First Day High-Price Blues
The most crucial time for your home is the first 10 days on the market. Once your home is on the MLS, you will see how much interest is generated. If your price is too high, buyers will pass you by because the home is out of their price range or out of kilter in the market area. By the time you decide to lower the price, they have moved on to other properties. As your home sits on the market, buyers will wonder why the home has not sold and conclude that it’s undesirable in some way. Price it correctly from the start to generate interest and gain attention from buyers to sell faster. Unrealistic pricing costs money in the long run. Not long ago, I listed a nice home that should have been priced at $420,000. It was in a nice neighborhood but the home backed to a busy road and had older carpet and needed paint. Additionally, the HOA would not allow fences. The sellers thought that my suggested market value was too low and insisted on setting the list price at $450,000. This price would have been realistic if the home was freshly updated and did not back to the busy road. What do you think happened? Initially we had some showings but not a big response. The home sat on the market for 6 months when most homes in this hot market were selling in less than 30 days. Eventually after several price reductions, the home sold for $399,000. I truly believe that if the home was originally priced at $420,000, it would have sold immediately for list price and likely a little higher. The sellers unrealistic pricing cost them at least $20,000 and six months of additional house payments and property taxes.
Un-rushed High Pricing
Even if you’re not in a hurry to sell, it’s not a wise move to test the
66
Powered by FlippingBook