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 Evansville, IN

Latitude: 37.977166 -- Longitude: -87.550566

Other Area Cities: Evansville Newburgh

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Evansville is a city located in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,582, and a metropolitan population of 342,815. It is the third-largest city in the state of Indiana. The city is the county seat of Vanderburgh County. In 2004 Evansville was named an "All-America City" by the National Civic League. [1] GR6 The city is situated on a gentle horseshoe bend on the Ohio River and often referred to as "River City." It was commonly referred to as "Stop Light City" before the city's Interstate 164 bypass was constructed. It serves as a regional hub for the Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois tri-state area. Evansville has a humid continental climate (just north of the humid subtropical line) and four distinct seasons. Average temperatures range from 32 degrees Fahrenheit to 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Annual rainfall averages 42 inches and annual snowfall averages 13 inches. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Indiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Evansville	Indiana	United States
Population	121,582	6,080,485	281,421,906
Median age	36.5	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	34.7	33.9	34
Median age for Female	38.2	36.5	36.5
Households	52,273	2,336,306	105,480,101
Household population	116,862	5,902,331	273,643,273
Average household size	2.24	2.53	2.59
Families	30,512	1,602,501	71,787,347
Average family size	2.9	3.05	3.14
Housing units	57,065	2,532,319	115,904,641
Occupied units	52,273	2,336,306	105,480,101
Vacant units	4,792	196,013	10,424,540

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