Proof that Price Matters

I’ve said many times that pricing a home to sell means pricing it right from Day One. Now, Redfin provides statistical proof.

Damn, it’s easy for me to say, “price your home right,” when I’m not the one faced with the life decisions that you or my clients are. But that’s what sellers in the Charlottesville area and virtually every other market in the country are facing – life decisions. College funds, retirement funds, the 20% downpayment saved and put down on the house you’re now trying to sell – gone.

It’s never easy to tell my clients “I know you bought for $400k, but if you want to sell and move on, you need to put your house on the market at $335k in order to 1) beat the competition and 2) be priced for the market” – two similar but different dynamics – but it’s much harder to act on this advice. Not everyone is prepared – psychologically, emotionally, financially – for a short sale. Not everyone can come to terms with the fact that they’ve lost the bulk of their life savings.

We’re not in an easy real estate market. There are absolutely buying opportunities in the Charlottesville market; but in turn there are greater pockets of pain for sellers.

All I can do as a Realtor is advise my clients and potential clients of where the market is and how they fit into it. I don’t set prices (nor do other Realtors) – the buyers and sellers do.

Price it right from Day One. I can help.

More at the WSJ.