Boca Expert Realty Real Estate Blog

Selling a home is a difficult and emotional process and obviously you want to get the highest price possible. There are many factors that affect the price that you will ultimately get for your house. Some of these include: recent past sales in your neighborhood (what appraisers look at), what is currently on the market (your competition), interest rates, and general market conditions. Additionally, you must keep your house in mint “show ready” condition, and make it easy to be shown. Lastly, your Realtor® needs to be an expert negotiator adept in marketing your home for maximum exposure. 

Setting an initial asking price is more art than science. Often, our sellers will want to price the property higher than what we recommend, so they will have “negotiating room”. Other times, they will tell us that they are “in no rush to sell” or that “it only takes one buyer”. These sellers do not understand that a home that is overpriced will not spark enough interest, and that is a major mistake.  

It is important to keep in mind that every property will sell if the price is right. The seller needs to look at specific indicators with regard to adjusting the price of the home. 

1. If the house is not being shown. This may indicate that agents think the price is too high for that specific neighborhood. Our recommendation: A significant price adjustment of at least 10% should be considered. Our goal is to position the property in an entirely new category. Example: A house listed at $2,250,000 has little or no showings. It’s time to consider an adjustment to $1,995,000.
2. If the house is being shown, but there have not been any offers. This may indicate that buyers are finding nicer homes for the money. In this case our recommendation is a moderate price adjustment  between 5-10% of the asking price.
3. If the house is in the running, but the buyers buy something else, or if the buyers view the house a second time, but buy something else. This may indicate that the price is very close. In this case we would make a minor adjustment of below 5%.
   

According to the National Association of Realtors, the typical buyer in 2017 looked at an average of 10 homes before buying. If the flip of this is true, then if the home is priced right, the seller should receive one offer for every 10 showings. 

When you list your property, the biggest number of showings will be in the first four weeks of listing. After that, the showings drop considerably, mainly because at that point they will be  limited to new buyers coming into the market. All these factors should be considered when making the decision to reduce the price of your home.