Despite changes in our environment that have further tilted things in favor of sellers, overpricing is still causing a major issue in the market. The good news is that, when our properties are properly priced, staged well, in good condition, and truly reflective of the current market, we’re attracting the best buyers possible. When sellers overprice their homes with the mentality of “Let’s just try it out,” it creates ripple effects that they’ll later regret:
1. Overpricing helps the competition sell. A buyer’s agent will say, “Boy, if you like this $800,000 home, you’re going to love the $750,000 one down the road that has the exact same square footage, vaulted ceilings, open floor plan, and other amenities you want.”
2. Fewer people will look at your home. Buyers are more sophisticated than they’ve ever been, and they take advantage of online tools and access to professional agents with detailed market information. As a seller, you can’t count on buyers not understanding where your home sits in relation to the wider market—they’ll sniff out an above-market value price right away.
3. Your days on market will increase. Time will kill all value; if chunks of time pass without buyers looking at your home, then the problem exacerbates itself. The freshest batch of incoming buyers will see the amount of time your home has been active on the market and they’ll wonder, “Okay, what’s wrong with this property? There must be something wrong with it because every other home on the market is selling at a fast clip.”
So let’s not raise red flags or make things harder on ourselves. Let’s make sure we properly market your home and get its condition where it needs to be. Let’s maximize its showability so that buyers who walk through it experience a place that looks, smells, and feels phenomenal. In line with all of these things, the pricing should attract the market, not chase after it.
A home that’s competitively priced will bring serious, high quality buyers through its doors and garner multiple offers. To be fair, underpricing has its own issues that deserve a separate conversation (we don’t want to leave money on the table), but we don’t want to drive buyers away by overpricing.
If you have questions about this or any other real estate-related topic, reach out to us by phone or email. We’re here to help, and would love to hear from you soon!
