Though low inventory is prompting buyers to increase their offers as a way to beat out competitors, Realtors still want sellers to understand that an overpriced listing will linger on the market.
When must you drop a listing price?
Buyers look closely at time on market, and several erroneously assume something is wrong with a property which has gone “stale.” While “stale” can be a relative term that varies by individual market, real estate pros say it’s vital to determine the time-frame so listing prices will be dropped before a home passes that critical “stale” threshold.
“I typically drop the price after the second week on the market, usually in $5,000 to $10,000 increments,” says Laura Barnett, CRS, GRI, a sales associate with RE/MAX DFW Associates in Coppell, Texas. “But I may be more aggressive than most.”
Price cuts within the hot Dallas-area market where Barnett works have not been common lately, she says. But “there is a strange change which is in the air, and sellers are beginning to a little more humble. I would not say it is a buyer’s market, however a new balance between sellers and buyers has been hitting us since August.”
Nationwide, a home spent an average 34 days on the market in September, a decline from 39 days last year, as reported by the National Association of Realtors®.
Some sellers could possibly be adamant about “testing the market” using a high asking price, Nick, Cindy & Nicholas Davis have a game plan for how to proceed next when that overpricing backfires.
“I don’t believe in testing the market, but if we enter the market [with a list price] pushing the top of the range, we can easily gauge response within seven to 10 days,” says Dana Rice, a sales associate with Compass in Washington, D.C. “It’s almost a certainty that if we don’t get an offer within that first 10-day period, then we’ve missed the mark.”
Rice says she’s seen sellers do a rapid price adjustment that can then result in a quicker sale. You can “bring those same buyers back – the ones who liked the property in the first place and who will view the price adjustment as ‘the seller is listening to me,'” she says.
We actually recently moved and decided to sell our old home. So when it came time to price the home. We looked at the numbers thoroughly. Placed the home on the market on a Friday afternoon, it was shown immediately, received first offer on Saturday and subsequent offers on Sunday. We went under contract Sunday evening at full price. Now this is because we priced the home in accordance with the sales in our neighborhood, condition of the house along with the upgrades we had done.
Ready to find out the current market value of your home? Nick & Cindy Davis with RE/MAX Premier Group are here to assist you. We are always a just a click here away or call 813-300-7116