Logged in this morning and what did I see...a featured (of course) post by Lenn Harley, PRICING FOR A FUTURE MARKET?? WHAT ARE THE COSTS IN TIME AND MONEY AND LOSS TO REPUTATION?

Lenn wrote this post for me although she does not know it.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a seller.  He currently has his waterfront home on the market with a different brokerage. It is way overpriced and has been on the market for almost two years without any price reduction.  At this point the seller is interested in working with another agent.

The seller asked me to do a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) which I did yesterday.  I wrote a thorough explanation of why I felt that the house needs to be priced below $x,xxx,xxx.  It is now much more.  That is a substantial difference and I was not sure how the seller would take my news.  That was my secondary concern.  My first was that I had to be honest with him. 

I do not know the decision making process that was used when this house was initially priced.  Looking back I still think that it was priced too high as the real estate market was definitely showing signs of slowing down and this price would have been on the high side even in a very good market. 

This morning I saw my reply from the seller.  He had done his own market analysis based on what he found on the Internet and came up with pretty much the same conclusion before even receiving my information.  (See, it pays to be honest.  What would he have thought of me if I had suggested he list with me close to where it currently is?)

Perhaps the seller will stay with his current agent and that would be fine with me.  However, I am sure he will reduce his price and that will give him a much better chance of getting it sold.  I might even be able to find a buyer for him.

Some time ago I wrote a post on getting ahead of the market instead of chasing it and that advice continues to hold true.  Sellers and their listing agents need to price a little below the competition in order to sell.  Trying to catch up always keeps you behind.

Do yourself and your sellers a big favor.  Be realistic.  These are tough times.  We must be tough in our pricing.