Ok, we know the saying ~~~ LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!!! One thing is for sure, you can't change that. So, focus on what you can change. Condition and Price! Today, let's focus on the price.
I recently sold my own home in an extremely depressed market. Even though I am a Realtor and know that location, price, and condition are what it's all about, I still struggled with PRICE!! Having a real estate license does NOT elevate emotion when it comes to selling your own home. I was very emotional about the price of my home. Let me set the scene.........
We relocated to a city right outside of Cleveland Ohio and my husband allowed me to build this beautiful home. See, I am a born and raised Tennessee girl. He knew how hard it would be for me to leave my family, friends and church behind and go north so he allowed me this awesome opportunity to build my dream home. We thought we would be in that area for the next 10-15 years. We knew over that time we would get whatever money we put into the house back either through equity or enjoyment. But to my surprise (the great kind) after living there for less than five years, we were moving back home. We had built our house at the tail end of the UP market. So where does the market go when it stops going up......yes we know what goes up must come DOWN!
I knew what we had paid for the house, I knew how much we had put into the house and I knew how much we still OWED on the house. I also knew that none of these things really mattered. I was living in a buyer's market. For those of you who have never experienced selling in a buyer's market, it goes something like this. Buyers are in control of the market due to the extreme amount of inventory. Buyers set the market value. At the time I was selling my home in Ohio we had inventory that would sit on average 200 days. So in order for me to make a wise decision about price and remove the emotional aspect of pricing I did the most logical thing I could think of.............I called a Realtor.
Knowing how emotional buying and selling a home is I knew I would need an unbiased party to be completely honest with me. I lived in a great family oriented neighborhood (ok, location is covered) I had a new home with a gourmet kitchen, 2 story great room and entry, finished basement and so on,....(ok, condition is covered) BUT price............
So we are now going to sell a home that was built in a peak market, owned less than five years and the market has taken a nose dive, OUCH. Knowing what I paid, knowing what I owed and knowing what I put into it really didn't matter. What mattered was what the market was saying about houses in my subdivision and my city overall. The only thing that mattered was what buyers were willing to pay. As a Realtor I knew this to be true, as a homeowner that pill was not only hard to swallow, it was hung in my throat.
Luckily I sought the counsel of a very wise Realtor who reminded me of the bottom line. She reminded me that I can ask whatever price my emotions were saying or I could price it where the market will support it. When sellers are faced with this dilemma it boils down to what the motivation to sell really is. You have those that don't need to sell, you have those that would love to sell but are in no hurry so they will just hang out on the market and wait, and you have those that have to sell. Unless it is the latter, and sometimes even then, Realtors will usually find MUCH resistance from the seller about the truth of what the market will support. I finally had to embrace the fact that I bought in a sellers market and was selling in a buyers market. I did heed the advice of a Realtor because she had no emotional attachment to what was paid, what was owed and what I had put into it. Her objective was to help me make a successful decision about where to price my house so that I could sell and get back home.
If sellers could embrace that most Realtors that come to list their house are there as their ally and not their foe it could drastically cut their time on the market and stress with dealing with having to always have their home ready to show (with children and pets, which I have both, it can be an even greater stress.) As sellers, we will never be able to get a buyer to pay for all the beautiful memories we have made in our home or the beautiful faux finish on our walls (I had this too.) But what we can do is seek the counsel of an experienced Realtor and price our houses at a fair market value. Remember that a Realtor is usually paid a percent commission on the final purchase price of the home. The higher the price, the higher the commission. So when a Realtor is encouraging you to come down on the price, it is not for their benefit but yours.
A rule of thumb for price goes like this.......if you get no showings or very few the real estate agents think it is too high. If you get lots of showings and get no offers, the buyers think it is too high. When the buyers think it is too high and it is a buyers market you simply will not sell. Heed the advice of someone who is in the real estate environment day in and day out. Do not trust in your emotions when it comes to pricing because feelings cannot be trusted, they can change by nighttime, I have seen it happen.
I am happy to report that my house did sell and I am now back home with my family, friends and church.
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