South Bay-Beach Cities Sellers: Price...Market Value... Motivation... the keys to selling your home.

I was talking with a client who is thinking about possibly selling his home.  After looking over the comps I could tell he was not very happy about where I thought he should price the house.  As we continued to talk he said something that  is common to all sellers when faced with the fact that they are not going to get the price they want.... I want to sell... but I'm not going to give the house away. 

I don't think he was pleased by my answer.... selling your home at market value is not giving the house away... it is selling it for what it is worth in the current market.

 All too often sellers have a preconceived notion of what their home is worth.  It isn't that they don't  understand that prices have dropped  or that they won't get the price they would have received a few years ago. The problem is that a number of homeowners are totally surprised by the difference between what they want and the price they can actually get for their home in today's market.  Many have a tough time accepting the fact that  their home is not going to appraise for the number they had in mind and in this market most buyers will not pay more then the appraised value.

 There was an interesting  article on HousingWire.com a few weeks ago  noting that homeowners, on average,  reduce listing prices 10% or more during the listing period. This means that most sellers have their home on the market far longer then they would have if they had priced it at market when they listed the property.  In some cases by listing the home too high they are going to lose more money then if they had priced it right at the start because they just keep chasing the market down.

Many sellers still think that they can "test" the market by listing high.  These are usually folks who don't need to sell but would like to sell "if they get their price".   These are not motivated sellers.  Motivated sellers have a specific reason to sell.  They need a larger home, or a smaller one.  They may be thinking of relocating to be near family or for a new job.  They may be living in a three story home and find they need a single story.  They may have to sell for financial reasons.    Motivated sellers are more realistic about the value of their home.   They understand that they can only get what the home is worth which may be different from the price they want.

If you are thinking about selling your home then you need to be realistic about what your home is worth in the current market.  You can  ask any price you want but your home will only sell for market value.  You also should consider how motivated you are and if you don't need to sell then this is probably not the best time to test the waters so to speak.   Price, market value and your motivation to sell will determine  how long your home is on the market and the price you ultimately receive.