Sellers: PLEASE - Face the New Reality -- It's a Buyers' Market
Property owners who want to sell now have a choice: sell in the current market, or wait until later, when market conditions improve. Of course, the latter assumes they can wait. But if you are determined to sell, you need to forget about the real estate market of just a few years ago and face the new reality. It's a buyers' market, and you are now competing with the growing supply of motivated sellers to get buyers interested in your property.
In this buyers' market, the two most important factors, after location, are price and condition.( I'll add flexibility). Buyers know real estate prices ran up far too much during the last several years of the real estate boom, and just because you as a seller now, may have paid too much for your property doesn't mean buyers think they should have to pay to bail you out. Therefore - Price It Right: Set the price at what you can get, not what you think it's worth. It doesn't matter what you or your realtor think your house is worth -- the only thing that matters is what a buyer is willing to pay. You don't want to over-price your property, because buyers and buyers agents will ignore it and your listing will lose its freshness and appeal. Also, the "original listing price" and "current asking price" are on your home's Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listing; if you do not show some decline from the original offering price, some buyers will see it as a sign you have unreasonable expectations of what you can fetch for your home. Sellers fear pricing too low and leaving money on the table, but there is little danger of this if Sellers will just listen to (and believe) their agent.
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