Prepare yourself for this one if you’ve read my blog before; my advice is terribly predictable. As you may know, my favorite law of real estate is  “The market never lies–not ever.” The other thing about the market–it never stops changing. We are in some peculiar times right now. 

The recent seller party (aka the covid market) is clearly winding down, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. In my opinion, we are back to the way things were before the pandemic, and in case anyone has forgotten, that market was very strong and very much in favor of sellers. That’s all still true. It’s just that compared to how things were during 2020-2021, we’ve gotten spoiled. 

Here’s a post I wrote a while back, and the theories and arguments are still 100% true since they are universal. Now…back to my predictable advice. 

Since the first real estate sign was placed a million years ago, sellers have faced the same daily decision: Do we hold out another day or do we lower the price? That hasn’t changed and never will.

How can I be so confident? Because I know it’s not an exposure issue, and that only leaves the price. 

The only two factors in selling anything are price and exposure. Think Walmart: If a product sits on an end cap at Walmart for an entire week, we know literally thousands of people have walked by and decided to keep on walking. Therefore we know it’s overpriced. If that same product is priced perfectly but sitting in the back room, the problem is exposure–no one knows about it. 

I’m going to use one of our properties as an example. This property’s problem is definitely not exposure. Here’s how I know. The web stats say that 23000+ people have seen the property online. 444 of them have clicked on the listing to view all the details/photos. 5 people have saved it or printed it, but zero people have asked for more information or a showing. Not good. 

Today’s buyers have seen the property (the web stats absolutely confirm this) and have elected not to call, set up a showing, or make any offers. The daily seller choice (above) simply states that you can wait and see what tomorrow brings, or you can lower the price and see if you can jump-start today’s buyer pool.

This all comes down to whether you are more pressed to sell now vs selling for a certain price. This choice is unique to each seller, so I can’t tell you what to do here. 

What I can tell you is that once you find the right price–the price that wakes up today’s buyers–you will see nearly instant activity.

As of this writing, we have a listing in the $500k+ price range that we’ve had for 7+ months.  Almost no activity to speak of in seven months, but the seller was stuck on his original price. Two days before this post, he lowered his price. Within 24 hours, we had 11 showings and two offers. 

On the other hand, years ago, we had a seller with a stunning 4 bedroom in a dollhouse subdivision. Over 200 showings spread out over four years (that’s not a typo). Every single person said they loved the house but that it was overpriced. No offers, just the same feedback for four…long…years. The seller was dead set on getting his price. You know what? Four years into the listing, he got it. At the closing, he laughed and actually said, “I told you so.” 

My point is that it doesn’t matter how long the property has been on the market. Once you find the price that suits today’s buyer pool, buyers will wake up and start to take notice–no exceptions. My dad used to say, “I don’t care if you’re selling a one-room shack by a railroad track–there’s a price that buyers will pay today.” He wasn’t wrong. Neither was my stubborn four-year seller. He knew that, eventually, someone would come along and pay him what he was asking. 

“I don’t care if you’re selling a one-room shack by a railroad track–there’s a price that buyers will pay today.”

-My Dad

You can focus on the upgrades you have, the lack or abundance of homes around you, and maybe you even dropped the price a week ago, but the bottom line is that the market gets the final say, and as you know, the market never lies–not ever.

For an extreme example, if the home were suddenly priced at $100, not only would you have a line of buyers down the street, you’d probably have national news vans parked outside to get a look at this insane seller–but the property would sell.

So somewhere between $100 and your current price, there’s a price that someone will pay today. You just haven’t found it yet. 

Be patient or be aggressive–no third option. 

I know–A boring and predictable answer. This comes from another rule we borrowed from uber-jillionaire Ray Dalio: “Embrace reality and deal with it.”  We can’t change the market. All we can do is tell our clients what they need to hear and not what they want to hear. I wish I had something else for you, but all I have today is the truth. 

If you want a complete, up-to-date market breakdown of your property, why not get our free Realist® Report? This 10-20 page comprehensive data bundle contains mountains of rich details like current pricing analysis, the Real AVM®, Sell score, local comps, neighborhood data, market trends, and flood plane information. Just ask us for it here, and we’ll send it. 

Hit me up HERE with your thoughts and comments. I read and respond to every email…eventually.

Take care,

Glen

Broker/Realtor
Ohio Property Group, LLC
Author: “You Can Sell It