151 Expired Listings in the White Mountains Last Night!
-Sandra Paulow, Associate Broker, GRI, REALTOR®
I was studying our MLS hot-sheet this morning and noticed that there were 151 listings that expired at midnight last night. I reviewed them and there were some really nice properties on that list that should have sold this summer. When I looked closer though I realized why they hadn’t sold, in a word “Price”. I am sure many of those sellers are sitting over their morning coffee blaming their agent because their home didn’t sell. Few will accept that their own unrealistic expectations are the real reason that their home didn’t sell this season.
Now I will say there are probably a few agents out there who deserve their seller’s disgruntlement. They took the listings at inflated prices to get a sign in the yard. They knew the homes would not sell for that price but the sign was good advertisement for them. While I don’t agree with that marketing plan because I feel it is unfair to the seller of that property, I suppose in some cases it works. I guess it is all in how you view your duties as a Real Estate agent.
Now back to the sellers. We all would like to see the high prices of the mid-2000’s return but it is doubtful that it will happen. A home is only worth the price a buyer is willing to pay for it. You can put any price you want on a house, but that does not translate in to you being able to sell the home at that price. To put it simply, there are too many different checks and balances for the boom to happen again. Homes will gain value, but over time, not overnight. The easy money of the mid-2000’s just isn’t there anymore. If a buyer is getting financing, lending is too tight and won’t allow a buyer to overpay for a property. If a buyer is paying cash, they are more likely to come in with a very low offer, even on a property that is priced competitively. Times have changed and there are no buyers in the marketplace waving their checkbooks around begging to overpay for any property.
The bottom line here is that overpricing is not a good strategy when you want to sell your property. We must get past the hope that there is someone out there who is going to fall in love with a property and be willing to pay above market to acquire it. Buyers are too well informed for that to happen. When most searches start online and the buyers take those estimated values on the listing portals as gospel, a seller hasn’t got a chance of finding a buyer if the listing is way overpriced. Even if those estimates are way off base, and many are, the buyers will take them as truth and judge a home and neighborhood accordingly.
So, for all the sellers out there who are disappointed that the home did not sell this summer, you need to listen to what your agents is saying when you are ready to list your property. Those comparative properties tell the tale and numbers don't lie. If you want to sell, price it right. If you want to be a seller and not an owner, price to sell. Hard as that is to accept, 151 expired listings in a little market like mine tells the tale.
Thanks for reading, until next time....
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