When is it time to Price Reduce!

That listing you got, you remember the one. It was supposed to be a slam dunk, two weeks tops, and it should've been gone. Well it hasn't sold in 40 days, and your buyer is wary of lower their price. It happens to all of us, but if you let the buyer control the situation you'll never see a cent. You have to walk a thin line between knowing how to tactfully engage this situation. Here are some suggestions to help you when telling a buyer that lowering their price is for the best. 

• Did they set the price? - Big no-no here, don't let them control what price you list at. You have the CMA's, and market at your disposal. Use these tools to help show that while the Zestimate they saw on Zillow says this much, you are a trained professional and Bank Appraisals don't go by the Zestimate. Either way explain that listing over 20,000 dollars more than what the area is getting to prepare for a low ball is a bad idea. 
• That Low Ball Strategy, I just mentioned. It's not going to work. People normally won't look for a house that they can't afford. Unless the market in that area has few listings, and is in an in-demand area. You aren't likely to see much return on using this tactic. Instead explain that your trying to move in the right buyers for this home, and if at our current price we aren't seeing any action then it's time to lower the price. 
• It doesn't always mean that you can't get more than what the lower price is. Maybe lowering the price is just thing to get more buyers in to see it. It's also quite possible you may create a bidding war! Lower doesn't mean less sometimes!
• Your price reduction should reflect how many people and offers you've gotten. For example - if your home is listed at 100k, and you haven't had one offer, and maybe a few agents call too see it. Then you need to be honest with your seller. A 10k reduction might be necessary to get the action that's needed to sell that listing!

Remember it isn't fun to have to lower the price, but to sell their property it just may be necessary!