Home buyers have access to all the comps, and follow them closely. They spend weeks and months looking at every new listing in their range, and they know the market better than anyone – because they’re the ones making it.
Sellers can judge their chances of selling by the number of people coming by, and number of offers.
If you get a great offer in the first few days, you nailed it on price. If you are getting lookers, but no offers, you’re about 5% to 10% wrong on price. If no one is looking, you’re at least 10% wrong on price.
Lower the price early and often to keep urgency high, and you’ll find what the market will bear:
A million?! Houses for sale on that street are somewhere in the 500K range and they figure they can double that?
Faucets plated with gold or something?
Good luck on the offers.
A visitor stomped out of the house yesterday because I didn’t know what the average $/sf was for the tract.
He said, “How can it be a steal if you don’t know what the average $/sf is?”
(I included the word ‘steal’ on an open house sign)
In case he’s reading:
There have been two sales in the tract in the last 6 months, averaging $295/sf. One was a short sale, and the other discounted $15,000 because the buyer was an agent and didn’t take a commission, but I never use the higher effective price because buyers don’t.
$295 x 2,182sf = $643,690.
List price is $599,000 with $100,000+ of upgrades.
As an avid follower of all the comps, this one in 92009 surprised me closing at $625K:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Carlsbad/3355-Corte-Tiburon-92009/home/4078194
Seems too good to be true at that price for the large lot, location, view, 4 beds, school district, etc, am I missing something? Seeing this one almost made us accelerate our timeline and call JtR to get off the sidelines!
Jim, does Mimosa St get a lot of that through traffic too? Your client is on the far end culdesac so they’re fine, but how is the rest of the street?
Yes, the rest of Mimosa is getting the drive-through traffic. It is a signal at Aviara Parkway.
JimB, yes, call JtR!
If your listing was within my range Jim i’d be all over it. It isn’t my dream house, but it does have a lot going for it. Especially when you compare it to the comps.
Ahhhhh the headbanger! I recognized that house even before you said the word. They gotta saw those off!