Quit Drinking the Real Estate Kool-Aid!

Spring is often referred to as “Silly Season” because it is the time of year that many homes come on the Central Oregon Real Estate Market.  Pricing your home correctly in this market can be the life or death of your home sale.  Over priced homes sit on the market losing valuable time.

Many times a seller has a false impression of what their home will truly sell for.  They are comparing their home to others on the market – or possibly what they “want” for the sale to facilitate what their future plan is.  This is true in all of Central Oregon; Bend, La Pine, Three Rivers South it does not matter over priced homes sit end of story.

One of the most important things YOUR AGENT should do for you is to help you price your home according to the current market conditions.  As I look at listings in the Central Oregon MLS, I find many homes that have been on the market for years.  No kidding years.  Some of them have come off the market for a short period of time as to get a new listing number or start with fresh days on market.  This is one of those things Agents do to play tricks on the public, even I do it to give a listing a fresh start.  The funny thing about that is, those agents that have been active in the business remember those homes.  They remember the details the pricing and so on, so who are you really fooling?

Having your agent sugar coat your real situation in the market does nothing but delay the heart break, your home is not going to sell for the high price many sellers are hoping for.  By listing high, in hopes that someone will offer you something close you are limiting your options of buyers and drinking the Kool-Aid.  Yes, buyers are looking for a “steal of a deal.” But most buyers are more aware of the market then agents or sellers give them credit for.  Many of the buyers I have put into contract over the last year have been watching their price range for several months to even a year or more.

The bottom line on pricing your home correctly is not about the listing price of your neighbor’s home nor is it what your plan for the future is.  The bottom line is what have similar properties SOLD for.  Even if you get lucky and find an uneducated buyer that  may agree to your price and may write an offer for what you want for the property, unless the buyer is paying cash there will be an appraisal.  If the comparable homes in the area have sold for less the appraiser will have to appraise your property accordingly.  Gone are the days when an appraiser just automatically said the property is worth what the buyer is willing to pay.

The issue of over pricing homes is a national epidemic, several of the agents I know across the country and I have discussed this at great lengths;

Colleen Kulikowski of Buffalo New York has written about this same topic See how the Broadway Market and her trip to the Market is compared to Real Estate and the Buffalo Real Estate Market.

So quit drinking the Kool-Aid – it is an artificially flavored overly sweet product that does us nothing but make us feel good, and Trix are for kids!  Get real with your pricing and your home will sell and sell quickly.

Dena Stevens in Western Colorado says;

It is unlikely that a guidable cash buyer is going to come along and buy into the inflated price of your property. With the current supply and demand for properties buyers are more likely to skip a property that is priced incorrectly and move on to another priced at market value. If a seller thinks that real estate is a game of offer and counter offer that seller is chasing off or missing potential buyers who are willing and able to buy but not willing to work with an unreasonable , unrealistic seller.