I love what I do, and I love helping people. But, there is only so much I can do as a REALTOR®.

As a seller, you can tell me what you want for your property, but that doesn’t mean you will get it.

Sure, I’d love if I could wave a magic wand and POOF! I got you your price and I got more money for my commission, but sadly that is not the case.

A property is only worth what the market will give you. (Real estate is just like the stock market. It changes daily.)

If every other comparable house uses the concept, 1+1=2, and you want 1+1=8, that (literally) doesn’t add up. Why would someone pay $8 when they could get the same thing for $2?

That is really what sellers are asking for when they ask for more money than what the other comparable houses are selling for.

If you were a buyer, and all the houses in the area were $300,000, why would you buy a house for $350,000 simply because that is what the seller wanted?

I know sellers, your house is special. Unless you have something better than the comparable houses that adds value, such as, waterfront, new roof, more sq ft, bigger lot, and so on, you have to price the house within a range of the property values in the neighborhood. Because if you are overpriced, you could be pricing yourself out of potential buyers viewing your home.

Yes, a seller is entitled to ask whatever they want. But if they plan to sell it, they have to put down the crystal ball, the magic wand and the fairy dust, and start looking at some hard numbers.

I had a seller I was working with for a year, where he kept saying he wanted his price. Unfortunately it was on one of the smallest lots in the neighborhood, and backed up to the guard gate.

Every time I got him to come down a little in price, a distressed sale hit and the values dropped. Finally, I told him that he needed to pull it from the market. It was just making it look stale and unattractive as it had become close to $100,000 overpriced than the recent sales.

A good house, at a good value, will sell well in any market. Don’t waste time thinking about what you want for it, think about what it is really worth. And if you don’t believe your REALTOR®’s advice, get an independent appraisal done.

 

And hey, when I get that magic wand working, you will be the first to know. 😉