The Price is Right!
In my last blog entry I discussed some of the objections buyers have with homes. One dicey topic is price. Sellers generally want more than the house is really worth and buyers generally want to pay less than the house is really worth. There are several reasons why you should price your home right from the beginning.
1. An overpriced house generally sells for less than a comparable home that was priced right from the start.
2. Most buyers don’t like to negotiate when the price is out of range
If I price my house high I have room to wiggle, so why is this a bad idea? Some sellers still think that this is an appropriate model for pricing your home. Rather than debate the merits of this let’s look at it from the buyers perspective. Remember the buyer is looking at many homes and yours is just one in the “Tour of Homes”. A typical buyer will look at 35-40 homes before purchasing a home. They will become experts on pricing in a relatively short period of time. 
They will understand what the price point offers for “Shoulds” in a home. A “Should” is granite counters for some homes, finished basements for some, in-home theaters for others. You get the idea. The buyer will also have a list of features that they prefer in their home. This list of preferences comes from their personal experience in their last home. For example, if the buyer is from the south they maybe accustomed to all brick homes, soaring ceilings and painted woodwork. Here is a timely piece of advice I give to all potential sellers; A buyer with cash in hand, no home to sell is NOT coming to buy your home—they are coming to cross it off the list! IF your home has enough of the items that most buyers want then you will probably make it to the next step, BUT if you do not have enough of those items, then your home will be removed from the list. This is where pricing comes into the picture. Homes with fewer of the features generally cannot command a market level price. The price must reflect not only square footage, but the amenities of the house. I am not saying this, the buyers are. If you have a lovely home that is 5,000 sq ft finished basement and the home was built in 1995 and you have not made any updates to your home since then and you are competing with a 2008 home that is essentially the same size, take a guess at which house the buyer might go for?
This is the hardest part of selling homes—giving the seller the hard facts. I have always been committed to this. A seller deserves the honest truth in a kind manner of course. Think about your home from the buyer’s point of view and you will do well in the long run. I will discuss point #2 in my next blog post.
Posted by: 
Glenn Hanon
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