Priced To Sell

November 20, 2008

In today’s volatile market, buyers expect to get a great deal when then purchase a home. It’s almost as if they want to be rewarded for being brave and credit worthy. So how do you price your home so that it’s competitive enough to get buyers looking at it, but high enough to allow the negotiating room buyers need so they can assure themselves they purchased the home at a discount?

A while back I showed a home that had been reduced for a quick sale. It was a great deal. The buyer I was working with loved the house and made an offer (90% of list price) on the home. The offer was rejected. When I asked if the buyer would have been happy with the purchase price if the home had originally been listed higher and he’d offered the current list price. The buyer admitted that buying the home at a discount was more important than finding the right house at the right price. He absolutely could not pay full list price for the home, even though the list price was below comparable homes.

It’s difficult for sellers to understand that some of the appreciation they’ve experienced over the last few years has been wiped out. But if a seller has owned for more than about 8 years, he still should have built up enough equity to be able to price well, leave a little room for negotiation and walk away from the table with some profit. Compare profits to what your stock portfolio or retirement is worth, and sellers in most parts of the country are still OK. Yes, there are areas in the country where sellers are upside down in their mortgages, but how many of these sellers have owned for more than 8 years?

So if you’re a seller with enough equity to negotiate, do so with grace and gratitude. Hopefully, you’ll get just a good a deal when you go to buy your next home!

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Local Information for Montgomery, AL

Latitude: 32.361538 -- Longitude: -86.279118

Other Area Cities: Millbrook Prattville Montgomery

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Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama. The second largest city in Alabama, it is located on the Alabama River in Montgomery County (of which it is the seat) in south central part of the state. Montgomery is notable for its association with the Civil War for being the first capital of the Confederacy and the Civil Rights Movement, including the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Incorporated in 1819, the city was named for General Richard Montgomery, who died in the American Revolutionary War attempting to capture Quebec, Canada. Montgomery was the fifth capital of Alabama. The territorial capital, St. Stephens on the Tombigbee River, had been supplanted by Huntsville then Cahawba and Tuscaloosa [1]. It was the first capital of the Confederate States of America, whose president, Jefferson Davis, was inaugurated on its steps. It is located on the north portion of the Alabama River. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Alabama 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Montgomery	Alabama	United States
Population	201,568	4,447,100	281,421,906
Median age	32.9	35.8	35.3
Median age for Male	30.8	34.4	34
Median age for Female	34.9	37.2	36.5
Households	78,384	1,737,080	105,480,101
Household population	191,381	4,332,380	273,643,273
Average household size	2.44	2.49	2.59
Families	51,084	1,215,968	71,787,347
Average family size	3.06	3.01	3.14
Housing units	86,787	1,963,711	115,904,641
Occupied units	78,384	1,737,080	105,480,101
Vacant units	8,403	226,631	10,424,540

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