While the mistakes I will be providing in upcoming blogs are in no particular order, sellers should pay special attention to this mistake. Many Realtors® know how important this first issue is because it is covered in virtually every graduate level post licensing real estate course having to do with sellers. The issue is proper pricing.
I'm hoping other Realtors® will join in here and share real life examples of why this is so crucial. A seller once told me he needed $XXX,000 for his home so he would have 20% down payment on his new home and thereby would not have to pay PMI (Property Mortgage Insurance). He said he had that with his first house mortgage and wasn't going to have that again.
Most people know me as being pretty blunt so they will understand when I say that I told this seller that it didn't make any difference what he needed for his house. It didn't matter what he thought his house was worth and it didn't matter how much I thought his house was worth.
The only thing that dictates what a house is worth is what a buyer will pay for it. A home can appraise for $170,000 but if the most money any buyer on the market will pay for the home is $157,000 then that is the value of the house. It is a buyer's market in Lawrence Kansas Real Estate and probably will be through most of 2007.
Unfortunately, this seller didn't heed my message and listed with an agent who listed his home for his $XXX,000. The home has been on the market for over 300 days now and in my opinion will continue to be on the market for another year or more before it will sell for his price unless he makes a price adjustment which he has yet to do. According to the listing agent, this house has had virtually no showings for over eight months and in the first two weeks of it being on the market, there were only three showings and of course no offers.
There were too many other homes on the market in better condition for lower prices and that is still the situation today. The seller won't adjust to the market so his home becomes a statistic of long DOM (Days on Market).
So what are your improper pricing stories?
Thanks!
Rob Lang, ePro, GRI Realtor®
Realty Executives, Hedges Real Estate
300 Rockfence Pl, Lawrence, KS 66049
785-393-2274 (cell) 785-542-1661 (fax)
rob@LetRobDoIt.com http://www.ihaveaddresses.com/
NOTE: This blog was written in the past about properties on the market at the time of the blog being written and should not be considered as active listings beyond the date of this blog.
