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 Saco, ME

Latitude: 43.510425 -- Longitude: -70.44492

Other Area Cities: Saco Kennebunk Biddeford Portland

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Granted in 1630 by the Plymouth Company to Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonython, the town extended 4 miles along the sea, and 8 inland. Settled in 1631 as part of "Winter Harbor" {as Biddeford Pool was first known), it included Biddeford. It would be reorganized in 1653 by the General Court of Massachusetts as "Saco," like the Sokokis (or Saco) Indians who once hunted and fished along the Saco River. The community would be incorporated in 1718 as "Biddeford," the fourth town in Maine. The northeastern bank separated in 1762 with the name "Pepperellborough," in honor of Sir William Pepperrell, a late proprietor. It was renamed "Saco" in 1805, and incorporated as a city in 1867. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Maine 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Saco	Maine	United States
Population	16,822	1,274,923	281,421,906
Median age	37.2	38.6	35.3
Median age for Male	36.1	37.6	34
Median age for Female	38.1	39.6	36.5
Households	6,801	518,200	105,480,101
Household population	16,581	1,240,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.44	2.39	2.59
Families	4,594	340,685	71,787,347
Average family size	2.93	2.9	3.14
Housing units	7,424	651,901	115,904,641
Occupied units	6,801	518,200	105,480,101
Vacant units	623	133,701	10,424,540

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