They've Shown Their Hand, How To Play Yours

One of the biggest parts of my job when listing a home is the pricing strategy.

You know the pros and cons of the home to be sold.

What do homes MOST like it sell for currently?

How long does it take to get a contract?

So that sets a baseline expectation.

Next, we're looking at the CURRENT competition.

Is there any?

If so, how many?

Are they better, worse or the same as the home we're trying to sell?

Where is the competition with pricing relative to what the market stats indicate SHOULD be their price?

And there's one other piece of information that can be useful:  COMING SOON homes.

Cincinnati MLS rules allow for the introduction of a home to the market in a COMING SOON status.  You can have a good MLS presence (photos, remarks, etc.) and provide a heads up to potential buyers and their agents that a home will be for sale on X date.  And until that date, NO SHOWINGS, NO OFFERS, etc.  You can look online, but you can't touch the home.

And here's the other thing about that date to go Active:  it can't be moved up once published.

So how does this impact selling a home?

If our sellers have flexibility in when to start selling their home, the above information gives us options about the best path:

1.  Go Active on the market IMMEDIATELY.  There's no competition AT ALL, and the COMING SOON category has a home (or more) that will be direct competition.

2.  Go COMING SOON and work to build up more interest before the Go Live date.

3.  Wait a bit longer to put the home on the market.

Ultimately the goal is this:  find the strategy that best suits what is most important to the seller.  Sometimes speed and convenience matters more than price, other times the $$ are the most important factor.

Want to find out more about your local market and what might work best for you?  Just give Bill a call at 513-520-5305 or email Liz@LizSpear.com.

Serving Greater Cincinnati home buyers and sellers,

Bill & Liz aka BLiz