How to Sell in a Buyer's Market

Buyers are out there looking for deals. Left and right, buyers approach me with these words pouring out of their mouths. It's their time, so they want to take advantage. This tends to discourage sellers or would be sellers from doing what is necessary to correctly sell their home. Granted there may not be a correct way, but from what I have seen in Pasadena (and surrounding areas), is that the homes that get multiple offers, the ones that get picked off the market within the first month (or even first week), have a few things in common. Actually, one thing, price. They are well priced. Now this may mean something different from location to location, but whether the house needs work or is shiny and new, pricing under market value (typically around 10% below) gets the blood rushing in buyers. When they see this, they jump, and if enough jump, the possibility of selling it for the actual market value increases substantially. This is contrary to what most sellers think. Their automatic reaction is to price a property above market value, because they expect buyers will throw low ball offers (which they are, but it depends on which property). This rather does the opposite, deterring buyers from even putting offers, letting the property sit and lose momentum, and eventually just chip away slowly at the price until someone bites. I pass these words on to you, from the halls of my office. "you can never under price a property, but you can overprice it." The rest is up to you (Coldwell Banker Official Says Pricing Strategy Getting Homes Off Market, TBO.com)

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How HUD Mortgage Policy Fed The Crisis (Washington Post)

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