Every seller wants the most money for his home in the least amount of time. Every buyer wants to pay the least amount of money for a home.
Buyers looking to buy in Orange County are usually aware that median values have fallen 40% in the last few years and many are looking for deals.
In his post below, J. Philip has explained the best way to price a home to sell it for the most money possible.
Although real estate is local and each market is different, he makes many valid points.
If you would like to know the current market value of your Orange County home, please contact me at 714.319.9751 for a free pinpoint analysis of your home’s value.
Via J. Philip Faranda (J. Philip LLC) Westchester County NY:
How not to price your home:
- Take your mortgage balance.
- Add your credit cards.
- Throw in your cars.
- Add a generous portion of all the money you borrowed from relatives.
- Pile on your down payment for that other house you have your eye on.
- Last but not least, give yourself an extra 50 grand just for being you.
- Get a blank look on your face when you are told that the buying public doesn’t care what you owe.
- Wait.
- Wait some more.
- Decide you’ll stay after all.
Here’s a better plan:
- Find out what homes like your have sold for in the past 90 days
- Price the house at that number or 5% less.
- As my son’s teacher says “you get what you get and you don’t get upset.”
- Pack your bags.
The buying public is utterly ambivalent about what you owe to whom as it relates to pricing your property. They only care about their own needs. What you need isn’t on their radar, and if you aren’t priced in line with the current perception of value, your listing will get stale and sit unsold for months as you chase the market.Chasing the market is always being one price point behind what the public is willing to pay. You enter the market at $599,000 when you really ought to be at $549,900. You lower to $575 when the market for the house is $525,000. By the time you hit $499,000, it could be a year later and the public isn’t willing to pay more than $450,000. Each price drop seems harsh, but your real enemy was starting out too high.Sellers are in a war of attrition with buyers who lurk before they call, call before they look, and look at everything before they buy. You won’t get a call, look or offer until your price conforms to what the public deems fair. The only offers overpriced homes get is low ball offers from bold types who wouldn’t pay as much as fair minded people would on a fairly priced home. The only way to win the battle is to price as aggressively as possible and not allow your ego or personal preferences to cloud your objectivity.Easier said than done!
- J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service.
- Read my short sale blog here.
- J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
- Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent.
- I’m hiring agents.
- Agents: Subscribe to the 40 Somethings Group. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
