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 11/21/09 the Bob Hollands RePage is ranked at 2,351 with 65 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.

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 11/21/09 the Bob Hollands RePage is ranked at 11,274 with 20 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 Bristol, RI

Latitude: 41.6842 -- Longitude: -71.268669

Other Area Cities: Bristol Barrington Tiverton Warren

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Bristol is a town in Rhode Island and the county seat of Bristol County. Bristol, a deep water seaport, is named after Bristol, England. Bristol gained national fame despite its small size as a result of having the oldest, continuous Independence Day celebrations in the United States, earning Bristol its nickname, "America's most patriotic town". Bristol's diverse heritage is influenced by a strong Portuguese-American presence, mostly Azorean, and Italian-American. Major industries include boat building (and related marine industries), manufacturing and tourism. The town's school system is united with neighboring Warren, Rhode Island. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Rhode Island 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Bristol	Rhode Island	United States
Population	22,469	1,048,319	281,421,906
Median age	38.2	36.7	35.3
Median age for Male	36.8	35.4	34
Median age for Female	39.4	38	36.5
Households	8,314	408,424	105,480,101
Household population	20,376	1,009,503	273,643,273
Average household size	2.45	2.47	2.59
Families	5,650	265,398	71,787,347
Average family size	2.99	3.07	3.14
Housing units	8,705	439,837	115,904,641
Occupied units	8,314	408,424	105,480,101
Vacant units	391	31,413	10,424,540

Visit US Census