The Importance of Getting The Price Right

Something that happens to real estate agents on a very regular basis is the issue of getting the price right on a new listing. Sellers want to get top dollar for their property, and so do we, but sometimes the "seller's price" is over the top and totally unrealistic. Especially in this slower market, it is very important to get their price in a marketable range that will encourage showings and offers.

Here's a story that happened in our brokerage recently that demonstrates the importance of getting the price right. The seller had a country property in a good, central location. The house was really nice with many updates and recent renovations.

We gave them an asking price of $ 450,000 about 18 months ago. They felt this was low, and decided to try and sell privately for $ 699,000. Later they listed with another broker at the same price without success. Well over a year passed in the process and they did reduce the price a bit, but nothing substantial.

In the end, after 18 months of the stress of trying to sell their property, they sold it for $ 415,000. I am sure everyone was disappointed in the end.

Nobody will ever know for sure, but we're pretty confident that they could have sold it for more than that with a year's less stress.

Any agent will tell you that they don't want to take overpriced listings. You can spend thousands of dollars advertising without a realistic chance of seeing a return on your time and financial investment.