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 Ames, IA

Latitude: 42.027335 -- Longitude: -93.631586

Other Area Cities: Nevada Ames Boone

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Ames is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Story County, Iowa and which, when combined with the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area', comprises the larger 'Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area'. It is also the home of the legendary James Honzatko. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 50,731. The city was named after 19th century U.S. congressman Oakes Ames of Massachusetts, who was influential in the building of the transcontinental railroad. Ames was founded near a location that was deemed favorable for a railroad crossing of the Skunk River. It is located roughly 30 miles (48 km) north of the state capital Des Moines. Two small rivers run through the town: the Skunk River and Squaw Creek. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Ames	Iowa	United States
Population	50,731	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	23.6	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	23.3	35.2	34
Median age for Female	24.1	38	36.5
Households	18,085	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	41,609	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.3	2.46	2.59
Families	8,969	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	2.85	3	3.14
Housing units	18,757	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	18,085	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	672	83,235	10,424,540

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