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 11/28/09 the Nikki Benner RePage is ranked at 7,598 with 40 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 Lafayette, IN

Latitude: 40.410585 -- Longitude: -86.874681

Other Area Cities: West Lafayette Lafayette

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Lafayette is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. Population in 1900, 18,116; in 1910, 20,081; in 1920, 22,486; and in 1940, 28,798 people. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,397. The city is the county seat of Tippecanoe CountyGR6. West Lafayette, just across the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on both communities. The area around what is now Tippecanoe County was inhabited by a tribe of Miami Indians known as the Ouiatenon or Weas. The French government established Fort Ouiatenon in 1717 across the Wabash River and three miles south of the location of present-day Lafayette. The fort became the center of trade for fur trappers, merchants and Indians. An annual reenactment and festival known as The Feast of the Hunters' Moon takes place there each fall. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Indiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Lafayette	Indiana	United States
Population	56,397	6,080,485	281,421,906
Median age	31.7	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	33.9	34
Median age for Female	33.9	36.5	36.5
Households	24,060	2,336,306	105,480,101
Household population	55,688	5,902,331	273,643,273
Average household size	2.31	2.53	2.59
Families	13,670	1,602,501	71,787,347
Average family size	2.98	3.05	3.14
Housing units	25,602	2,532,319	115,904,641
Occupied units	24,060	2,336,306	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,542	196,013	10,424,540

Visit US Census