Over my first 25 years of real estate, most everyone used to say that the three most important items in real estate were location, location, location.  It seemed if you purchased property in a great location it did not matter what happened, it would go up in value.

Not True Any More

Location is still important in purchasing real estate and when someone considers purchasing they want to buy in the best location they can.  Most real estate experts say that they three most important things in real estate are price, price, and condition. 

Why?  In a price sensitive market, people are looking for the best value and they are more interested in what kind of “deal” they are getting compared to the location.  There are a lot of great properties in great locations that are listed for sale that have not had a showing in the last three months because the price is substantially higher than other similar properties that are in good locations.

Condition

People seem to be interested in buying properties they do not have to do any work on.  Years ago, there used to be a saying in real estate that said “the bucks is in the yucks”.  Today, it seems that people are not willing to fix homes up because there is such a large inventory of available properties and there is bound to be one out there in better condition than yours.

Staging

We have seen a lot of properties sell on Hilton Head simply because they were staged by a professional decorator.  Real Estate, even in a slow market, is still an emotional sale.  If the home shows well, looks good and is priced well, it has a much better chance of selling.