Or maybe the title of this post should be “Creating demand in a tough market”.
I have an investor client that has been looking at everything that hits the market in his price range, waiting for that great deal, like almost every other buyer seems to be. Occasionally a listing will hit the market at a great price and this one did. A nearly new foreclosure home in Canton that was priced at 88k, 12k below the most recent sale.
Now, $12,000 doesn’t sound like much but in that price range it is significant. Within hours multiple offers were submitted and that bank asked for “highest and best” from everyone. We raised our already-over-the-asking-price offer even higher. While I don’t yet know what the final accepted price was, we do know it was far in excess of the lowest comparable in the community.
So, what is the take-away here? Well first off, if you are a buyer looking for a deal and didn’t realize this already – EVERYONE is looking for the same deal you are. So be ready for it when it shows up, and when it does-move on it.
But the other take-away is that there are buyers out there and they will move when motivated. For sellers, it’s all about price and condition. It’s not always true to say “if I price it that low then the offers will come in even lower”. They may come in lower but if you are priced attractively against your competition, there will be demand and there will be offers. I would rather say no to 4 low offers than get no offers, what about you? What you have to ask yourself as a seller is “Can I sell at an attractive price?”.
Hi Bob,
I agree. Price it low and it will go!!!
My last three listings that sold, one last week in May, one tomorrow and one next Friday were all priced below the lowest recent comp sale and below the current lowest listed price for a comp in the neighborhood. All three got lowball offers that we politely turned down with overwhelming stats to the Buyer and their agent that their offer price was way out of line for the current market.
We eventually got offers on two that we worked back up to under 5% difference from asking price and everyone was happy. The 3rd had a total of 5 or 6 offers (townhome too). The first few were low again and we countered immediately with our lowest and best. They walked.
After a short period of inactivity we suddenly got three offers in a 24 hour period, notified all Buyers of mutiple offers and asked for highest and best. We are closing only 5k off the asking price and Seller is thrilled. This in a market where the average total active listings for single family attached in Atlanta is around 10,000 units and less than 500 per month have closed since around Sept of last year.
Now is the time to price to sell. Once school starts back I am betting that the market will again have a dismal winter season. Sellers need to get it while they can….let’s not forget a huge wave of pending foreclosures that still have to hit the market over the next few months.
Deryk