Pricing in Today's Internet Market

Jeff, While I agree with you that pricing at 405,000 may not be as smart as pricing at 400,000, I think that 399,750 would be a huge mistake.

Most home listing websites are getting their data feed directly from the MLS.  If you have a home priced at 400,000 it will show up in a search for <400,000 because that "less than" indicator is really feeding as a "less than or equal to" criteria term.  In addition, people tend to search themselves in round numbers, and that is furthered by the fact that many listing sites will limit people to searching within ranges of figures rather than specific prices.

The biggest argument I could make for 400,000 rather than 399,750 would be that since they would both show up in a "less than" 400,000 search, the 399,750 is limited in that it cannot be seen on a search with a minimum criteria of 400,000.  This way you actually have two different price ranges that potential buyers will be able to see it in.  I've looked at the way in which realtor.com tracks their page views and I've noticed a significant % increase on properties page views that are priced to meet multiple price range criteria on that website.

~Jonathan Benya

Century 21 New Millennium

La Plata, MD 20646

301-609-9000 

Good point Jeff, you're absolutely right that the sweet spot is under 300k, but I think that regardless of where the market is still moving, I think that if a home is properly priced and sitting at just over/under a search separation range for realtor.com, it certainly does not in any way hurt the listing and may or may not be helpful in trying to improve web traffic to the listing.  Regardless there are several other factors (# of pictures, virtual tours, showcasing, etc.) that I think factor more heavily, but to me any little bit helps and if it has the potential to improve the visibility of a listing, I say do it!

~Jonathan Benya