Don't Lower The Price, Raise It and Sell Faster

We are experiencing a very hot sellers market in Frisco Texas. We have a low inventory of homes and the demand to live here continues to remain the same or increase. That is why when I see a house on the market for what I perceive as too many days I get ready to check on the expiration of the listing.

Pricing

Many real estate agents and their clients will resort to lowering the price in order to generate a faster sale. However there are many factors that could be the issue outside of price that is stopping the sale. If you price with a strategy like Debbie Reynolds suggests in this post, you are probably not over priced. Then what is causing the house not to sell?

Buying Deterrents

One house that I am looking at that fits the criteria of being on too long but probably not overpriced had several issues. One was odor. While not strong and not all over the house there was a strange odor that was present. This can easily turn someone right off. An investment in an ozone generator treatment may be worthwhile. People use their sense when evaluating a home (perhaps not taste,) and odor is a very powerful sense. OK so your house doesn't smell well then what else?

This 12 year old home, for sale between $420K and $450K, had a Corian counter. While this is a nice product, many people in this market are looking for granite. Until you get to a much lower price even with a concession it can be a tough sale. Many people do not want to buy a home in that price range and then have to start to remodel. Convenience means a lot and when your competitor (the other homes in the area at the same price) has granite and stainless steel appliances, you are not going to get the traffic or offers that those houses receive. In this case the investment in a granite counter is worth the price. 

In this particular home when you walked in to the left was an office with hardwood floors and to the right was the dining room with carpet. Again in this price range in this neighborhood, more wood floors would not hurt. It would provide balance and it would be more in line with what other homes have.

Here are three very distinct issues that would be deterrents to selling the home. From a buyer's perspective you are looking at a home that is comparable in price and now maybe be slightly lower but you have three things (at least) that you will most likely have to replace to your satisfaction. A buyer may be thinking well I could live with this if it was $20K less but the seller is not willing to give up an additional $20K considering they have already lowered it several times. In this case they started overpriced at $460K, then dropped below $440k and now are below $430K.

Raise Your Price

Instead of lowering your price again, as this house has now been on the market since late July, it is time for a different strategy. The seller in this case should invest the money and make the changes. In fact, there are contractors who will do the work (for a slightly hifgher price) but be willing to be paid at closing in case the money is too tight for this investment. Change out the carpeting in the dining room for wood floors, bring in a company that specializes in removing odors using an ozone generator, and redoing the counter in granite. This is a good size investment between $5K and $10K. how do you take advantage of it?

Here are the steps to make this work. Remove the listing from MLS. Perform the changes as fast as possible. Then re-list the home (if you do it after 30 days you can also help yourself by resetting the days on market counter) at a higher price than the current price. With these changes this home should sell some where close to either side of $440K . 

For agents, this may be a way of avoiding that dreadful conversation about lowering the price and provide your seller with an option that makes sense and will certainly help.

For consumers, before you rush into dropping the price, think about making an investment in your sale in order to sell faster and at a higher price.

For my clients, you know I will try these and other strategies to help you sell your homes at the best price in the fastest time because: Your Success is My Focus.