How Much Will The Seller Take? What do you do when the comps don't support the asking price?

How Much Will The Seller Take?

 

 

It is a million dollar question isn't it?  

As a Realtor® I often hear home buyers ask that question. It's asked when a serious buyer who has spent time pouring over hundreds of homes online, after viewing their top choices have narrowed down their favorite, and now are ready to make an offer on the one... they turn to me and ask "how much do you think the sellers would take for that house???"

I don't know how other agents answer that question. I find it a tough one to answer for a couple of reason. Sure we prepare a CMA to check the comps. We know the safest reply to that question is "they will accept the asking price". We could even respond "let's put it in writing and find out", or even “I’ll give the selling agent a call to see if I can get a better feel for the sellers situation”.  But let's look at the situation closer. How should we answer that? Should the buyers offer to purchase price be based on statistics? Or should a buyers need and the house chosen influence that offer?

There are of course a lot of different scenarios.  But for discussion sake let's suppose that this particular listing is considerably overpriced compared to the CMA prepared. But since the listing agent took the listing at that price, the seller is convinced their home is without a doubt worth the listed amount.  

Let’s also say for this example that we do agree this home does show better than the others we've seen... it’s staged beautifully and in impeccable condition. The seller has made updates throughout, beautiful curb appeal, etc. etc., AND it does fit my buyers needs very nicely.  BUT the comps are what they are, and nothing has sold in or around this home in a year even close to the asking price! So based on the comps we adjust for major upgrades as much as we can, and we move forward and make our offer which is... still considerably lower than the asking price.  

Over the years it's a situation that has happened more than once, and one that in today's market happens too frequently. But guess what also all to frequently happens? You guessed it. The sellers are insulted and don’t have any interest in playing ball with the buyers, even refusing to consider a counter offer.   Buyers are put out with the seller too... with all sorts of 'they should know's..". But I can see the disappointment in the buyer's eyes. Everything they say and 'don't say' is telling me that this is THE house; they’re moving in in their minds.

So just what should we do to keep this moving forward? Is there a way to get a fair price for buyers and meet the sellers objectives? In a soft market when the comps are hard to come by what do you do?

 

About the author:  Pamela is a Realtor in Raleigh NC with The St. Peter HomeSelling Team at Prudential YSU Realty serving the Raleigh NC (Triangle) area.

We are a team of passionate North Carolina Real Estate Brokers dedicated to connecting our clients to success in home buying and home selling in the Triangle. Pamela can be reached via email at Pamela@RaleighHomesOnline.com or by calling (919) 645-2522.

For all your Wake County real estate needs The St. Peter HomeSelling Team serves the following areas; Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale.