Pricing It Right

by Darrin DeRoches September 4 - 10, 2014

I may repeat myself a few times in this article but one of the most important things to do is price it right. The market is moving fast and if your property sits too long no one will pay it any  attention. Pricing the property right the first time can make a huge difference in the final outcome.  I did a deal this week where the property was priced at $415,500. The property was on the market for over a month and we were pretty surprised when we viewed the property. It needed some work but you would have thought it would have had some action on it during the month. My clients were really interested in the property since it was on a great street and had all the must haves on their wish list. So they wanted to do an offer and we started to negotiate.     I spoke to the neighbour and he gave me all the background on the property and what he thought it was worth.  A few things he told me were just his opinion but some of the information was very valuable.  I went back to the office and did a history on the property and then discussed our game plan with my clients.  We knew the house needed some work and factored that into our offer and then pushed the agent to do an offer on Labour Day.  Most people are relaxing and getting ready for the school year but we were trying to buy a property before the market starts to heat up once again.  The property had been reduced by ten thousand but it still was not priced right.     The only reason no one had bought the property was it was over $400,000 dollars. If you look at the MLS site you can pick properties in increments and anyone looking for a house at $450,000 dollars would not consider this property since it is a $400,000 dollar house.  The people who can afford a $400,000 dollar house did not even see this property since it was priced at $405,000 and did not come up on their search.  Most real estate agents do not do searches over the approved amount for their clients since they may fall in love with them and then not be able to afford them.  The only real issue with this property was it was priced wrong.     We had spoken to the agent and knew another price drop was imminent and we did the deal fast so the house would not come on the market under $400,000 and draw attention. We brought an offer far under the asking and settled five thousand less than my clients were willing to pay.  If the sellers had priced the property originally at $399,900 they would have had more interest and sold it for a higher price faster. Knowing your market and doing your homework can be the difference in this real estate market. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.