Selling a homes is actually serious business, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of you Realtor as well as yourself. So, if you're not really ready to commit to what it takes to sell a house in today's market, then you really shouldn't put your house on the market.
If you're just planning on testing the market, then you've likely already made up your mind that you not going to listen to what your professional has to say. Chances are, you are simply planning on tossing your house on the market at some random price that has nothing to do with comparable, sold properties, and see what happens.
Let me be the first to tell you that this type attitude can and usually does blow up in our face. The majority of activity on a home for sale will happen in the early days of it's existence on the market. That's why it's so important to price it right, advertise it right, and have it in good order and ready to show right from the start.
Doing it right from the beginning will usually yield good results, that's why it's so important to do. So when you just test that market, by not having your house ready to show and priced right from the start, you usually blow your best opportunity to sell.
The problem becomes that fact that your house develops a reputation amongst Realtors who are showing buyers on the market. They have shown the home and they have seen that it doesn't show well and that it's over priced. They will relay this information to any potential buyer that asks about this house, and chances are it will not be shown to that buyer.
By the time you get serious about selling the house, unfortunately that damage is done. Every Realtor that has shown it will remember it's state in the beginning and buyers will know something is wrong by the number of days it has spent on the market. Usually when you test the market, the market wins and it's not very nice about it either. So get it right from he start and take that market seriously.
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JL Boney, III - Columbia, SC Realtor - Russell and Jeffcoat Real Estate
I specialize in Columbia, SC real estate and the surrounding areas, including Blythewood, SC, Kershaw County, Fairfield County, and Lexington, SC. If you are in the market to buy or sell a home in Columbia, SC or any of the surrounding areas, I would love the opportunity to speak with to see how I can help. Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me if I can be of service to you.
Office- 803-788-1450 Cell- 803-730-9601 Email- jlboney@russellandjeffcoat.com
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Interesting thoughts, JL. Makes sense to me.
JL --- this is excellent advice for the sellers out there --- let's hope they all are reading your blog
Mama Liz
Hi JL, very remarkable information we can learn from you.
John Pusa
Good advice for listing agents, too. When I began in real estate, I often started with the sellers' suggested retail price, thinking that we could always later lower the price to where I thought it should be - how many potential buyers did we miss? I will never know - they didn't stop by to tell me.
It is true that agents look at who listed at what price and remember - often, I see a listing by those agents who regularly list high, but say 'bring an offer'. If they can't negotiate the list price, how well would they do with negotiating a lower (correctly priced) offer? They are not getting the showings.
JL, great advice for sellers and listing agents alike.
[By the time you get serious about selling the house, unfortunately that damage is done]
Oh yeah it is!
In fact I just expired one and I love her and v/v but I wanted 30 day TOTAL price reduction to market and her husband said no, we'll leave money on the table.
YOU SURE DID. ALL OF IT.
By the time they heard me the market had declined. I told them take it off and let's try again after the first of year because we are all wasting time now.
Sellers who "test the market" are just engaging in a worthless exercise that wastes time and a lot of their money. These days, it really pays to get down to business and price it right from the beginning. Thanks for an excellent post.
Austin has one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation right now but even so, I don't think anyone here is "testing" the market. Sales are still sluggish, and unemployment is high. This is no time for tests.
Real Estate: WARNING -- this is NOT a test!!
Good analogy!
Good post and great advice. Some people are not completely sold on the idea when they enter the market. They feel they can make the rules because thats what the media has told them. As you mentioned, your house soon has a bad reputation sort of speak and ends up on the market for a lot longer than normal.
JL...this is not the time to 'just' test the waters. Now more than ever you better have your ducks in a row!
JL - even with price reductions, over priced homes that might eventually sell, do so at a lower price than if they were priced right in the first place.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Featured in the Group "Whacked!!!"
Sardi- Thanks big guy.
Liz- It might help if they were.
John- At least a few things here and there.
Virgina- Listing agents can certainly learn from this as well as sellers.
Nick- Thank you sir.
Candice- It's best to get it right from the start, it's hard to play catch up.
Tom- If you don't do it from the beginning, it may already be too late.
Dianne- Tests aren't all that good at any point, even when the market is hot.
Carla- I thought so, thanks for stopping by.
John- Listen to your professional from the start and do it right from the start. The news is a great thing, but they aren't always right.
Bill- No it's not my friend.
Mike- That's right.
Richard- I bet you could if you tried, thanks for the feature.
JL, this is awesome. I need to send this to a client of mine. This says exactly what I have been trying to say -- but it comes from someone other than me!!! :-) THANK YOU!
Marney- I hope it helps, thanks for stopping by.