by Sean Hess (www.SeanHess.com), Broker and Manager for St. Augustine Team Realty (www.StAugustineTeamRealty.com). Follow us on Facebook.
“His answer to everything was ‘drop the price, drop the price,’ even though we had already told him our bottom line.
“We told our real estate agent several times our bottom line on our house,” said the Midwestern seller. “We couldn’t go any lower but he pressured, pressured, and pressured.”
Real quotes from real sellers from a recent article in Realtor magazine called “Are You Listening?”
We hear statements like this a lot, especially when a home or other property isn’t selling.
We are listening, but Realtors have a tough role. We are hired to sell properties, and properties are subject to the same market forces of supply and demand as any other thing in the world that is being sold. So after you’ve done all the marketing and advertising in the world and it still isn’t selling, it always comes back to price.
Realtors have maxims:
“There’s nothing price can’t fix.”
“Everything will sell at the right price and terms.”
“All the advertising in the world can’t sell an overpriced listing.”
When a seller tells me this is their “bottom line,” I respect that. But when it becomes clear that the bottom line isn’t low enough, I go back again. My assumption is that the seller wants to sell the property until it expires or is pulled from the market. It is my job, it is my duty, to get that property sold, and it’s my role to make sure my sellers are as educated as I am about the market.
I always tell my sellers to envision an aisle in the grocery store. My job is a realtor is to make sure that their product (their home) is front and center, and at eye level on that aisle in the grocery store. Everybody that comes down that aisle will see that home and know it is for sale.
But home shopping is like everything else. Buyers compare one product to another. They look for the best value, or the most upgrades or the most bang for the buck. Because every property, regardless of price range, is always competing against at least one other home.
So the buyer sees my home for sale, but looks at the price tag and says, “gee, this costs $30,000 more than this other one right over here.” If you have two homes that are nearly identical…and we see this a lot in condos…why would you pay $30,000 more for one over the other? The ocean view is better, maybe, but then they wouldn’t be equal homes would they?
Let’s carry that a little further then. So the view is a little better, and it may justify a higher price for one home over another. But let’s say demand is light and there’s only going to be one sale this month/quarter/year. Doesn’t it make sense to lower the price to get that single sale, to make sure you get the buyer and nobody else does?
If you wait another year and pay the mortgage and interest and association fees and taxes and maintenance and upkeep, how much does that cut into the amount you hope to gain at a higher price? Could you do more with the money by selling today at a lower price, but getting a better return by re-investing it, instead of holding out for a higher price? At the end of the day, is that higher price you’re holding out for really even there?
Lots to think about.
We do listen. But our job is to get properties sold. When we enable, we’re not really in business at all.
Email your comments and questions to Sean@StAugTeam.com.
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