“Should I reduce the price of my home?”
That was a question someone Googled prior to visiting this blog. The answer may be, “if you’re asking, then the answer is probably ‘yes’“. However, do check out some things first before you make the pricing decision:
- Look at the photos your agent has posted on the Internet. Do the photos flatter your home or are they dark, blurred, crooked, or generally poor quality? Was your home staged to remove clutter – especially in the kitchen; were bedspreads smoothed; toys picked up or removed; were all the lights turned on for photo taking; are there cars or trash cans in the photos. If your photos don’t make the home look its best, request that your agent take new photos.
- Is your home advertised on lots of Internet sites with maximum photos on each? Your home should be on the agent’s broker’s site, on Realtor.com with 20-some photos, on Trulia & Zillow, and many other sites.
- Ask your agent to show you a copy of the MLS sheet. Make sure all the data in it is correct. Sometimes the person entering the data makes a mistake on one of the key searchable details such as area, subdivision, school districts, or even price.
- If your photos are good and you’re on lots of Internet sites, are you getting showings? If showings are occurring, then what has been the feedback as to why the buyers didn’t choose your home? Can the buyer’s complaint be fixed – like new carpet – or is it unfixable – like floor plan or location? If it can be fixed then do that. If it can’t be fixed, then the price needs to be lowered.
- If your photos are good and you’re on lots of Internet sites, and you AREN’T getting showings, then chances are good that buyers think your home is overpriced for what it offers OR there just aren’t many buyers for your price range or your area. Higher priced homes often experience this as there are fewer buyers in the upper ranges. However, you want to make sure that your price is competitive so that your home becomes the most appealing of all the other homes the few buyers will be viewing. You may only have one chance to appeal to that one buyer. Give it your best shot.
Too often sellers try to price a home based on the net amount they want to have to buy their next home. To be very frank, the buyers don’t care about what the seller wants for their proceeds. The buyer will pay what they think the home is worth in the current market as it compares to other similar homes. That fact can be a tough pill for some sellers to swallow. The second truism is that “price solves all problems”. At the right price, all homes will sell.
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
