Last week we wrote about sellers in SW Florida who have had their home on the market this season and their home hasn’t sold. We talked about market activity and closing statistics as well as the latest pending stats. In that article we mentioned one sentence that elicited responses from readers “We have a graph we send our sellers that shows typical showing activity.” This week we’ll focus on the question, is your price on target?
We have a lot of information we send our sellers that educates them on how the industry really works and how best to sell their home. We don’t normally share all this information with the public, but in this case we’re going to share the pricing target graph.
This graph is based upon research and showing data over many years in many markets. We know that the seller sets the asking price and the market determines the value. Over time the market speaks to us.
Some sellers place their home on the market and receive lots of showings, while other go on and receive little to no showings. Is the market speaking to you? Perhaps this guide may answer some of those questions?
If you are getting showings but no offers it generally means you are in the range 3-5% above market value.
If your number of showings is low and you’re experiencing a lot of drive-ups but the buyers don’t come in to see the home, your home may be 5-10% overpriced.
If you aren’t receiving showings at all, then your home is likely priced 10% more above what the market will bear for your property.
Many sellers say things like “Well, we can always come down but you can’t go up” , or “They can always make an offer”. The reality is buyers don’t make an offer when a home is overpriced. They make offers on other homes that are priced correctly. Many times they don’t even view the overpriced listings because it’s not what they’re looking for at that price.
Overpricing a home hurts a seller two ways. Legitimate buyers in that range are used to seeing other homes that offer more than yours. When they view yours, it just doesn’t measure up, so they will never buy it.
The actual buyer for your home never sees it, because it’s not on their radar screen. It’s priced above where they are looking. So you miss the mark 2 ways. Sellers that overprice never had a chance. So when we hear things like “They can always make an offer” we know that they won’t be receiving that offer.
A lot of sellers call us blaming their crappy real estate agent because their home hasn’t sold. It may not be your agent’s fault. Have you listened to your agent and had the pricing discussion?
Now if your agent suggested a higher price and never communicated with you how your home is stacking up against the competition, you might have a point. Many times it’s the owner who wants more than what the agent says, or they Realtor shop until they find one that agrees with them.
You’ve heard of Doctor shopping for pills. That’s a bad thing, and so is Realtor shopping for an agent that will write you a price prescription. That prescription never works and can do you more harm than good.
Our suggestion is call a good Realtor who knows the market. You may not like the medicine he/she recommends, but a bitter pill only last a few seconds while taking the wrong medicine can hurt for months or years.
Plus, we live in paradise. Life’s too short not to move on and get what you want. When you overprice you delay your goals. You’re not moving on to where you should be. You’re trapped in your current circumstance, just because you wanted more than what the market would bear. That’s usually an ego thing. It’s human nature. We all do it. The real question is, are you going to let ego and greed hold you back? Some people do and they regret it for years, and some accept the market, take their medicine, and live their dreams.
If you’re looking for a Realtor that will tell it like it is, call us 239-489-4042. Our marketing is pretty good, and chances are we can get you where you want to be if we work together. You can search the MLS at www.LeeCountyOnline.com
Good luck and Happy House Hunting!
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