This post is from the nationally acclaimed writer for Inman;
Cara Ameer is a broker associate and global luxury agent with CB Vanguard Realty in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Pricing a home is art versus a science.
Although market data can provide good information about how a home should be priced, what the data says, what an agent recommends, and what the seller wants are often three different things.
Here are the top 5 myths that sellers believe about pricing:
1. The higher a home is priced, the better chance a seller has of getting close to their asking price,
This is one of the largest myths and one that sellers love to latch onto.
Usually, the opposite is true! It can also be one of the biggest myths for an agent to overcome.
Overpricing results in losing valuable marketing the seller can’t get back.
If a seller relents and agrees to lower the price to what it should have been in the first place, showings will happen, but by this time, agents and buyers are taking notice of the days on the market.
2. If I give a buyer the closing date they want, I will get my price!
Not necessarily. Choosing an agreeable closing date is a dicey negotiation.
Agreeing on a buyer’s preferred closing date does not guarantee that a seller will get their price, but it might speed up the transaction.
3. Including “extras” with the sale helps to negotiate a higher price
A seller who attempts to push their belongings onto a buyer with a counteroffer risks being highly disappointed on several levels.
Often, there is a huge disparity between what the seller thinks furniture items are worth and what a buyer sees. Many buyers don’t think it is worth paying significantly more for a home to have a bunch of used stuff.
A buyer will likely counter back at a lower price and might only want one or two things, to which the seller feels the counteroffer is still too low.
Leave furniture and other items out of the equation until you agree on price.
If a buyer wants something, they will ask for it as part of the offer.
4. Selling “as is” means a buyer won’t try to lower the price after inspections.
Putting an “as is” on the listing does not protect a seller’s asking or agreed upon price, no matter how low or under market value it may appear.
Buyers will still conduct their own due diligence. There is always a fear that with “as is” purchases, a buyer is taking on far more than meets the eye.
So a renegotiation can and does happen!!!
5. Let’s split “ the difference”
No one said real estate was fair. A seller may offer $20,000 in a negotiation, but the buyer will offer only $10,000 and will not budge.
Should the buyer come up more? Perhaps, but a question always ensues
What is the property worth in the eyes of the buyer or seller? This is where the disconnect comes in, and an agreement cannot be reached.
The reality about selling a home is that the market rarely thinks as highly of it as a seller does.
A buyer often has only a surface-level view, and the things a seller thinks a buyer would find valuable may not be in the buyer’s mind.
Even if a home appears to be well-priced, it is rare any agent will disclose that in showing feedback in case their customer wants to make an offer.
Pricing a home properly requires skill, market knowledge, a comparable market analysis, and sheer gut instinct, in addition to understanding sales data.
Copywrite © August, 2018 Daniel Dobbs MHM Mortgage /// All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Daniel Dobbs, Author- VP-Broker Mutual Home Mortgage 265 S. Randolph #120 Brea, Ca. 92821 Cell: 949 250-3981 Dandobbs6@gmail.com NMLS #307631 BRE #00986886