Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As suggested above, YOU need to drive the sales price, NOT your realtor. If the information you've provided is accurate, I wouldn't hesitate to list at $380K+ and be willing to come down to perhaps $365K, if necessary!
The 'magic' of $$ search point and/or a $$ per sq. foot price, is generally over-played by younger realtors -- and inexperienced sellers. You will never get MORE than you ask, unless you are in a competitive bid situation --- which yours may be. Sell the 'sizzle' of the "lowest priced pool home in the area!!" ... and let the Florida market take care of itself. Appraisals are often highly influenced by sales price.
Much of this may depend on your immediate situation and need to sell QUICKLY! (have you already committed to buy another home?) -- If you have at least a few weeks latitude, list high and see what type of interest or offers you get.
[As an experienced buyer/seller, I've regularly used realtors, but, from experience, know that much of their touted 'expertise' is guesswork and their 'agenda' is usually more driven by a quick commission, than getting me the best price]
I so agree with this statement. With easy self-service real estate searches being ubiquitous, adjusting parameters takes seconds. If you aren't looking above or below your target price range then you are missing out. Especially once you have narrowed it down to a particular neighborhood.
Thanks everyone for your responses. They’ve been so very helpful, and I feel better about increasing the price now from what my agent originally suggested in February. I just hope buyers who want up to $350k will search $325k to $350k vs. $325k to $349,999 because otherwise I assume they won’t see mine! It seems there are differing opinions about the $349,900 vs. $350k. While I realize that $345k to $350k is only a 1.45% increase, my main concern is that I show up in the search results for people looking up to/under $350k because that’s truly my potential buyer and not the over $350k. I’d obviously love to get over $350k, but I just don’t see it happening although maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised because of the lack of inventory. As several people have pointed out, I know I’m once again over thinking this, but right now I’m on edge because I still haven’t received an alert that she posted my listing, and it’s now the end of the day on Friday! I don’t understand why unless she’s waiting until she gets back into town tonight. I thought I’d see it this morning. I’m also really worried because we have that tropical storm or hurricane supposedly heading our way, and the forecast here for Sunday isn’t one where I want buyers coming here. I just wish I would have been able to list it this week on Tuesday like I wanted to because it’s been sunny with very little rain (unusual for this time of year) and calm winds, which is exactly what I wanted.
Even so, the question you want to ask yourself is whether you want to squeeze out the last penny or whether you really want to sell soon and with little fuss. One means price a bit high, the second a bit low.
If you are agonizing about this...maybe you need to do some self-reflection so you are ready to respond to offers.
Thanks for the great points. I guess I want to squeeze every last penny and sell soon with little fuss.
And I was thinking the same thing about agonizing over this, which is why I’ve been telling myself that I need to read all the posts that I’ve saved about offers so I can prepare myself because I know me…I will be agonizing and analyzing them ad nauseam.
As suggested above, YOU need to drive the sales price, NOT your realtor. If the information you've provided is accurate, I wouldn't hesitate to list at $380K+ and be willing to come down to perhaps $365K, if necessary!
The 'magic' of $$ search point and/or a $$ per sq. foot price, is generally over-played by younger realtors -- and inexperienced sellers. You will never get MORE than you ask, unless you are in a competitive bid situation --- which yours may be. Sell the 'sizzle' of the "lowest priced pool home in the area!!" ... and let the Florida market take care of itself. Appraisals are often highly influenced by sales price.
Much of this may depend on your immediate situation and need to sell QUICKLY! (have you already committed to buy another home?) -- If you have at least a few weeks latitude, list high and see what type of interest or offers you get.
[As an experienced buyer/seller, I've regularly used realtors, but, from experience, know that much of their touted 'expertise' is guesswork and their 'agenda' is usually more driven by a quick commission, than getting me the best price]
My realtor isn’t a young realtor. She’s been selling almost exclusively in my community for about 25 years and has been the #1 realtor here for a long time. I see more listings and sales from her than anyone else on a regular basis, and I'm always amazed at how quickly her listings are pending.
I love your idea about selling the "lowest priced pool home in the area!!" Thank you!
I don’t need to sell quickly, and I deliberately decided to sell this house first before I purchase my next house in another part of the state. I didn’t want to be put in a position where I have to take an offer that I’m not really happy with. I also have bad luck and wouldn’t want to take the chance of being stuck with two houses.
$340 will get you offers over asking price What does your agent say about list to sale price % in your neighborhood?
$350 will get more eyeballs. You may get offers at, above or below asking price.
$375 will get few showings and possibly low ball offers.
I know this was a stupid oversight, but I unfortunately forgot to ask my agent about list to sale price % in my neighborhood. I’ve lived here a couple of decades so I know what’s going on here more than a lot of the realtors do, but she lives, eats and breaths it every day. We have a lot of pendings now in our community overall now so I can’t wait to see what they close at because of lack of inventory.
You need a new realtor............ Who is going on vacation in a hot real estate market during a pandemic?
I think your realtor is aiming for a quick sale, not highest price.
I think she might be aiming for a quick sale, but she also knows and I’ve made it very clear that I need to get as much money out of this house as I can and that I don’t want to do much of anything – like repairs or credits.
As to her taking a vacation, I do feel she deserves one because I know she works very hard unlike many realtors around here. I see more new listings and closed sales with her on a consistent basis than anyone. She said the reason she decided to take a couple of days this week is because it’s the only week she doesn’t have closings scheduled, and she has something like 18 closings in August. I will say that I was kind of taken aback and upset when I first learned she was going to be away because when she was just here last Friday to go over some questions I had about the listing agreement. I said then and before she got here that I wanted to list beyond ASAP. She then texted me last Saturday that her husband scheduled on Friday (the day she was here) for them to go away a few days this week. I wasn’t thrilled about it, but maybe she felt it’s not a big deal since I didn’t sign the agreement because she needed to talk to her broker about a few changes I wanted. We did get that finalized late Sunday and she was here with the photographer on Monday morning so we could have gone live on Tuesday if she had been here like I at first assumed she would be.
I am wondering if by chance your agent has already sold your place....her personal pocket listing and now will have egg on her face because of a price change. Watch for dual agency or the same RE firm coming in with an offer. If I am right and she has not disclosed someone in the wings, be very careful. She does not have your fiduciary needs above hers and this is the first sign of a real problem.
Hmm….I wouldn’t be surprised if she has some people in mind because she listed another home in my neighborhood the middle of July in the mid $300’s and it was pending in a couple of days. That house doesn’t have a pool so maybe she got some potential buyers from it who really want a pool. BTW-I changed the price before I even signed the listing agreement, but I guess maybe she could have told someone she has something coming for $345k??? She’s also a transaction broker, and not a fiduciary, but I posted about that confusing and annoying subject in another thread.
We had a situation similar where we were the ONLY property for sale in a neighborhood that was filled with the lowest priced starter homes on that side of the city, in a super-tight market. The very modest house was clean and vacant, and freshly painted, yard and garage were tidy, and all maintenance was up to date. We priced just below a common price break point (in OP's case that would be $349,900) and our realtor told us to expect a bidding war. In fact, that's exactly what we wanted, multiple over asking offers. Realtor posted the photos online, he sent the online ad to all of his buyers that he could think of in that price point, as well as other realtors, landlords, and flippers. The ad, and MLS listing, stated absolutely no showings until our Saturday-Sunday open house. At the open house, he told all realtors and buyers that the house was being sold as-is (with an inspection contingency of course) and they had until 5 pm Monday to put in their only, best, and final offers.
We had so many buyers at the open house that he stopped counting after about 37. On Monday night we had 16 offers, so the realtor put them in a spreadsheet so we could compare them all apples-to-apples. We had 7 over asking price offers, one of which included a clause that he would pay $500 more than our highest other offer, pay cash, and as-is. Obviously we took that offer and closed in 3 weeks, at 10% over asking price.
This is the sort of marketing you should be expecting, and the way for your realtor to get you the highest price. Trying to talk you down from $349K to $345K is a pretty dumb move for your realtor. If a buyer's top price is $345K, let them make that offer on a $349K house. That's totally normal.
Congratulations on your successful closing, and thank you for this fantastic information. I only wish I could be as lucky as you...
Go with the $350k number. It will then appear if someone searches for home in the ranges of $325k - $350k and $350k - $375k.
I'm actually surprised that the price she gave you in February is still accurate. Low inventory in a hot market usually means you can demand more money.
Thanks. I just hope potential buyers do their searches in those increments because I don’t want to be lost in searches.
I had the same feeling as you about the price being the same now as what she suggested in February ($345k), which is why I said I wanted to raise it. It’s almost six months later, and there’s pretty much no inventory in my price range.
I just know she needs to get the darn thing listed ASAP. I just can’t believe it’s now almost 5 pm on a Friday, and I still haven’t seen it. I honestly thought I’d see it this morning – especially since I really wanted it to go live on Tuesday and as soon as she got the professional photos back.
I so agree with this statement. With easy self-service real estate searches being ubiquitous, adjusting parameters takes seconds. If you aren't looking above or below your target price range then you are missing out. Especially once you have narrowed it down to a particular neighborhood.
Thanks for making me feel better. I sure hope buyers are searching like this.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
