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!

As of 12/04/09 the Jerry G Lyles RePage is ranked at 4,390 with 60 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for San Marcos, CA

Latitude: 33.142077 -- Longitude: -117.170233

Other Area Cities: Cardiff By The Sea Carlsbad Oceanside Vista Encinitas Rancho Santa Fe San Marcos Escondido

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your San Marcos photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of San Marcos and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

San Marcos is a beautiful community with many strong businesses, churches, non-profit organizations, public schools and a social life. Once a mostly Latino (a well-rooted Mexican American) town until the 1960's, San Marcos became a diverse affluent suburban community home to professionals who work in San Diego, but more residents don't need to drive for work when more industrial and commercial business appeared in the past decade. In 1989, Cal State University San Marcos opened. This University has brought in an influx of young students, as well as academics of every race, religion, ethnicity, and creed. Cal State San Marcos is a rapidly growing, modern campus of new buildings, the latest computer technology, cutting-edge science labs, and has created a sense of excitement about the future of San Marcos. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

California 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	San Marcos	California	United States
Population	54,977	33,871,648	281,421,906
Median age	32.1	33.3	35.3
Median age for Male	31.2	32.2	34
Median age for Female	33.1	34.4	36.5
Households	18,111	11,502,870	105,480,101
Household population	54,829	33,051,894	273,643,273
Average household size	3.03	2.87	2.59
Families	13,212	7,920,049	71,787,347
Average family size	3.46	3.43	3.14
Housing units	18,862	12,214,549	115,904,641
Occupied units	18,111	11,502,870	105,480,101
Vacant units	751	711,679	10,424,540

Visit US Census