One of the most important services that I give to my clients is advising them about price. For people whose homes I am selling that advice is my opinion of what their house is worth. For people that I am helping to buy a home, that advice is what to offer. Both of these situations have in common the importance of 5%.
When you are selling your home
The first step in selling your home is consulting with a Realtor. I do a lot of preparation when I go into these appointments. I spend time on line looking at the statistics of home sales in the neighborhood, and then I spend time driving around the area looking at the comparable properties. Every neighborhood has a range of values, depending upon the amount of remodeling that has been done. So when I sit down with homeowners, I am pretty informed about what I want to advise. I am looking to list the house within 5% of what I think it is worth. I know that within this percentage the house is likely to sell. Higher than 5% and I know it will take a bit of a miracle to get the house sold, will lead to a potentially extended marketing time, and will likely end up with a lower final sales price.
So if you are planning to sell your home, please listen to your Realtor and take their recommended price very seriously. Please don’t list for more than 5% over the recommended price.
And if you have made the mistake of over-pricing, and it is time to do a price reduction, the reduction needs to be at least 5% to have an impact on the market.
For buyers making offers
The same 5% holds true when you go to make an offer. If you offer within 5% you have a high likelihood of coming to an agreement. If you offer less, it can shut down negotiations by offending the home owner. There are exceptions to this. I have learned to write whatever my buyer wants me to write because I have had low offers accepted that surprised me. It really comes down to the sellers situation and their motivation. But from my experience low offers generally do not come together. If you really want the house, offer within 5% of the listed price.
Good luck with your house hunting! And remember Whitney, Linda and I are hear to help if you need some great real estate advice.
Dianne