When listing a property, Realtors generally try to ring a representative sample of comparable homes to the table that have recently sold in order to accurately determine what an appropriate asking price is. And, for homes in areas of similar neighbouring homes, this is fairly easy to calculate... but what about unique properties? Worse yet, what about unique premium properties - or carriage trade as they are often referred to? A sub-division home that should sell for a predictable amount should sell fairly quickly in a good market when priced properly - but for carriage trade this isn't always so. Some of these homes SHOULD be hard to sell in order to ensure the seller receive the maximum value available at that time in the market.
But having said that - what does "hard to sell" really mean? If you are getting plenty of interest from qualified buyers, second showings, requests for information, but no offers - then is that being hard to sell, or just not selling at all? How long qualifies as hard to sell? Or are you just waiting for that "right buyer" to come along? And is that buyer a lottery win or a legitimate possibility? With unique properties the questions can get pretty difficult and knowing what to advise your clients on, or when to get hard nosed about price and negotiations can be a difficult and touchy task.
Many owners of unique signature style homes, or those in prestigious and hard to recreate locations, can have an over-inflated sense of value for their "one of a kind" property. One of a kind it may be - but it isn't the only one of a kind home on the market, of that you can be sure. And it doesn't matter if it's a country shack in the woods beside an ideal pond that many could afford - or a million plus dollar mansion overlooking everything around it, overpriced will kill the interest.
And once the initial peak of interest has passed, finding the one buyer who will love that property for what your owner's feel it's worth will become more and more difficult. Interested buyers who moved through in the early days may come to accept that they won't be buying that property even though it has now come down to a more reasonable price. People tend to move forwards, not back. So, while a seller may be patient and in no rush, keep in mind and make certain they understand that their patience may - in the end - result in a lower price than they would have received if they had just lowered their price earlier when it was obvious that people just weren't buying their home at their price.
So, what's the answer - who knows, every situation is different with unique properties. But certainly, if you are getting lots of nibbles but no bites after a reasonable period, it's often better to change the bait than to stick with the same lure that hasn't caught anything yet.
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