It would be natural to assume that home buyers are much more concerned about paying the right price today. Certainly, they will be perusing the recent sales very carefully, won’t they?
I’m not so sure.
Putting a sharp price on a home stopped being a priority about 25 years ago with value-range pricing. Then the frenzy obliterated it when paying $100,000 to $1,000,000 over the list price became the norm.
What now?
Have we succumbed to relying on the zestimates? Pretty much, and buyers who are in a hurry and think the zestimates are close enough will proceed with the purchase unless the spread between the zestimate and the list price is more than 10%.
What matters more is the condition of the home.
Back in the day, people were more tolerant of doing home repairs – but not now. They don’t have the time or know-how, and if they have to pay these prices, they expect more…and you can’t blame them.
Maybe the idea about pricing your home attractively isn’t for you. If the plan for selling your home in the spring is to set a new record-high list price, then it would be smart to fix everything that is visibly wrong.
Because at this point, we can say that buyers prefer to purchase an immaculate home in top condition, more than they worry about getting the price exactly right.
If you hire a salesman (like me) who knows how to pit buyers against one another to run up the score, the attractive pricing is the critical part of the equation. But if there is a struggle with attractive pricing, then doing more to spruce it up will at least ensure that you’ll get more eyeballs. Hopefully, that will be enough!
