Educated Guesses Normally, when a house doesn’t sell within 60-90 days, a 3% to 5% price reduction is in order. See, “Perils of Overpricing Even (Especially) in a Rising Market”; “Perils of Overpricing“; and “Nurse! I Need a Price Reduction, Stat!” So, what does it mean when a home listed for $500k (in St. Louis...Read More
“We Can Always Drop the Price, Right?” Yes, But . . . Don’t leftovers come after Thanksgiving, not before? Not when it comes to the housing market. In my own neighborhood close to Minneapolis’ Cedar Lake, I’m aware of at least half a dozen very nice homes which came on the market as far back as...Read More
“Best Time to List?” — Cont. “The early bird gets the worm.” –Proverb “The early Spring listing gets the motivated Buyer.” –Real estate corollary Conventional wisdom is that the Spring market in the Twin Cities officially kicks off after the Super Bowl, or the first Winter thaw post-Holidays — whichever comes first. Which means that...Read More
“Seller Will Look at All Offers!” Without knowing more about the Seller’s home or personal circumstances, it’s hard to know if this come-on is faux or for real. Sometimes, the Seller IS motivated — but their price is (still) unrealistic (note: the two aren’t mutually exclusive). Other times, such a pitch is essentially bait: intended...Read More
Sellers Competing Against Themselves: Exhibit A I’ve certainly seen plenty of listed homes that seem to be stuck in a time warp: seasons come and go, Presidential administrations change — and yet the list price stays the same. And then there’s this house in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. Since debuting on the market scarcely...Read More
Counterpart to The Motivated Seller “I have a buyer coming to town and we will be buying a home for them, next Tuesday/Wednesday.” –Realtor “broadcast” email, describing the Buyer’s price range, desired home criteria, geographic preference, etc. When you think about the housing market and motivation, most people think about Seller motivation. “Why are they...Read More
