “3 Bed / 2 Bath for $395” ad has generated a ton of clicks and more than 20 inquiries. The “3 Bed / 2 Bath for $30,000” has generated a few hundred clicks but less inquiries.
To screen for qualified residents only, we have required they have a $4,500 (15%) down payment to purchase the home. This seems to nearly eliminate interested parties, even if they have good credit and jobs. We are set up on 21 Cash and several times prospective residents would have qualified for a loan with only $1,500 (5%) down.
Should we be lowering the down payment required to 5% in order to get more prospective residents touring the home and submitting applications or should we hold steady on our 15% requirement?
Stick built homes can be purchased for $120,000 in our community so we believe the $30,000 is a fair price for our homes.
Any guidance is very helpful. Thank you!!
They are each being marketed for $30,000. We have had great interest from Facebook Marketplace.
Sounds like you answered your own question by saying $4500 down seems to eliminate most interested parties. We find the same to be true. I would experiment with a lower down payment.
The 3 bed 3 bath for $395 seems deceptive. Is that the monthly payment? If you say home for $395 but then require $4500 down, you are enticing a low priced customer then switching the requirement to a huge down payment. I would think that could cause trouble selling the home because you are attracting somebody looking for a bargain price, then you require a large down payment that was not expected. They see the sticker shock then move on.
There is no use in attracting somebody expecting to pay $395 if you know they cannot afford $4500. You are just wasting your time and theirs.
Not that this is the only way, but we may have an ad that says “$1800 down payment and $600 per month for 48 months.” That is very clear to the customer and if they cannot afford the $1800, they don’t call.
It seems like you’re looking to customize your profile settings. You might want to explore the options in your account preferences to adjust things to your liking.