More than ever I am noticing that I am getting a lot of very positive feedback from the agents who show my listings and from agents on broker caravan tours BUT no offers. Hummmm....
The agents tell me, 'The house is awesome!' and 'The price is on-target.' and 'You'll have no trouble selling pretty quickly.' Then there is always that BUT...it's their buyer's second choice or their buyer isn't in a hurry to buy yet, or the master closet is too small, etc.
Quite often I have agents write down what they think the home value is on the back of their business cards during the caravan and then I share them with the sellers. Most of the time, I'm within 5% although sometimes up to 10% off if the seller is "testing the market." Yet even on the listings that are within 5% of the agents' suggested list/sales price, 30 days will pass and there are no offers.
As agents I think we are a bit desensitized to the market. We preview active listings to help price a home and try to list our new listing at no more than what's on the market and preferably for less money. But we have to remember that those active listings haven't sold yet. Also, we have to remember that sold listings are history and may not reflect today's market, even if the sold listing is only a month or two old (remember there was an escrow period and marketing period as well.)
Most importantly, we have to look at the market from the buyers' standpoint...most are worried the market will go down so they want to feel they have some padding in the sales price if that happens. Low interest rates are enough to bring them out to look at a home but a good value is what is going to make them put their pen to paper and bring their money to the table.
I came up with an idea to have open house attendees write what they think of a home's value on a card and/or fill out a short questionnaire at the end of an open house so I can show first-hand buyer feedback to the seller.
Any thoughts on this??
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