Sellers Accepting Realistic Pricing

ScottR · Chief Bottle Washer Joined: Feb 11, 2006 Posts: 292

As prices continue to decline in many areas, home sellers are having a lot of trouble accepting the market value of their properties.

Here are six tools, recommended by Inman News columnist Bernice Ross, to help sellers understand that what they are hearing is true.

1. Tell them the odds. Calculate the absorption rate in their area. Divide “1” by the number of months of housing inventory. For instance, if there are 12 months of inventory on the market, the probability of selling in any given month is 8.3 percent. The probability of not selling is 91.7 percent.

2. Explain the cost of not selling. That includes paying the mortgage, insurance, utilities, etc., plus the cost of any further price declines.

3. Compare the price per square foot. Show the seller the prices of comparable homes sold on a price-per-square-foot basis.

4. Point out how much lenders are willing to loan on similar properties. If a house can’t qualify at the price the sellers seek, few will be able to buy it.

5. Show them the goods. Take sellers on a tour of competing properties and show them the online tours of those that sold previous.

6. Use online pricing tools. Sites such as Zillow.com can help you demonstrate competitive pricing.

Source: Inman News, Bernice Ross (07/15/2010)