Chasing the Market Can Cost you Thousands!

I frequently hear people say that real estate agents try to under price homes to try to get them to sell quickly.  There seems to be a sentiment that we are all money grubbing misers who don't care if our sellers lose out on a few grand so long as we get our commission at the end.  Well, the truth is that over pricing your home can have really detrimental consequences.  

Many times when I go to a listing appointment the seller has a price in their head at to what their home is worth.  It is sometimes unrealistic.  Sellers of a home have learned to love their home and see it through their own eyes, not those of a potential buyer.  Buyer's don't care that your favorite uncle helped you build the shed in the back or that your child took their first steps right there on the gleaming hardwoods.  All they see is a place to make their own future memories.   They also see that leaky faucet that you have learned to overlook.  Therefore, it isn't uncommon that seller's think their home is worth more then what it is truly worth to an objective eye. 

It doesn't help that frequently banks will allow owners to overextend themselves to make improvements or to pay off bills using the equity in their home.  Then when the time comes to sell the seller believes that the appraisal value is what they should get for their home, when in fact it is sometimes inflated to justify a loan. 

FACT:  Price a house to high and you will find yourself "chasing the market".

What is "chasing"?  Chasing is when a house is over priced initially and does not sell in the first few weeks on the market.  Then the seller agrees to price reductions over time.  Frequently the price they will get for the home is considerably less then what they would have gotten if they had priced the home correctly in the first place.    

Chasing the Market Costs you Money!

I can't tell you how many times my buyers will look at a listing that has been around for a while and assume there is something wrong with it, and ask to not even go see it.

The most eyeballs that will see your home will see it in the first few weeks.  After that you are trying to market the home to fewer and fewer people.  This leads to chasing the market.

Yea Yea Yea.  I hear the skeptics out there.  "Sure Rob.  All agents say this so they can under price my home".  Well here is the worst example I could find:

I had a listing presentation today and came across this house as a comparable. 

I won't tell you the address or listing number to protect the seller and listing agent from further embarrassment, but here is the situation. 

The house was originally listed in April of '07 for $590K.  Since that time they have reduced the price no less than 11 times!  The house is still for sale right now for (you may want to sit down for this) $410K.  AND IS STILL NOT SEEING OFFERS!  Let's recap. 

17 months, 11 price reductions, and no sale!  

How would you like to be that seller?

Admittedly this is an extreme example.  In my estimation the house is truly worth about $445.  At $410 I wouldn't expect them to see offers above $400K from here on out.  So by grossly overpricing the home they have spent 17 months and cost themselves as much as $50K. 

The moral of the story in today's market is price it right the first time. 

If you price too high and end up chasing the market, you can end up costing yourself a lot of money in the long run. 

Give me a call if you need help.