It's October, traditionally nearing the end of the selling season. This year is a little different however. I am not sure how your market is (remember, real estate markets are LOCAL!), but ours is still hot. The interest rates have come back down significantly, there is still very low inventory, lots of buyers are out there, and homes are going for full price or more, often after only a few days on the market.
I have had a number of listing appointments recently. Some sellers have been realistic, some not so realistic.
When I say "realistic", I am talking about sellers pricing their homes in the range of comparables that have sold in the last 6 months in their neighborhoods.
When I say "not so realistic", these are sellers that think that they can jack the price of their home up above what has been selling recently, trying to get more than their home is worth.
I preach to my clients like a broken record that the most important thing is a realistic price. You may have heard this before, but it is a REAL ESTATE TRUTH and one of my mantras, that pricing something right in the first place will net a seller significantly more money than overpricing and dropping the price until the home sells. Realtors, you know what I am talking about.
Unfortunately, many sellers do not realize this. They feel this hot market and they want to CASH OUT. For top dollar. They have seen their neighbor sell their home at full price in 1 day on the market and they think they can top that, and maybe they even think their neighbor left some money on the table. Well, turns out their neighbor's home was priced right. That is what is happening in this market right now: the good homes that are priced right are selling for full price and in a very short time period.
So why is overpricing especially bad in a hot market? Because if your home is overpriced, buyers (and their agents) flat out ignore it. More so than usual. Because buyers see homes going for 99% of list price as is happening here, and they think there is no way that they can get that overpriced seller down to market price.
A lot of times sellers think that they can overprice, build in some room for negotiation, and buyers will just make offers. PLEASE believe me when I tell you....this is not the case. It just isn't. Many many sellers have come to me, asking me to overprice their homes, thinking that buyers will make offers. For some reason, this just doesn't happen.
So don't fall into this overpricing trap. To reiterate....price it right in the first place, and sell it, quickly and for the best price!! Agents...do you agree?
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