My fishin’ story and selling your house

My dad was a big fisherman. He loved go to the Tennessee River and spend a weekend drifting down the river. Many times, he would take my younger brother and me along.

As a boy, patience is usually not high on the list, but dad would make us sit as still and quietly as possible after baiting our hooks and dropping our lines.

This is where the fishin' story comes in. I sometimes tell it when I list a home for sale: One day, while sitting quietly for at least five minutes, I decided my bait was not doing its job. I thought if I reeled in my line and put fresh bait on I would stand a better chance of getting a fish on the hook So, I started reeling. Just as my hook cleared the water, I caught site of a fish swimming toward the bait, mouth open. Had I left it in the water a little longer, I would have probably had the fish. The thing dad was trying to teach us (other than, be quite, you'll scare the fish) was patience, which usually is a valuable thing later in life.

This is what I try to tell clients I work with. Especially home sellers. Next to pricing a home correctly, patience is a must. Buyers will buy according to their schedule. I know keeping your house on the market over an extended period gets old, but it's just the way the market is at this time. No one knows when it will get better.

With that said, homes are still selling. Not as many or as quickly as they once did, but some are selling. As a home seller, you should always keep your property in showing condition and make it as convenient to show as possible. If you turn away a prospective buyer whose agent has requested a showing, you may have turned away the buyer of your home.

Checking homes in several subdivisions around Waxhaw, The Oaks on Providence, Hermitage Place, Kingston on Providence and Alma Village show a large drop in home sales this year from previous years. Homes are for sale in those subdivisions, just not as many buyers. The last I checked, interest rates were posted at less than 5% for a 30 year fixed loan and unit inventory is still high, about a 13-month supply as of 7/10/2010 in Union County, NC. If you are planning to buy, now might be the time to act.