Remembering The Past
There's a pricing convention we all have that few realize where it comes from. Being old, and having been in the business forever (since 1993), I remember. You see many years ago, there was something called at "listing book". It was a printed version of the MLS. Most agents didn't go online to look up properties, they looked in the book. Subsequently, agents started listing their houses at $499,999 instead of $500,000 so that they would be the first house the agent found to show.
But All That Has Changed
In the intervening years, most (if not all) MLS services have discontinued the listing book in favor of online searches. But, we didn' change our pricing conventions because agents knew that prices would be listed just below the even dollar mark, so we adjusted our searches to compensate.
Here's The Problem
Buyer's just aren't (necessarily) that smart. Today, most buyers are starting their own searches online. They are using search engines that prompt them to choose even dollar numbers. Therefore, your listing which would be at he bottom of the price range (and therefore most desirable) for the $500-$525K price search is now invisible because you priced it at $499,999 - oh what a difference a dollar makes.
Price On Even Dollar Amounts
This is why it's more important than ever to get your pricing right. In his highly competitive market, you want people to find your listings. Make sure they do by pricing them at the price points they are searching for.
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