Shelbyville, TN Home Sellers: Price It Right Now

I've had a handful of sellers ask me lately why their neighbor's house sold in three weeks last year and theirs is still sitting. The honest answer is the market underneath our feet in Shelbyville has shifted, and pricing strategy matters more right now than it has in a long time. This is not a market where you can guess high and let buyers negotiate you down. It is a market where the first two weeks of a listing decide most of the outcome.

Here is what the numbers actually show. In Shelbyville, homes are taking around 66 days to sell, down slightly from 74 days a year ago, according to Redfin. Meanwhile the median sale price sits around $295,000, up a modest 2.6 percent from last year. Movoto's data puts current active inventory at 247 homes with a median list price closer to $358,000, which tells me there is a real gap between what sellers are asking and what buyers are actually paying. That gap is where overpriced listings go to sit.

Part of this comes down to money buyers are borrowing. The 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.65 percent as of Freddie Mac's most recent report, and while that is down slightly from earlier this summer, it still shapes what a buyer can comfortably offer. Buyers are doing math at the kitchen table before they ever call about a showing, and if your price does not match what similar homes nearby actually sold for, they scroll past you. Across Tennessee right now, nearly one in five listings has had to cut its price at least once. That is a sign of sellers starting too high and paying for it in days on the market.

My advice to anyone thinking about listing in Bedford County this fall is simple. Sit down before you list and look honestly at what nearby homes actually sold for, not what similar homes are asking, and not what your house was worth two years ago. Get the small stuff handled up front, fresh paint, a tidy yard, obvious repairs, so buyers do not have a reason to talk themselves into a lowball offer. A home priced right and shown well in Shelbyville right now can still move quickly. A home priced on hope tends to sit until the seller drops it anyway, just later and after losing momentum.

If you are weighing whether now is the right time to sell, or you just want a straight answer on what your home would actually bring in today's market, I'm happy to walk through it with you. I'm Charlie Coffey, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Southern Realty (TN License #378739) serving Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tullahoma, and the greater Middle Tennessee area. No pressure, just a real conversation about your numbers.