“First, Do No Harm”
What kind of aggressive, transaction-driven Realtor talks their client out of a price decrease? (any prideful homeowner can be talked into a price increase).
Actually . . . a good one.
I can think of at least two situations where a price drop would — as the medical profession might put it — be “contra-indicated.”
One. Timing.
A price reduction that no one notices is a wasted price reduction.
Yes, it’ll stand out Christmas week (because there’s little competing activity); no, it likely won’t accomplish anything, because no one’s paying attention then.
Ditto for any price reduction that isn’t properly marketed (“networked”) on MLS, through the Realtor grapevine, and on social media — whenever it’s taken.
Two. Magnitude.
One of my favorite lines in real estate is, “if you’re going to change the price . . . change the price.”
If a home has been sitting at $320,000 for three months, dropping to $315,000 (never mind $317,500) ain’t likely to do it, either.
Better to “fall on the sword” and go to $300,000, effectively opening up an entirely new — and bigger — pool of Buyers.**
“Making it Count” vs. “Death By a Thousand Cuts”
Of course, good agents also know the corollary to the above.
Namely, if you’re going to go to your client to make the case for a strategic price reduction . . . plan to do it only once.
It’s also the case that a price reduction is appropriate only after a “For Sale” home has otherwise been optimally prepped, staged, and marketed, and the initial price has been (well) tested in the marketplace.
**If the home was never realistically worth $320k, the owner does not “lose” $20k by dropping to $300k — much as it can feel otherwise.
See also, “The Serenity Prayer – Realtor’s Version“; and “Nurse! I Need a Price Reduction, Stat!!”
