I listen to a lot of news radio... I am a big NPR fan and, in fact, my cousin is the Program Director for New Hampshire Public Radio. So it should come as no surprise that the local public radio station and other news radio fare is what I listen to in the car.
Last Friday, one of the stations reported on a study done (I believe the reporter said it was conducted by Trulia, but I was driving, so I could not write it down) that of the houses currently on the market nationally, that 25% of them had taken at least one price reduction. Now, what that report tells me is that 25% of the homes currently on the market were not priced properly when originally listed.
Has the market in your area rebounded so strongly that we are back to "testing the market" by pricing homes higher than their market value in the hopes that someone will overpay? Are the appraisers in your area still so lenient in their appraisal values that even if you get an overpriced offer that it will appraise for financing (unless, of course, you're expecting a cash buyer)? Or are 25% of real estate agents just suffering from short term memory loss or a longing for nostalgia?
I know that the old adage says that the three most important things in real estate are Location, Location and Location... but for the past 12-18 months I have found that even location is not a major consideration in getting a listing sold if it is priced properly. Overpricing a listing guarantees one thing... your listing is likely to grow stale on the market and, as you reduce the price, buyers will sense desperation and offer even less than they might have had it been priced similarly from the start of the listing.
In a rational market, achieving the best possible sales price requires advising sellers of the realistic market value of their home and helping them understand why pricing it properly is in their best interest.
It's our fiduciary responsibility as Real Estate Agents and Brokers!
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