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We'll probably end up setting price at whatever our realtor recommends. Our realtor on our last house recommended we start at several thousand less than what we thought we could sell for. So we went against his advice and set it higher. We sold for pretty close to what we wanted the first day the house was on the market! However, I think that was a fluke and the economic climate was definitely different 5 years ago than in this current recession. So this time I imagine we would stick pretty close to whatever our realtor advised.
the issue is traffic flow really--there are some houses that appeal to a wide number of people than others and those factors include price point, location, ISD, and other (in)tangibles like floorplan, garage, pool/no pool, colors, maintenance issues...
getting enough people in to SEE what the house is like is difficult because numbers have dropped...
we are probably the only people who actually viewed the house we just bought...it was only on the market a week or so before we put in an offer...
we probably could have gotten the price down more if we had been willing to walk away when the owner refused to drop the price past certain point but my husband was afraid that someone would buy the house out from under us--so to speak--if we walked away....
chances were 99 to 1 that would have happened in this economy--there are several homes in this neighborhood on the market for months and lots that are for sale--but there were a couple of things about this house that made it very attractive to us--certainly more attractive than the others in subdivision or other local areas-- and since we don't plan on moving until we go to the cemetary, resale was not really an issue...
realtors will tell you that there are people wanting/waiting to buy if the right house/right price comes on the market...and to certain extent I think that is true--but the odds of your house being the right house for those people--that is the unknown factor
all you can do is make strong effort to market/stage your house--make sure you do your part in getting it really to show--make sure you have realtor who IS knowledgeable and has an active office that draws people who are looking to buy--and price your house correctly--get solid history of comps and educate yourself about what those houses were really like--what their best/worst features were and see how yours compares...
have you been checking out the MLS listings in your area and comparing your house to comparable listings--can you figure out why those houses have not sold--sometimes that are drawbacks besides price alone...
price your house 10-15% less than comps if you can stand the price--
DON"T drop your price--that is a dead giveaway that you are desparte and the buyers will offer even less if you drop your price after 30 days....they will offer you much less than you are asking after you have made a price drop....
1. NO!
2. I agree. Dropping the price too soon and too much is a DEAD GIVEAWAY and it makes MANY buyers leary that there is something wrong w/ the house and they may avoid it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by killer2021
Any house will sell as long as it is appropriate priced to what people can afford. List the house at or near the same price as similar homes. Then drop the price X% every month until it sells.
NO!
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalconheadWest
This is horrible advice for your area and price range. Plano, overall, is selling on an average of 97% of asking price. There is no need to list 10-15% below comps. Ridiculous advice and not recommended at all.
I have to agree.
Here is what I have seen in the Dallas Metroplex and it doesn't matter if the market is strong or going down or just holding steady.
Houses listed TOO low below comps usually languish on the market and do NOT sell. Even AFTER they drop the price no one usually nibbles on it at all. Only when it reaches ROCK BOTTOM and your practically giving it away it is hard to sell. Here is what is going thru the typical buyers mind: Hmm, why do they have it listed so much lower than the others similiar in this area? What is wrong with it? They must be desperate to sell or there is something really wrong w/ this house. - YOU DO NOT WANT THIS!
Two houses just 3 doors down from each other with same lot, neighborhood, builder, etc. Seller #1 did not do ANY upgrades like remove wallpaper or declutter (no kids nor dogs in the house). They priced the house originally about right IF they would have gotten rid of the wallpaper (about a $2000 expenditure). They ended up dropping the house by over $70K within an years time and still no takers.
Seller #2 spent a little money and put in granite countertops, got rid of wallpaper and decluttered even with 3 small kids and a dog in the house. They spent all of $10K do do EVERYTHING. Listed the house on the HIGH side for the entire neighborhood. If it sold for that price it would set a new high for price per square foot in the neighborhood. They had a LOT of showings and several soft offers (no written contracts just verbal). They SOLD in less than 30 days for only 5% less than list.
Seller #1 FINALLY sold their house after being on the market for well over a year for almost $90K LESS than original list. They set a NEW record for the LOWEST price per square foot.
Even when we sold our last house we did not need to make anything off of it. Just tired of being landlords and wanted to sell it. Priced it "fair" but on the low side for it being a 2800 sq foot ONE STORY, large culdesac lot, 3 car garage, 4bed/3bath HUGE rooms, neutral paint, landscaped, etc. We just wanted to sell it. The offers that came in were HORRID!!! We actually RAISED the price about $10K and had an offer w/in the week for only $2k less than list. When it was priced low the buyers realtors comments were ALL THE SAME: they must be DESPERATE to sell, something is wrong with it for it to be this low, go in much lower, etc. All of them were WRONG! I could have sat on the house for all I cared. I was NOT going to take money to closing and did not need to.
Just be careful listing it at TOO low of a price. The signs it gives are NOT favorable to you at all.
point taken--Mom--that is probably much better reading of the market--than my advice--I thought pricing it lower might actually stir up multiple offers to bid against each other...
but you have to be smart about the market--spend some time searching MLS for your area listings and seeing what your competition is--
once a house has contract it drops out of MLS listings so you can't always track how long houses were on market before they got contract--that is what your realtor is for
but you will certainly see a variety of homes listed--some of them are updated, some aren't --some are prepped to show and some aren't
this past summer we went to view a new listing in Colleyville that just has the exterior shot of the house in photo section--looked very attractive but inside YUCK---found everything but dirty dishes in the sink--
no declutter, dirty, back yard was overgrown and pool which should have been one of most attractive points was mosquito pond almost...
pretty obvious that family was maybe going through divorce--only clothing in closets were a man's--
I am pretty good at looking past bad/outdated wallpaper and paint colors but we were concerned about the obvious apathy of the seller and the real estate agent's complicit action in putting something on market that was 1) at the top of the market and 2) a definite turn off....
we just thought they were very likely going to be difficult to deal with and unlikely to take a lower offer if they were so arrogant that they throught someone would put in contract on the house after seeing its state...and needless to say maintenance was an issue after seeing how they/he lived...
more than a year ago we actually put in offer on new listing the first day it was on the market--we were the first viewers and it was in IMMACULENT condition--had floor plan we were looking for--great outside/pool area--the sellers gave us no reason NOT to buy the house--and we reached an agreement on price within a couple of backs and forths...
unfortunately during the 10 day option period they discovered their college-age son had a brain tumor and wanted to take the home off the market to deal with his situation--we agreed and to my knowledge they have not sold or relisted it --
we also put in offer on house in Colleyville about the same time we saw the house that was SO bad--it was complete opposite--again showed very well and with many features we wanted--there were 6 offers on the house within the first 48 hrs--four for more than the asking price--we had underbid a little --gave a new offer that was a little over but they went with someone who overbid more than us (back then mineral rights were a big issue for some people and think that was part of the overbidding)...
there are probably some homes that do go under contract within the first week but pretty rarely I would say based on the stats for DFW market...
Last edited by loves2read; 02-02-2009 at 10:58 AM..
point taken--Mom--that is probably much better reading of the market--than my advice--I thought pricing it lower might actually stir up multiple offers to bid against each other...
I've never seen that happen. Not even when the market is going strong. Pricing it too low here is NOT a good thing.
If I were looking and there was a house I was interested in and the realtor said there were multpile offers I'd probably keep on going. I had multiple offers on our last house.......... rejected every single one of them. They were HORRID offers and they were NOT serious buyers at all. None of them came back w/ a better offer either.
It's kind of a tight rope to walk! But yeah, if a house is priced TOO low, I do start wondering what's wrong with it or at the least what is so undesirable about it that no one else wants it. Could be none of the above, could be the seller's circumstances. But it does make you start wondering....
This is horrible advice for your area and price range. Plano, overall, is selling on an average of 97% of asking price. There is no need to list 10-15% below comps. Ridiculous advice and not recommended at all.
Yeah, the neighbor behind me just sold his house for $15k higher than what some of the houses here were going for 2 years ago. So, Plano can't be hurting that badly. Although the houses in my neighborhood are about 2000 sq ft and closer to $150k, which could also explain why they sell more quickly.
as I said--house in Colleyville went up for sale at good price--had 4-6 offers within 48 hours of their open house/MLS date--people did get into a bidding war for it--we went up a little but not as much as people who got the house...it was lovely house but to me it was not worth paying a premium ...
so starting lower--in some instances--draws people in and they like the house--get an emotional connection--so they will ramp up their bids...it can happen
news story this week about home sales in DFW and realtor said she had sold 5 houses in past month--and the one pictured had multiple offers...
price it right and it will probably go... we sold our 1 story (smaller) home for right at it's appraised value/asking price in 2 weeks not too long ago. we had multiple offers. 1 stories are hard to find, so that gives you an edge.
eta: obviosuly, it needs to be clean and in great shape. we had also updated most of it, which helped a lot.
price it right and it will probably go... we sold our 1 story (smaller) home for right at it's appraised value/asking price in 2 weeks not too long ago. we had multiple offers. 1 stories are hard to find, so that gives you an edge.
eta: obviosuly, it needs to be clean and in great shape. we had also updated most of it, which helped a lot.
Yes, I'm hoping that the fact that it's a large one-story will appeal to some people. The house is in very nice condition, but it is not updated like some may desire(doesn't have granite counters etc.) We still haven't decided for sure if we are going to put it on the market or not right now. I will post what happens!
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