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 Wichita, KS

Latitude: 37.688848 -- Longitude: -97.336226

Other Area Cities: Derby Haysville Valley Center Andover Newton Wichita Rose Hill

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Wichita, also known as the Air Capital, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, as well as a major aircraft manufacturing hub and cultural center. The city is home to six major aircraft manufacturing companies and McConnell Air Force Base. Wichita is located in South Central Kansas on the Arkansas River, and is the county seat of Sedgwick County. Wichita is the 51st largest city in the United States with an estimated population of 354,865 in the year 2005. The Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, and Sumner counties, has a 2004 estimated population of 584,671 persons residing in 245,159 households, making it the 82nd largest MSA in the United States. The Wichita-Winfield Combined Statistical Area also includes Cowley County and has an estimated population of 618,641. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Kansas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Wichita	Kansas	United States
Population	344,284	2,688,418	281,421,906
Median age	33.4	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	32.3	33.7	34
Median age for Female	34.6	36.5	36.5
Households	139,087	1,037,891	105,480,101
Household population	339,407	2,606,468	273,643,273
Average household size	2.44	2.51	2.59
Families	87,818	701,547	71,787,347
Average family size	3.1	3.07	3.14
Housing units	152,119	1,131,200	115,904,641
Occupied units	139,087	1,037,891	105,480,101
Vacant units	13,032	93,309	10,424,540

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