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 York, PA

Latitude: 39.962692 -- Longitude: -76.728043

Other Area Cities: New Cumberland York Red Lion

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York, known as the White Rose City (after the Wars of the Roses), is a city located in South Central Pennsylvania. The population was 40,862 at the 2000 census. York is the county seat of York County, and is located at 39°58'00?N, 76°45'00?W. York was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region, and named for the English city of the same name. It was incorporated as a borough on September 24, 1787, and as a city on January 11, 1887. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), York served as the temporary capital of the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation were drafted and ratified in York. The Conway Cabal, a political intrigue against General George Washington, had its origins in the Golden Plough tavern in York. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Pennsylvania 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	York	Pennsylvania	United States
Population	40,862	12,281,054	281,421,906
Median age	31.3	38	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	36.5	34
Median age for Female	32.5	39.4	36.5
Households	16,137	4,777,003	105,480,101
Household population	39,975	11,847,753	273,643,273
Average household size	2.48	2.48	2.59
Families	9,249	3,208,388	71,787,347
Average family size	3.17	3.04	3.14
Housing units	18,534	5,249,750	115,904,641
Occupied units	16,137	4,777,003	105,480,101
Vacant units	2,397	472,747	10,424,540

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