Poll: If you are selling, how long has your home been on the market?

[cohdane]

We just sold in Boston and are now looking in the northern suburbs.

The philosophy of sellers here is VERY different. In Boston, if a home is on the market for 90+ days, everyone wonders what's wrong with it. The idea is to SELL your house, not play a waiting game where you drop the price every three months till you find what should've been your asking price in the first place.

Listings that have been on for upwards of six months are simply bizarre to me. And since there are so many of them, it tells me that a lot of the sellers out here are out of touch with reality.

A home went on the market two weeks ago that was reasonably priced. We went to the open house, it was cute, but not for us. Today it is under contract. Nice house. Good price. SOLD.

If you don't get multiple offers in the first 30 days, your price is too high, plain and simple.

Consider this:

"National Association of Realtors studies show that the first 30 days a home is listed are its most enticing to buyers. That first 30 days is when they get the most traffic. It is important that they are priced accurately."

and...

"Once a property fails to sell at its debut price, the time it spends on the market can encourage buyers to become more aggressive in negotiating. Price reductions can further encourage aggressive bargaining. In a 2002 study of 3,490 Stockton, California listings, homes without a price reduction sold for 97% of initial list price, whereas homes with a price reduction sold for 88% of initial list price, a difference likely greater than the actual magnitude of the price reduction."

You're shooting yourself in the foot if you overprice. Ultimately, you'll end up selling for less than you would have if you'd priced it realistically in the first place. The buyers are out here, but we're not making offers on homes priced for 2006.

Good luck to everyone.

[SloopyJ]

Originally Posted by cohdane

If you don't get multiple offers in the first 30 days, your price is too high, plain and simple.

"Multiple offers" may be a stretch, but the poster is right about price. Too many sellers don't want to believe it, but too high a price is the ONLY reason for a house not selling. Any other justification someone wants to give - slow market, bad landscaping, outdated kitchen, ANYTHING - can be mitigated with correct pricing.

If you don't want to believe it, try this exercise: Ask yourself how long your house would take to sell if it were priced at $1.00. Not very long, I'd guess. How about $100? $100,000? $200,000? At some point you realize that there is a price that would move your home quickly. And, unfortunately, it makes little difference what you paid for it, how much you owe on it, or what other homes in your area have sold for.

Once you price yourself above the "quick-sale" level, you are effectively saying you want to wait for a buyer who will pay a premium because they love your particular house. That's fine if you think your house has some characteristics that will appeal to a smaller subset of buyers, and if you really believe that the longer time will pay off as those buyers ultimately find your house and decide to pay the premium. But most sellers have to look at their own homes more critically to determine if they really offer anything unique that buyers will be willing to pay for.

[SloopyJ]

Originally Posted by cohdane

"In a 2002 study of 3,490 Stockton, California listings, homes without a price reduction sold for 97% of initial list price, whereas homes with a price reduction sold for 88% of initial list price, a difference likely greater than the actual magnitude of the price reduction.".

I wouldn't put any stock in this study as it applies to today's market. 2002 was not 2007/8, especially in Stockton. Stockton had a huge runup in demand from 2001-2006 and has recently led in the downturn. Back in 2002, a home that sat long enough to be re-priced probably had some major flaw. Now, I might argue that the psychology of many buyers almost requires that they see a price reduction just to feel better about the deal they got. We bought recently, at a reduced price, and liked that our home was "originally listed for X", even though we know that X was a stupid price. And we had to cut the price a couple of times on our own home to sell; we ended up with multiple offers once we cut the second time.

[cohdane]

FYI--

A home we looked at in Deerfield listed for $599,900 about a week ago. As of today, it's under contract. MLS 2398299 1112 Osterman.

I did a walk-through and there was even one room that was incomplete-- studs, but no drywall. There were "unfinished" details everywhere, including the driveway which was still gravel.

However, the house had been remodeled completely, had a good yard, a good street and a good school. Even still, it was a beautiful home.

We foot dragged because it was further from the school and parks than we wanted. Not sure if we'll regret that or not, but I believe it was fairly priced and obviously, other buyers thought so as well.

A house two doors down from it has been sitting on the market for months with multiple price reductions. I still wouldn't pay what that house is asking.

Just thought you might want to know.

[chitowner]

There just arent as many buyers now here as there was say 6 mos. ago.Hopefully it will pick up soon.
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As for pricing,we had 2 offers on our home in August in the first 2 weeks but had to take off the market due to a family health situation.We had 2 offers for more than we have it listed for now.We have since relisted in Feb add have had 4 showings.We have lowered our price $15,000 and still nothing.Our home is mint but it dosent matter because the buyers are not there.At least not in the $600000 ranges.

If your argument was an absolute today I guess car dealers need to lower there prices 25% to sell cars that buyers arent buying.