I have recently wriiten about this. This link ( http://localism.com/article/506732/If-The-Price-Is-Right-Critical )will take you to the piece. I wrote about pricing your home and working with your real estate agent to increase the chances of palcing a SOLD sign on your lawn.

Enjoy - Cindy Nina-Soto
www.NinaSoto.com

Tue May 13 2008, 09:08

Evaluating and pricing correctly for TODAY'S market, not 3 months, 6 months , or a year ago, is imperative.
Obviously, the normal factors of condition and location of the property also come into play.
Agressive marketing techniques and having an experienced agent who can network and properly market your property also go a long way towards helping you achieve your goal.

Sun May 11 2008, 05:52

I love when sellers and agents want to list a house for 349,900 or 199,900 an so on... A lot of have drop down menus for prices and I have yet to see one that doesn't use round numbers. You can do the 900 on anything expect around these search parameters. If you list a house at 350,000 or 200,000 it may not have the sales attraction of the 900 list price - but it will get you on the search results page of more searches.

Fri May 9 2008, 07:38

The problem is with finding qualified buyers with a down payment in today's credit crunch. If you want to sell your house now matter the price, then consider seling rent to own so they don't have to get a loan.

Another trick I use a lot is throwing and ad on Craigslist and stating "make me a crazy offer". You'll get 60-80 cents on the dollar offers site unseen.

What ever you do, don't just lower the prce thinking that it is going to change buyer behavior. That's about the worst thing I can think of. Expect any offer to be less than you have it listed for too...

Thu May 8 2008, 11:52

There are more than 1.1 million REALTORS® in America , and I guess you could say that there are 1.1 million ways to sell a house. But the truth is that there are really only two ways to sell a house: you can sell it by price, or you can sell it by traffic.

I personally like The Traffic Approach. To understand the traffic approach, we need to turn our attention again to the “reasonable range.” Real estate is entirely different from liquid investments with absolute values. For instance, anybody can look up a share of stock and immediately see its current price. But because values are subjective in real estate, there tends to be about 10% flexibility in the price range. Consider a home that's valued at $100,000. It's not worth exactly $100,000! It's really worth between $95,000 and $105,000. If the price drops below $95,000, nearly everyone will agree that the house is a good deal; and if the price goes above $105,000, nearly everyone will agree that the property is priced a little too high. However, within the "reasonable range" there is little price resistance.
Here's how the traffic approach works. Instead of listing the home at the low end of the range, you raise its price to the high end. The problem? Now there's no compelling reason for anyone to show it or buy it. Okay, here's the secret weapon: you raise the commission by 2%! What you're doing, effectively, is “bribing” agents to include your listing on their show lists. What I do is raise my commission from 6% to 8%, and then I raise the price about 10%. The client then nets about 8% more money before any negotiations!
Sometimes, not often, the appraisal knocks the price down a bit. When that happens, it's usually a minor adjustment, and then the seller has the option of lowering the price to match the appraisal, or else the deal, as written, falls apart. The buyer also has the option of paying, out of pocket, the shortfall in the appraisal or canceling the deal if there's an appraisal contingency. When that happens, the client knows that he got the absolute top dollar for his home.
Now, I know that almost any agent will immediately say, "I never look at the commission when I'm working for a buyer." But I don't believe that noble-sounding claim because statistics clearly indicate that it's not true. I don't know any agent who would willfully sell a buyer client a home that wasn't right for him; but if there are sixty homes in the market that generally match the client's criteria, and if three of those homes pay higher commissions than the rest, it's certainly not unethical to make sure that those three properties end up on every show list. In addition, there's nothing wrong with hoping that your client chooses to buy one of the three. If he doesn't, no big deal; but if he does, you just got a big bonus!
One of the questions I'm often asked is why I don't just offer a bonus to the selling agent. Once again, the answer is simple. Every buyer's agent knows that if he doesn't present a full offer, the first money to come off the table will be the selling bonus. Since most homes don't sell for full offers, the selling bonus doesn't happen very often, so the buyer's agent can find himself torn between not getting the bonus and not representing his client. If he advises his client to offer less than the listing price, he knows that his bonus is most likely gone. On the other hand, if he encourages the buyer to pay the listing price, he's probably not fully representing the buyer's interests. For that reason, the selling bonus is often a disincentive rather than a legitimate incentive.

Pass this info on to your agent

Thu May 8 2008, 10:20

Correctly pricing your home will put it in front of the competition. Buyers want to see homes that appear to meet their needs, but especially if they think the home will sell quickly. Price reductions should be made to "make an impact" in the marketplace. Ask your agent what the proper number is.

Thu May 8 2008, 10:05

Pat, A good rule of thumb that I like to use with my seller's is the best and fastest way to move your house is to be in the top 5 of comparable homes in your area in price and condition. Have your agent pull up current listings and recently solds in order for you to reaccess your asking price. Sometimes offering a higher commission to the buyer's side will attract more agents, which in turn will bring the buyers.
M.Molos
Century 21 Tenace Realty
Florida

Thu May 8 2008, 10:01

Dear Pat,

Your house has become stale on the market. In the minds of buyers and Realtors your house seems to have something wrong with it. Having a home on the market for one year can make many people uninterested because they have seen it for so long it becomes invisible to both buyers and Realtors. The marketplace has now deemed your home as a problem home because it hasn't sold. Bottomline, buyers think there are major problems with your home and will probably offer way less money for your home today than they would have in the beginning stages of selling your home.

Ask your realtor to refresh your listing so that it shows up as a new home in the new listing search on the MLS for your area. Also, have your realtor do another current market analysis to see what homes have sold and at what price homes are currently selling. You will be doing yourself a disfavor if you are looking at solds more than 3 months unless nothing has sold in your neighborhood in that time.

Also, make sure that you have pictures on the web and I strongly recommend a virtual tour if you do not have these as part of your current listing. If another price reduction is needed have your Realtor contact all the agents who have shown the home to alert them to the new price reduction. Emailing all the Realtors with a price reduction flyer may also refresh your home in the mind of agents who have shown your home over the past year. I wish you all the best in selling your current home.

Good luck with your sale.

Jennifer Pollock, CRS
Keller Williams Denver Central
210 University Blvd. #600
Denver, Colorado 80206
www.JenniferDenver.com

Thu May 8 2008, 09:54

Pat:

I have sold real estate for over 20 years. A rule of thumb I use is no more than 4 weeks at a price point. Every 4 weeks you need to reduce the price by $5,000 or $10,000 depending on your motivation level and timeframe you want it sold in. If you are getting a good amount of traffic, drop it $5,000, little or no traffic drop it $10,000. I have found this to be a good rule of thumb in any market, especially this one. Another thing to consider in this market is town tax assessment. Odds are that if you are priced higher than the assessed value, you won't get it sold. We have the stats to show you. I wish you luck.

Annmarie O'Donnell, Broker
ERA Morrison/TOP Realty Division
978-667-0900

Thu May 8 2008, 09:03

Hi Pat, are you getting any feedback from the agents who have visited your home? Try to make your home available without an appointment. Have your agent incude more pictures in the MLS with virtual tour. Give incentives like a free tv or furniture etc... Good luck.

Thu Oct 18 2007, 02:50

Pat,

Give me a ring and I'd be happy to review your scenario and discuss viable options - of course, without sales gimmicks, etc. I perform homeowner seminars and would happy to help if I can. Also, check out robust website to learn more.

Jeff

Wed Oct 17 2007, 17:16

Pat,
Unfortunately only a small number of homes actually sell during an open house.

You have to have great curb appeal to entice buyers to look inside the home. Once inside, you need something that will make them fall in love with the house. Take a look when you enter the front door as if you were going to purchase the home. Remember what made you purchase the home and try to accentuate that area. You might also want to consider the services of a stager if you are having people look, but still are getting no offers.

A good number of the answers here indicate that you need to research to see where your home should be priced. I could not disagree more; that is the reason that you hired a Realtor. He/she should be willing and able to watch the surrounding market statistics and make suggestions for price adjustments as indicated by the market.

Good luck!!

Mon Oct 1 2007, 19:20

Pat
Normally if you have showings and not offers the price is too high.
What feedback have you heard from buyer's agents?
Remember, it's not what you paid, nor need to make, that is important to buyers.
Buyers want value. If other homes like yours have sold, do some research and consult with your Realtor.
keith

Mon Oct 1 2007, 19:00

Hi Pat,

Trulia currently shows 67 4-bedroom homes for sale in Billerica. Hopefully you can find some comparable properties that will give you an indicator of the best current price for your home.

Best Wishes,

Emily Gibson
Customer Service Representative

Mon Oct 1 2007, 13:15

I find that when I raise the price, the agents watching the house in the neighbor call me to ask why. That activity alone allows me to qualify it it is a real buyer, or if that agent is just looking. Many timnes they have a real buyer, then I talk about appreciation and the rest of the pros or cons of the house.

So, the lesson is to get people to call your agent, then have a 2nd chance to sell the house to a prospect. I guess you can find other ways to do the same but its worked for me the 2 times I did it. Lowering the price doesn't get as many 2nd chances calls.

Mon Oct 1 2007, 08:47

Pat:

Might I suggest that your agent take you to view your competition (the other listing on the market)? I know not all market areas are allowed to engage in this strategy but here in Rancho Cucamonga, CA it works very well.

This marketing strategy helps you, the seller; understand first hand what the buyers are seeing. This type of information is critical in order to make an informed decision as to how to not only price you property, but to know what incentives are needed to attract your local market buyers.

Mon Oct 1 2007, 08:23

When was your last price reduction? buyers tend to look in ranges 300-350k, 350-400k. Perhaps you need to get under the $350k mark. Talk to your realtor. with small increment reductions you end up chasing the market- each time you drop 5k the market has dropped ahead of you. You probably need a dramatic drop to get in front of the market. remember every time a new listing comes on the market they have used yours as an exaample of a home priced too high.

Sun Sep 30 2007, 14:49