One Way To Get Sellers To Be Realistic About Their List Price
As a stager, I often share agents' pain when sellers insist on pricing their homes too high. Despite the comps an agent presents that show their neighbors' houses are priced cheaper, many sellers still always think their home is worth more than their neighbors -- until they see them in person. The end result is that even a beautifully-staged house is not likely to get offers, and the house will sit for months, with dribs and drabs of price drops over time. So all the work that went into getting that home prepped for sale -- paint, repairs, replacing or removing carpets and curtains, bringing in new furniture and accessories -- doesn't pay off the way it should. As time goes on, the property becomes "stale" in the eyes of buyers and neglected by agents as well, who move on to more reasonably-priced homes.
To help combat this, an agent I know tells me she takes her sellers around to look at comps in their neighborhood to help them understand where prices are and what their list price needs to be to get offers. She says seeing the houses in person is often an eye-opener to sellers who find out the interiors look just as nice or better than their own, yet the prices are lower.
As a stager, I always suggest (when asked) that the owner talk to their agent if they have questions or concerns about price. I also now ask if they've seen the comps for their neighborhood in person, because photos sometimes are not as revealing as seeing the property in real life. It is easier to get the feel for a property -- for lightness, brightness, landscaping, cleanliness, openness as well as for details hard to appreciate in photos, such as moldings, updated tile, built-in cabinetry, polished floors -- when you actually tour it. I also now make it a point to explain to sellers that both price and presentation have to be aligned to bring in offers. In fact, I tell them that some agents have told me it's best to set the price SLIGHTLY BELOW market price in order to generate more interest and multiple offers.
One Way to Get Sellers To Be Realistic About Their List Price
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