Buyers Are Still Willing to Pay More, and Faster, for Something They Perceive to be Special. A Story...
This past summer we listed a home that was very nice indeed. Price: $1,200,000. It went under contract in 19 days, and sold a few weeks later for a price that the owners found quite acceptable.
Aside from our usual aggressive marketing, how can we account for such a good offer and fast sale? After all, the home did have a few quirks...some dated features...and wallpaper I wasn't crazy about.
But sell it did, and here's why: the home's uniqueness - its overriding special features. In addition to a very private and nicely landscaped yard, the property had its own tennis court, large in-ground pool, and deep water dock just 5 minutes by boat to the Severn River.
There were other highlights, but the point is this: because the home was a unique package, it could compete in the market on its unique features - features that the buyers knew, or rightly assumed, they'd have difficulty finding in another property. Whether you're selling real estate, art, or antique cast iron mechanical banks, uniqueness motivates buyers to act more quickly for fear of potential loss.
Contrast That With a Home Located in an Annapolis Subdivision...
...say 50 or 100 homes, perhaps 4 or 5 models to choose from, your usual upgrades. Ten or 12 percent of the subdivision is for sale. How will those homes compete with one another? On price. Absent starkly contrasting features or amenities, similar homes - in a market like the one we're in - will almost always compete on price. Fear of potential loss diminishes when buyers perceive that supply is more predictable.
Buyers for such homes are being very patient in this market, watching competing homes leapfrog one another into the best price position before snapping them up. (Word of caution to buyers: if you do fall in love, don't wait to make your play. There's a good chance someone else has fallen in love with it too.)
And if you're a subdivision seller? Your best hedge is to do everything you can to make your property stand out as unique among equals: be the cleanest, most freshly painted, best landscaped, least cluttered, and most inviting. And If you want to hear how we make all of our listings stand out as unique, email me at kenhaedrich@hotmail.com and I'll email back.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Buyers, One Minute Realtor, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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