Leaving money on the table?

Another way of saying this is, I want to sell my property for the highest price and minimize my cost so that I can get the maximum amount of dollars. I hear this frequently from sellers. When a potential seller calls me and wants to know what the market value of his home is; I do my market analysis in detail I and look at the home. Based on statistical data and 30 years experience, I give the seller a dollar amount or a range depending on the situation. As a broker with a few years of dealing with this I understand the seller wanting to maximize their profits and I also understand that the seller wanting to start out a little higher. I also agree with this because experience has taught me that I don’t have all of the answers. I would also like to sell for a higher amount because the commission is often times based on a percentage.

Recently I listed a home at $148,000. This is about $9,000 higher than I thought it should be listed at. This opinion of value is based on the MLS data and the condition of the home. So I suggested to the seller that the list price should be around $144,000. Even though I feel the price should be lower but let’s see what happens . Fast forward a few weeks. We had some initial showings and then nothing. The initial showing gave the seller a false sense of the value. Keep in mind that you could have 100 showings but without an offer there’s something wrong. Now there are more homes listed in the same market and the prices are lower. This house is now the second highest priced in the neighborhood. As the seller continues to pay taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance on a property  what is true net profit?

So in short, lower the price, sell the property and take the money and move on to your next venture. The money in your pocket is real and other is just a guess.

Until next time,

Matt