2017

I’m not giving my house away. I will not sell if I don't get my price.

I had a conversation with a homeowner the other day, and he and his wife were thinking of downsizing, but he informed me that unless he gets what he wants for his house, he will not sell it, that he is not trying to give the house away. I told him I would not let him give his house away but he can only sell for what the market value is and what a buyer is willing to pay for it. House prices depends on the price similar houses sold for in his neighborhood in the last 90 days, not what they are selling for 3 or 4 years ago. His comeback to me is that it does not matter what the others are selling for, but he knows that his house is worth more than the others because of the updates/upgrades they’ve made in the house.

As Realtors we often encounter home owners that always think they can get more than what the market value is and some will actually get less if they insist on having the sales price higher than what it can sell for, because the longer a house is in the market the likelihood of selling for less.

All home owners want more money for their houses, and always think that updates and renovation they've done will make the houses significantly sell higher when compared to other similar houses in their neighborhood. While renovation and updates are a good way to increase the property value but more importantly the money spent for these upgrades are not going to be returned dollar for dollar when selling the house, additionally, a house can be over improved, so it is important to know that it is not the amount of improvement, but the type of improvements that will return the most value.

The lesson here is while we are in a seller's market now a house still needs to be priced accordingly to get an offer, an overpriced house will languish in the market until the price is at what buyers will pay for it.

How will you know your house is overpriced in this market or any market? If the house has been in the market for over 30 days with few showings, it may be overpriced. Houses that are rightly priced, are getting an average of 20 to 30 showings in a month, with this amount of showings, the house will attract multiple offers within that timeframe. We always advise our seller clients to price their houses a little below market value why? Because this will generate lots of interest and many times offers will come in above the asking price. We have proven this theory so many times that we know it works.

It is quite important to properly price a house because the longer a house is in the market the higher the chances of selling for less, an overpriced house is actually helping to sell other houses in the market.

So Mr. Homeowner I don't want you to give your house away, but to sell for what the market value is not what you think is worth. Any house is sold twice especially the ones that a buyer will get a loan for, first to the buyer, then to the lender. That means regardless of what the price the buyer agrees to, the house has to be appraised and must meet the lender requirements for financing.

Again Mr. Homeowner if you are ready and willing to sell so you can move on with your life, let's meet so we can get the house priced properly and get sold quickly. This is what we do every day for our clients and we have in depth knowledge of the market. Let’s make this happen for you as well.