Fact or Fiction, Is the Sales Price too High?
So you’ve decided to sell your home and you have compared others sales in the area, so you think you know what your house is worth. After that you have scheduled 3 appointments with different realtors from different companies. Each supplies you a “Completive Market Analysis”. Each gives you a value and a recommended sales price.
Two of the realtors have recommended a sales price that is lower than what you expect. But you are still convinced that your house is worth more. The third comes in line with what you thought, or even promises a higher than expected price. There weren’t the comparables to match the sales price, but it still looked good to you.
Now this agent seems willing to listen to your input and work with you. This agent cares about putting the most money in your pocket. So naturally you decide to go with the third realtor and list with that agent. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to drop the price later, you can do that. Right?
After all, everybody else does it!
The truth of the matter is….. the agent has just engaged in a questionable sales practice called ‘buying the listing.’ He bought the listing by suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended, even thought there were know comparables to back it up. And most likely the agent is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price. The intention from the beginning is to talk you down on your price later.
Why do agents do that?
Some feel the pressure from a home owner who has an inflated value of his home’s value. Others think this is the only way that they can get the listing and hope to convince you to lower your price after your home has been listed.
Are there any benefits to this tactic?
As the real estate market is continually starting to slow and more homes are coming on the market daily, this will actually hurt the sale of your home. After a month or two, your home is ‘Old News’ at a higher than average price. Once you decide to lower your price, many of the prospective buyers have bought other properties and then once you decide to lower the price, you may have to lower it even more to get a buyer.
What’s the moral of this?
Being realistic in the sales price will give you a better chance of selling your home at a higher price and with fewer concessions and in quicker time. So next time look at the numbers and compare the amenities and see what the sales price per square foot. Look at what the other homes are selling (not listed for, but what they SOLD for) Then evaluate the price!