I’ve said it before and I will say it again here and now: There is only ONE reason a property does not sell: Price.
If it’s a great property and priced accordingly, it will sell in a reasonable amount of time in a normal market. If it’s a junky property, then it should be priced as a junky price. Get it? All the sellers in the world can be shown by their professional REALTOR all the data at their disposal and still listen to their neighbor/Mom/friend/whomever who says “I think you should start at a little higher price just to see if you can get it.” Based on what???? Their Magic 8 Ball?
Best way to kill interest in your property is to price it above what the market says it is worth. No one is interested! Why do you think that most Tuesdays real estate brokers and agents serve coffee, donuts, pasta, subs, any food to get other real estate agents into their listings for an Agent Open House? They do it to expose the property to the professional market but also to get validation that the Seller is asking a little too much for a property.
If you’re going to hire a REALTOR to sell your house, and I always think you should, then hire one you trsut and listen to them. You’re paying them to give you expert and professional advice and guidance NOT to listen to you like a sheep and do what your uneducated advisors ‘think’ is the right thing!
So, how do you get 23 offers on your property? 1) You wait for a market like the one we have now: Anything structurally solid and with fairly new mechanicals (furnace, roof plumbing, electric) is in very high demand. 2) You look at what the data from neighborhood sales and listings say the house will most likely sell for. 3) You price it at least $10,000 less than that market data reflects. 4) You wait for the offer frenzy.
Of course, thie relies on the fact that you actually have all of those circumstances. For those of you who think I’m making this up, there’s a house for sale right now that one of my buyers is considering and when I called to check on status, the agent said: “We have 23 offers already in and are taking offers until Noon tomorrow”. Cool, huh? A Seller’s dream come true.
All of the above circumstances apply right this moment and I can bet that this Seller will get at least $10,000 OVER their asking price and the Buyer will be happy to pay it. Why? Because it is priced lower than everything else in the area and will sell for a very reasonable price at or above where the rest of the market is in that neighborhood.
So, remember: The number one reason a house doesn’t sell is PRICE. Listen to the professionals in your market and let them help you price your house attractively to get as many people in as possible in a very short time. After all, you do want to sell your house in a timely manner, right?
RW