"Inventory is low, so if you have your house on the market and is priced well, it's going to sell," says Hartnett, a National Association of Realtors regional vice president and an agent with Keller Williams Realty Boise.
Home sales in Idaho and many other U.S. locales are rebounding this fall as low prices, improved consumer confidence and rock-bottom mortgage rates bring buyers out. At the same time, many would-be sellers are either too discouraged to put homes on the market or are waiting for prices to rise, creating a shortage of available homes in much of the country.
"People who've been thinking of moving back home will look at some houses when they come for a visit, and finding the perfect place will push them into action," she says. "But if your place isn't on the market, they won't see it."
Houses that boast green grass and lush gardens in the spring, though, look a lot less inviting during the fall.
Here are six things Hartnett recommends all would-be sellers do this autumn to adjust for that and get a home moving:
Give your home a cozy smell
Fall brings back childhood memories of hayrides and Thanksgiving dinners for many, and Hartnett recommends maximizing your place's "homey" feeling this time of year.
The Realtor always has spiced cider, fresh-baked cookies or other warm and friendly fare cooking up in during showings and open houses at properties she's listing.
"We take some big old pots and dump cider in them, then warm it up and the whole house smells good," Hartnett says. "It's just a warm, homey smell that makes people feel good when they enter."
She places cider and cookies ready for serving in a strategically out-of-the-way place visitors reach only after touring the house. That way Hartnett has a chance to "pitch" the house to buyers while they snack.
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