How many offers do you really need to sell a house? That is a question that I pose to sellers and to listing agents. The correct answer is: one! You need the right offer…the best offer…whatever that is…highest and best price…price and terms that are satisfactory…whatever defines best in those particular circumstances.
Easily said but not easily accomplished! That one right offer may not be the first offer. In fact it may never come. That is an issue for another post. This post is about PRICING.
One approach to pricing is to price below market in an attempt to create a buyers’ frenzy which results in multiple offers and a final price that is satisfactory. There are markets in which that strategy can make sense. This is not that market!
We have a severe imbalance of supply and demand. There are simply not enough houses for sale to satisfy the strong demand from buyers. The result is a strong sellers’ market in which multiple offers are common and many homes are selling for over their asking price
Since multiple offers are the order of the day, what do you think under-pricing a home yields? Even more offers! I have seen all of our listings attract multiple offers of late. We do not under-price. If anything, we are aggressive in our pricing. Our Team priced a recent listing at about 10% above the most recent comparable sale in the same complex. We received seventeen offers. The property is in escrow for 22% higher than the list price and 34% higher than the most recent comp!
Would it have made sense to have under priced that property? We probably would have gotten more offers. Did we need more offers? Would the highest and best offer have been the same one? Who knows? We have a happy buyer who obviously wants the property and we have a seller who is thrilled.
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