We culled everything from the San Mateo County Multiple Listing Service for San Carlos home sales in the past six months with a limiting parameter of a minimum price of $998,000 as we wanted to stay away from sales with stimulated financing.
As is apparent from the spreadsheet there are quite a few homes which have sold in the last six months for over the asking price (44%) for on average $54,000 more than seller’s asking price with a high of $187,000 and a low of $2,000 and a median selling point of $46,000 over what the seller was asking.
Not surprisingly these homes were only on the market an average of 6.4 days with the seller receiving 104% of their asking price.
Homes which were apparently priced at what they were probably worth fared less impressively with the seller receiving their asking price in 18 days on average. These homes accounted for 19% of all the homes sold.
Those homes where the seller missed the sweet spot by pricing too high did even worse as would be expected. These homes were on the market an average of 48 days and sold for on average $37,000 less than the seller’s asking price. These sellers received only 97% of their asking price with the worst case being a home which sold for $145,000 under the asking price in 131 days and the best case a home which sold for only $3,000 less in 16 days. These homes accounted for 37.5% of all the sales.
It's fairly easy to see that homes which are priced well will sell in a shorter period of time and for more. This can only happen when there is sufficient demand (as there currently is in San Carlos) and the seller doesn’t take any offers until the home has been marketed for a sufficient period of time—typically one week-ten days. The difference is staggering when you see that homes which are slightly under what the market will bear sell for on average 105% of the seller’s asking price and homes which are overpriced sell for only 97%. That seven percent difference is more than the commissions most agents charge.
If we break down the sales by days on the market we see further evidence of homes selling fast and for more when they are priced aggressively.
Homes which sold in the first two weeks of market exposure accounted for 67% of all homes sold with the sellers receiving 103% ($32,000 more) of the seller’s asking price on average.
Those homes which sold anywhere from 15-21 days on the market accounted for less than 1% of all homes sold. These sellers received on average $14,000 less than their asking price (97%).
Homes which were sold after 21 days on the market accounted for about 27% of all homes sold with the seller’s receiving on average $39,000 less (97%) of their asking price.
Based on these statistics we can rather safely conclude that the best strategy to price a San Carlos home is to price it aggressively and obtain a sale in the first two weeks. This is backed by our empirical evidence of being in the trenches and seeing buyers vie for a home with fervor.
Ultimately, a home will sell for what the market will bear. We control the marketing, not the market. Our goal is to price a home so that the seller will receive the most money from the sale.
Throughout our years of successful transactions we have been focused on the three important steps to achieving this goal—Preparation, Pricing and Promotion—The Keys to a Successful Sale.sm
The information contained in this article is educational and
intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real
estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific
to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional
familiar with your scenario.
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