It seems most people have to come to the same conclusion we have. The busiest time of the year is right around the corner. The sellers realize that if there is a time to sell, it's now. That being said, I've been on a lot of listing appointments lately. Listing appointments seem to be getting more difficult mainly due to the intervention of the government and all the additional bills, credits, and attempted market motivation. I'll spare you my opinion on any of that.
To add to the the short term perfect storm, the tax credit contract date is set to expire on April 30th. Rates have finally started to creep upward which contrary to popular opinion actually increases activity. The constant preaching of real estate professionals has fallen on deaf ears as market affordability has dipped. We know that people, by nature, are procrastinators. The "I'll get to it tomorrow" attitude has nipped a few in the butt as they missed the perfect time to buy (2 months ago). Luckily affordability is still at a 37 year low, which is simply hard to comprehend. Intuitively prices still seem high, but relative to average income and interest rates we are sitting pretty.
Now because of all of these factors listing appointments seem to be getting very difficult. To clarify I'm not suggesting I'm having a hard time getting listings, but tackling the questions associated with a listing is becoming an ever daunting task.
The usual questions about marketing are always asked. This question can become a lengthy discussion or a quick "they are all over the web" depending on the customer and their age. Even if the sellers aren't Internet or social media educated they have realized the power, and reach of the Internet. There is little opposition after some explanation.
The most interesting question I'm facing lately is about time frame, aggression, and simply how important it is that we get it sold in the next ~65 days. Being faced with the question of speculation puts me in an uncomfortably comfortable situation. When considering the facts, it seems very wise to be aggressive now versus later, but I've been forced to be professional and not act as an economist.
The above is obviously a perfect segway into pricing. Realistic sellers have seen the light and have agreed to price ahead of the market curve. The key is to generate excitement about a listing, not to overprice one and create the unlikely situation of an acceptable offer on an overpriced listing. The key as a Realtor has been sticking to your guns. The saying that "numbers don't lie" is fairly true in real estate, but properly adjusting for condition is somewhere the ball gets dropped.
I discussed a proposed listing price with a potential seller for 30 minutes today covering all of the different scenarios and why I decided on the price I choose. We covered the "I want to pad myself a bit because I won't get a full price offer." We covered the "What should my bottom line be?" We covered the multiple offer situation. We covered just about every scenario to get the seller the maximum net at the end of the day.
I suppose my point is that sellers need more education than ever. I'm actually planning on inserting a lot of new materials into my listing presentation. There are some graphs in "SHIFT" that very accurately define the benefits of listing at the right price and what it does for average DOM (days of market), and sales price. Are you educating, explaining, and showing sellers everything they need to be successful and why it's important that they do these things? Everyone believes the property they own is worth more than it really is, the key is to show them what it's really worth and what it will take to sell it in a reasonable amount of time.
Comments(6)