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) If one has an updated kitchen and the other is all original from 1970, then the former will have more value. While location is key and timeliness is vital, features cannot be ignored.
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68 Comments on Setting your Price. What are comparables?
Good advice Valerie.
Tony and Suzanne: What a challenge - to be competitive you have to be lower that other sales and anticipate any further declines during the sale!
John: Forgive you? Heck no, I applaud you for such a well written, thorough and thougt out comment. Thank you.
Tammie: Nearness in place AND time. So true and yet so difficult for a Seller who want the same or more than the neighbour.
Gail: I like your approach - after all the comparables are made, one house may sell faster and with a better offer simply because it shows well and is in move-in ready condition.
Love this picture. I think the appraiser for my last listing (5 br / 3 ba) used the home in this photo! I enjoyed the read.
These are points that sellers need to understand - but often don't. In addition, I see agents in our market who haven't learned how to choose comparables or make the required adjustments. They seem to think those on-line forms are "good enough" to use in setting a price. Not so!
Nice post. Right pricing is certainly key!
Hi Valerie
Good post great info. Now all you have to do is convince mister seller his Home is not so much better as he thinks it is LOL.........Brad
Knowing the market well and knowing what properties are true comparables is an art. Many FSBO sellers show me properties that the think are comparable to their homes and just aren't. This will make or break your sale.
Stephanie: Thanks.
Mike: Did it sell? LOL
Marte: That is why a Seller needs to see if the Listing agent knows the neighbourhood and the market. It is so important.
Brenda and Ron: Thanks
Brad: When you know the magic words, would you sent them to me? :-)
Dennis and Terri: I live in a unique home and am constantly on the alert for any other places that I would consider to be similar (same architect, same neighbourhood, same size). When I go to sell I am going to have to ask for help in the office because, of course, my house is better.
Valerie, One of the issues that has plagued me in this market is the problem of the declining market. For years , I gave the seller the benefit of the doubt and priced the property slightly higher than market with an intent of reducing dependng on activity. What I have found with the declining market is sometimes it's hard to get on the right side of the curve; meaning if you are losing value at a $1000 a month and you are $5000 too high, you may never catch the market and end out with an expired. It's been tricky getting this point across to the sellers.
Good Job Val. A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) Must Be Researched Diligently to be of Any Value, then exploited as Guidance, Not Gospel.
Hunt: Holy cow - $1,000 per month may mean that you never catch up. I feel badly for your sellers.
Randall: Good graph. Imagine knowing that you will get 60% of potential buyers coming to see your house and deciding that you would rather price it high and get only 10%
A seller asked me if I was a ordinary salesperson or a superior salesman, so I responded, what is your definition between the two? He replied, a superior salesperson will close a sale regardless of price or other objections. So, I said that I'm neither an ordinary or superior salesperson, I'm a real estate adviser who is looking out for the best interest of my clients and not mine.
After he told me what he wanted to net from the sale of his property, he challenged me to sell it, so after I illustrated all the facts and the sale prices in his neighborhood and recommended my marketing strategy, he was still adamant, so, I politely declined his offer. However, another agent listed his property for the price he demanded and naturally after many months, it hasn't sold.
When a yard sign remains on a property for any length of time, what does that say about the agent and their business? Shouldn't that be a concern to the Broker, the agent and the seller? Apparently not, however, it does to me. So, the seller lost me and the sale of his property, but that's our business, isn't it?
Kimo: Excellent comment. You are so right. A horribly overpriced house is going to stay on the market until the listing expires. At the same time, it become stigmatized and the neighbours and the traffic begin to think that the agent cannot do his/her job.
A realistic price could mean the difference between selling or sitting. An inexperienced, overly hopeful agent will also do the seller no benefit with an unrealistic price.
Really nice post covering the basics of setting the price. Thanks.
Lyn: Some agents are all about list - list - list. But if the house doesn't sell and word of mouth is a primary way to get listings then the non-realistic price is way to kill future business. Thanks Lyn.
Gene: Well, thank you for that compliment. Appreciated.
Valerie, another great post. I think this a the major reasons why data driven programs on the internet will never be able to truly give a good CMA.
Chris: So true. Unless you can refine your search, the general data is just way to loose.
Fantastic post - very helpful for a newer agent like myself. I do try to do exactly what you've said, but I find that the sellers just want to disregard that information and price according to what they owe instead of what they can really sell for. They don't get it when I tell them that pricing even $10k above what the comps suggest as a fair price will hinder their efforts to sell as much as it does. It won't sell if the owner's "best offer" (their asking price) is higher than any potential buyer's may be.
Rhonda: Thank you and keep on doing the right thing. Listing a house that never sells is not good for you or the Seller.