Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2011
When selling a house it is all about price, condition, location and marketing. Marketing is primarily up to the Realtor and differentiated marketing skill is why a Realtor is chosen – or should be chosen in our view. Location is fixed and condition is up to the Buyer – mostly. But what about price? Price is under the seller’s control and we think in an online world a thirty day checkpoint might be considered to help with price management.
Every good realtor performs a comparable market assessment to introduce a range of pricing options to the seller. Sellers tend to go for a high a price – sometimes above the recommended comparative range and above the market. This is understandable as a seller would like the most money they can obtain from the sale and frequently sellers may not be aware or accept the amount of market decline in recent years for their particular home.
We like to talk about a thirty day checkpoint (I think it may be twenty-one days actually). If your home does not receive multiple visits, a repeat visit or an offer in thirty days it may be priced to high. Why so fast? Well in Naples real estate it is estimated over 80% of all buyers start online. With online search capability motivated buyers today “see” your place quickly, at least virtually. If the seller experiences little activity then the property may be priced too high for the buyers in the market at that time – the buyers searching online may have passed you buy. Perhaps in the old days before online shopping sellers could believe their property needed time to work in the market and give the property a chance to be viewed in a world of newspaper ads and yard signs. Today with the speed of these motivated online buyers thirty days is a lot of time.
What should a seller think about after a property is on the Naples real estate market for more than thirty days with no serious looks? A number of things should be considered – not the least of which are a price reduction, condition upgrades, marketing method reviews or adding other amenities like your boat dock or furniture to the sale. Hopefully a good Realtor recommended or accomplished all the non-price things pretty well with the seller and the lack-of-a-sale problem may be primarily about price. You might think about lowering the asking price – but check supply and demand first.
Whenever you think abut price – wether buying or selling Naples real estate – always check supply and demand. For example, if you are a seller in a neighborhood with short supply and good sales volumes prices might be rising and you might consider hanging on to that high price for a bit longer and let the market come to you. The “let the market come to me” strategy may not work as those online buyers might just head for other neighborhoods. The approach might take a while and in fact a sale may never happen at the current price. In neighborhoods long on supply you might expect prices to drop further so you might lower the price more quickly and more aggressively to avoid chasing the market down.
In this online world of ours remember the thirty day checkpoint and keep an eye on supply and demand. Waiting it out may not always be the best answer.
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No legal or investment advice or suggestions are being given in this Blog. Actual real estate price and sales results are subject to market forces and are not completely predictable. Please consult a lawyer or investment advisor for such legal and investment advice. The writings of this Blog are intended for the sole use of our clients.
Mark Goebel, PA is a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker on 5th avenue in Naples, Florida with 35+ years of visiting and living in Naples. After 25 years at Accenture, Mark retired as a managing director and spends his time helping non profits and building a Naples real estate team with his wife Nan. Talk to Mark and Nan about life in Naples and why they chose this place to live full-time over all others and enjoy Naples real estate.
Mark Goebel, PA
REALTOR
Mobile: 239.595.3921
Email: mark.c.goebel@gmail.com
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