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My wife and I are relocating back East to be closer to our families, and we're about to list our house. I think I've been reading too many "doom and gloom" newpaper articles and bubble blogs, because while I feel our real estate agent is a true professional and excellent at what he does, I'm somewhat terrified that we're listing too high.
We're planning on coming in at $399k in zip 98026, 4 bedroom, 1.75 bath. Any tips for calming my nerves or convincing me that we're being aggressive enough with our price?
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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If you want a second opinion on your price, you might give my old friends Bob and Patti Greene a call. If it's listed with them already, you've got a fine team working for you.
Personally (without having a clue about your market/comps) I'd put it at $400,000. When you list at $399,000 you miss anyone searching online for a home in the $400-$500K price. This way you catch more lookers. You're at the bottom of the price range for those people. For the people looking from $300-$400, you're the most expensive.
Personally (without having a clue about your market/comps) I'd put it at $400,000. When you list at $399,000 you miss anyone searching online for a home in the $400-$500K price. This way you catch more lookers. You're at the bottom of the price range for those people. For the people looking from $300-$400, you're the most expensive.
Great point Kev. Also, Gary, review the comps closely with your agent and discuss your concerns with him/her. It's best to talk about it now so you can get comfortable. Keep an open dialogue with your agent all the time.
How about asking the agent to take you to see some Active comps in the area. They can be vacant or occupied.
The agent can explain to the occupant, and their agent that he wants to preview the home to help his seller determine a fair price, and also if a buyer comes to your home and your home isn't what they're looking for, your agent can let them know about theirs.
Good luck, and the more questions you ask, the more comfortable you'll become.
Thanks for the feedback, folks. Anyone else who has thoughts, please share!
Interesting point, kevcrawford. I think of our neighborhood as working class. But, there are currently 8 houses priced between 300k and 400k within a one mile radius of my house, and there are 29 between 400k and 500k (found this using the "radius search" Moderator cut: URL removed
That's interesting because I would've guessed that more people would've been searching our neighborhood *under* 400k than above. I'm not sure how to parse that info as it relates to our house. But, having done the research to get that number, I feel better about not feeling overpriced!
My wife and I are relocating back East to be closer to our families, and we're about to list our house. I think I've been reading too many "doom and gloom" newpaper articles and bubble blogs, because while I feel our real estate agent is a true professional and excellent at what he does, I'm somewhat terrified that we're listing too high.
We're planning on coming in at $399k in zip 98026, 4 bedroom, 1.75 bath. Any tips for calming my nerves or convincing me that we're being aggressive enough with our price?
If you, the home owner, think you are priced a bit too high you probably are. ANd, for that price, I would probably expect at least a 2.5 bath home. (not sure where you are though, so I could be dead wrong) I WISH we had lowered our price when we initially listed. We did some small adjustements, but not a big one until we got a new realtor. We went from $335K to $299K. Once we were at $299K I REFUSED to budge and we did get an offer for $284K which we took after being on the market 7 months. (glad I didn't lower from the $299K though, or else he would have come in at $269K or something, lol!)
My suggestion: Lower now and get the home sold. The longer you sit on it the more nervous and frustrated you will get. Losing $X now will be worth it.
edit to say: You also are in competition with those other homes you mentioned. If you can make your home sparkle and stage well AND beat all of their prices by like $10K or so, you will be giving yourself a big advantage!
Last edited by ShannonMilligan; 01-07-2008 at 03:34 PM..
Reason: additional info
Keep in mind that one of the functions of the price is as a MARKETING tool. It will directly impact the amount of traffic that comes through in the initial marketing period (say 30-35 days). Think of it as your "initial positioning statement."
The other thing you must keep in mind is the definition of your competition. Don't look at just the houses in your neighborhood, or those that are similar to yours. Look at the comparables for EVERY HOME that those buyers who are looking at YOUR home might consider. If you are starting at $400K as an initial idea of price, look (at least on paper) at every house within the radius from $375 to $425K.
Get your agent to do the absorption rate for that price range (how many houses have SOLD within the past 90 days...and then get a monthly rate of sales from that). If 30 houses have sold in the past 90 days, that's 10 / month. If there are currently 60 houses in the price range...the line at the store is 10 months long! You can see (if you graph it) where the prices cluster...and you should position yourself effectively in relation to those clusters to make sure you stand out as the best VALUE.
I hope that wasn't too confusing...I'm not sure I explained it as well as it was explained to me. It is not the standard way most agents look at pricing strategy, but I've seen it be very effective.
If you, the home owner, think you are priced a bit too high you probably
Well, that might often be true for some sellers. But, since I'm overly pessimistic about the market, I'm not sure if it's actually true or if I've psyched myself out.
It's hard for me to find that sweet spot. I don't want to leave money on the table. But, I do want to get it sold! Right now I have is a real estate professional that I trust telling me one thing and my gut telling me another. In theory I should trust the professional more than my gut.
When reviewing comps make sure to look at Actives (your current competition) Solds and don't forget to look at Expireds. If these Expireds have not come back on the market or if they did at lower pricing that is a good indication of where your pricing should fall.
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