“I Need Room To Negotiate” – A Myth of Sellers
August 4th, 2009 categories: Selling Real Estate in Coconut Grove
I believe that adding in a large negotiating cushion into a home’s list price is a huge mistake on the part of the seller.
It has been my experience that the closer you can get to the price you are willing to accept, the better the offers will be and the faster they will come in (yes, even in this market). Buyers these days are educated, they know a well priced house when they see one, and they will make a solid offer if they don’t want to risk losing a home.
Here are some recent examples:
2835 Crystal Court was originally on the market at $639,000. Once the price was dropped to $585,000 they were able to negotiate an offer of $550,000 and closed quickly.
1668 Micanopy Avenue was originally on the market at $1,699,000. Once the price was dropped to $1,490,000 they got an offer of $1,400,000 and accepted it.
4071 Barbarossa Avenue had an original asking price of $650,000, later came down to $499,000 and finally accepted an offer of $425,000. This property languished on the market for many months. If only they had priced it under $500,000 in the first place, they could have sold it so much sooner.
If a home is overpriced for any reason (too much of a cushion, stubborn seller, etc.) the buyer gets a sense that the seller is unrealistic in his asking price and will shy away from making an offer. You also miss out on buyers coming to see the house because they fear that it is out of their price range.
Riley, you are right on all counts–especially that buyers aren’t fooled by an overpriced house or, as one seller said to me, “the price is flexible but we don’t want that known.” I won’t tell.