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And they say it's a buyer's market....

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty

     Interesting times we are in. Yes, there are a ton of properties for sale right now. However, in my market, the homes that are priced right are selling rapidly and getting multiple offers. Especially in the first time buyer category, the competition from other buyers is fierce. Just ask poor Jake. I finally got a great home tied up for him but he made 8 offers before he got one..... and 6 of his offers were full price. I would spot a new listing in the morning. We would look at it over his lunch hour and write an offer. By the time the seller got home from work so I could present his offer, we had competition.

     Maybe we should take that story to our sellers. The market is not bad. It is competitive. Be priced right and you will sell. You don't need to give away your home to sell it. Just price it competitively ( by today's prices not 3 years ago) and they will come. The importance of what we do is greater than ever now. We need to be honest to our sellers even when the messsage is hard.

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Scott Gleason, CRS
Coldwell Banker Realty - Westfield, NJ
Westfield NJ New Homes Specialist

Same story in Westfield NJ.  Danielle Kennedy said long ago, (paraphrasing now) no matter what the market, the houses are competing for the best buyers, and the buyers are competing for the best houses.  so it is always simultaneously a buyers' market and a sellers' market.  Individuals can always adjust their market according to their motivation

Jul 21, 2009 04:19 AM
Maria Morton
Platinum Realty - Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Real Estate 816-560-3758

Bob, the same thing is happening here in Kansas City; sellers who price correctly receive multiple offers and sell for higher than list; sellers who overprice their property receive zero offers or low-ball offers.

Jul 21, 2009 04:19 AM
Michelle Gibson
Hansen Real Estate Group Inc. - Wellington, FL
REALTOR

Bob - I've run into this problem too.  Unfortunately you can be the first to write an offer at breakfast time or lunch time, but if the home is price right you'll have competition by dinner time.  I know buyer's are frustrated and sometimes assume since they are the first "giving" the seller what they want that they get the house, but that's not always the case.

Jul 21, 2009 04:46 AM
TIM MONCRIEF
Tim Monciref - Austin, TX
Over 2,000 homes sold…..

Houses sell the same in any market.  It does not change.  Price and pristine is always the case.  The house has to look great and the home has to be priced to sell.  In a downward shifting market, most houses are not priced to sell.  They are priced to put on the market.  There is a giant difference.  Obviously, people are limited to what they can bottom out at.  That logic is meaningless, as the market is the market.  Thus houses that look great and are priced great sell. The magical question is always what is the market value.

Jul 21, 2009 05:28 AM
Irene Tron
Valparaiso, IN

I often get the question, "Are homes selling"?  And my answer is usually, "yes, home that are priced right, sell!".  Not everyone wants to hear that.

Jul 22, 2009 01:56 AM
Katy Crofts
Keller Williams Realty - Olympia - Olympia, WA
Realtor - Olympia, WA

I now have the perfect example of a listing where the Sellers listened to my advice by preparing their home (repairs and staging) and priced it right. We had multiple offers by the end of the first week and are now under contract. (It is in the first-time home buyer range, which helps.) That is what it's about, not about what the Sellers paid 3, 4 or 5 years ago or what they need to net.

Jul 22, 2009 09:42 AM
Peg Prather
Vancouver, WA
Vancouver, WA

Bob, you are spot on by saying the market is "competitive". I think that many sellers are under the odd impression that theirs is the only house on the market. So, they don't do anything to set their house apart (i.e. fixing problems, cleaning, and staging). They just expect the offers to come pouring in without getting the price right and the house ready. I like Tim's comments about Price and Pristine...and "the house has to look great and the home has to be priced to sell". Katy's sellers listened to her advice about preparing their home with repairs and staging, and pricing it right. It's a happy marriage of The Right Price and Professional Staging when sellers get it.

 

Jul 30, 2009 02:37 AM