How Ben Kinney's Pricing Tactic Helped MY Business

Since Ben Kinney is now the owner of ActiveRain:  I thought I would give a shout-out to his pricing tactic on my ActiveRain blog that I learned at his seminar in Fredericksburg, VA last fall.  I was a little skeptical of a seminar with nearly 1,000 area agents in the room and figured it to be a big coaching pitch, but I was wrong.  I wouldn't say everything Ben said was helpful to me personally, but he had a lot of GREAT advice.  

Ben's Method for finding a listing price.

1. Show the property owner the hard "Stats" on their home. Let it sink in.

2. Show 5 Active Comps, especially pointing out the ones with high "days on market"

3. Show 5 under-contract comps.  Be sure to point out that the contract may be under list price.

4. Show 5 Sold comps.

5.After all this, with a pile of comps sitting in fromt of them.  Ask, "Emotion aside, what should the list price of your home be?"  

6. If the answer is inaccurate, ask "Which of these comps are you basing that list price on?" Discuss further...

This works almost flawlessly.  It has allowed me to price properties much more accurately and left my sellers much more satisfied with the process and their home's value.  They have hopefully determined this price on their own, but with my guidance, giving them great confidence in their listing price.  This often results in a quicker sale to more motivated buyers.