1. Your home is overpriced.
Optimistic home sellers love to use the phrase, "There is a buyer for every home." There is one important qualifier they often leave off the other side of the equation..."at the buyer's price."
The truth is, buyers -- not sellers -- ultimately determine the
market value of a home. You can ask for the moon and set your listing price
well above comparable properties in your neighborhood, but at some point it
will be up to you, the seller, to accept what the buyer thinks your home is
worth. In today's short sale pool, it is the 3rd party or bank/lender that determines the price that usually is below current market values
Overpricing is the biggest reason homes don't sell. When you
ask an unrealistic price, it sets in motion a process that often works against
you. Here's why:
Most real estate agents, and hence most qualified buyers, will
see your new listing within 30 days. If it is overpriced by as little as 5
percent, it will be duly noted and interest in your property will wane, especially
if you show no intention of coming off your asking price. You likely already
priced out buyers who might have qualified for financing at a more reasonable
price. Even if you manage to find a buyer at your inflated asking price, the
property may not appraise at that figure and the financing will fall apart.
Your real estate agent may have approved or even suggested the
inflated asking price to secure your listing (more on this in No. 4).
Conversely, other Realtors often use overpriced properties like yours to help
sell their own listings ("Here's what they are asking. Now would you like
to take a second look at that first house I showed you?")
"If you have a house that really should be priced at
$200,000 and you've got it listed at $260,000, you are trying to compete
against homes that really are worth close to $300,000 and all of a sudden your
home really is not competing well," says Jeri Fisher of Jeri Fisher Real
Estate in Missoula, Mont. "You want to compete with what is available out
there among homes similar to yours."
If your home remains on the market for too long, agents and
buyers may begin to wonder if there are other, perhaps more serious reasons why
it isn't selling. "It becomes shopworn, the same as a jacket hanging in the
store week after week," says Fisher. "People are aware that it has
been on the market a long time and agents stop showing it."
No comments:
Post a Comment