When a selling West Linn real estate, its crucial to price it competitively right when it is initially listed.
Even with all the data (closed sales, pending home sales, comparable homes, competition, etc…) available to West Linn Realtors and sellers to calculate precisely what a particular home will sell for, a home is only worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it at that specific time.
The most convenient equation to determining your homes value would be:
V=B+S+T or Value = Buyer + Seller + Time.
The value of a West Linn real estate equals what a buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is willing to accept at the time of sale.
A home for sale needs a buyer to determine the actual market value. Don’t get me wrong, if there is financing involved that would have to be added into the equation but, the basic concept will apply. The value can also be determined by the refinance of West Linn real estate.
Here is a list of things that should not have been factors in determining the listing price of West Linn homes for sale:
- What a neighbor says the house is worth
- What a seller needs get out of this sale to purchase a new home
- What a seller has spent on to “upgrade” the home
- What a seller paid for the house when it was purchased
- What the guy at the local coffee shop says he wants to sell his home for
Now since home sellers can’t always have the foresight to know what potential buyers will pay for their home, they have to start somewhere. If the home owner and their West Linn realtor look at comparable homes and the competition (they are not mutually exclusive nor one and the same), they should have a better idea of what their home may be worth. It is still just an idea until a buyer comes along.
If a seller decides to price their home too high (because the rules of the market will somehow not apply to them and/or their home) the home will sit on the market costing mortgage payments, maintenance costs, insurance, and interest. That is not even counting the stress, lost sleep, worry or the hassle of having the home in show ready condition. Not to mention the lack of showings since everyone else knows that the home is overpriced. Once the seller ends up listening to the market and reduces their price they will most likely end up chasing the West Linn real estate market.
Instead of hitting the market with an appropriately priced home, they will now have to make a dramatic price drop in order to gain any ground on the market. The new price will more than likely have to be low enough to jump well in front of the market, by dropping into a new pricing sector which will have a whole new crop of buyers.
A positive would be that to these fresh batch of buyers from the price drop, the home will look new to them. This new buyer pool may not mind some of the issues that may have been impeding the sale in the prior pricing sector.
Then again, the longer a property is on the market, the more issues buyers tend to associate and/or assume with the property. They might ask themselves, “why hasn’t this property sold?” or more to the point, “what’s wrong with this house?”.
Instead of chasing the market be sure to price your home correctly from the start to be top choice, right away. And not be leftovers for the third or fourth crop of buyers 6+ months down the line.
To view West Linn real estate listings, click on the map
Rich Peralta is a real estate professional in the Portland Metro Area, including Lake Oswego, Tualatin and West Linn Real Estate.
He can be reached at 503.961.2181 or by e-mail at rich.peralta@exprealty.com
Contact him for more information on Portland, Lake Oswego or West Linn Real Estate!
Also posted on Lake Oswego Real Estate.
