Who are Texas’ home sellers?

A recent study of home sellers in Texas has revealed some interesting details about who our sellers are, what they want from us, and how their motivations are changing. Here are our favorite highlights from the 35th Annual Home Buyers and Sellers Survey provided by NAR.

Home sellers are moving for a lot of reasons. The number one reason in 2016 was job relocation, followed by the need for more space, a change in the family situation or in the neighborhood. Those reasons, only account for a little more than half of home sales, however. You’ll need to be prepared to handle a large variety of situations and requests from your seller to make their move easier.

Here are the highlights from the report. In a few days, we’ll take a look at Texas buyers.

Home Sellers and Their Selling Experience

• The typical home seller was 46 years with a median household income of $105,600.
• For all sellers, the most commonly cited reason for selling their home was:

o     job relocation (24 percent),

o    the home was too small (16 percent),

o    change in family situation, like a marriage, birth of a child, or divorce. (12 percent),

o    neighborhood had become less desirable (12 percent).

• Sellers typically lived in their home for 9 years before selling.
• Eighty-eight percent of home sellers worked with a real estate agent to sell their home.
• For recently sold homes, the final sales price was a median 99 percent of the final listing.
• Recently sold homes were on the market for a median of four weeks.
• Forty-four percent of all sellers offered incentives to attract buyers.
• This year, home sellers cited that they sold their homes for a median of $43,250 more than they purchased it.
• Sixty-two percent of sellers were very satisfied with the selling process.

Home Selling and Real Estate Professionals

• Sixty-seven percent of sellers found their agent through a referral from a friend, neighbor, or relative or used an agent they had worked with before to buy or sell a home.
• Seventy-nine percent of recent sellers contacted only one agent before finding the right agent they worked with to sell their home.
• Eighty-seven percent of sellers listed their homes on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
• Agents receive their compensation predominantly from sellers at 70 percent.
• The typical seller has recommended their agent once since selling their home.
• Eighty-five percent said that they would definitely (73 percent) or probably (10 percent) recommend their agent for future services.