“Maria, let’s start high. We can always come down.” I hear that from homeowners getting ready to sell in Martin County, especially as we head into the winter season. I understand wanting to leave room to negotiate. My concern is the buyer who’s been waiting for a house on your street and would have scheduled a showing if the price had made sense the first time they saw it.
Winter can bring more buyers to Florida’s Treasure Coast, but your neighbor may be waiting for the same season to put a house on the market. In this episode of Florida Explained, I share five decisions that can affect whether buyers make an offer on your home or choose another one nearby.
1. Listing too high to leave room to negotiate
Suppose recent sales support a price around $650,000, and you decide to list at $725,000. A buyer whose online search tops out at $675,000 may never see your house. The buyers who do see it are comparing it with everything else they can tour for $725,000.
During those first couple of weeks, buyers who already follow your neighborhood get a new listing alert, and their agents have a reason to call them. You can reduce the price 60 days later, but by then some of those buyers may have purchased another home. The ones still looking can see how long yours has been on the market, and now they want to know why it hasn’t sold.
2. Setting the asking price around what you’ve spent
If you spent $80,000 remodeling your kitchen, I want to know what you changed. A buyer may prefer your house because the kitchen is finished and they can move in without taking on the work. How much more they’ll pay depends on what other homes offer and what similar properties have actually sold for.
I also want to know what you hope to take away from the sale, especially if you’re counting on that money for your next home. That helps us work out whether selling at a realistic price will accomplish what you need. The amount you need for your next purchase and the amount a buyer will pay for this one are two figures worth putting on paper before you list.
3. Dismissing what buyers say after a showing
One buyer’s opinion about a paint color wouldn’t send me to the hardware store. If several buyers independently mention that the same room feels dark, the flooring looks worn or there’s an odor when they walk in, I want us to take another look. When you live in a house every day, it’s easy to stop noticing something a visitor picks up on in the first few minutes.
Feedback is particularly helpful when it explains a hesitation we can do something about. If a room buyers describe as small is full of oversized furniture, moving a few pieces may help them see how much space is there. If several buyers say they liked the house but preferred another one at the same price, I’d want to look more closely at what that other house offered.
4. Waiting too long to adjust the price or presentation
If good photography and marketing are bringing people through the door, but the showings keep ending without an offer, I’d revisit the price, condition and feedback while buyers are still paying attention. Sometimes there’s a maintenance issue we can fix. Other times the home shows well, but recent sales and competing listings give buyers little reason to pay what we’re asking.
Waiting another month gets riskier when more sellers are preparing to list for winter. If your house has been on the market for 75 days and a similar, well-prepared home comes up for sale down the street, buyers now have another showing to book. I’d rather look at what we can change while we still have their interest.
5. Putting the house on the market before it’s ready to show
Before you spend $70,000 on a kitchen you’re about to leave, invite me over. I may be more interested in the overgrown landscaping buyers see from the driveway, the repair they’ll notice at the front door or the amount of furniture we need to move before the photographer arrives.
I’ll also tell you if I notice an odor. Pets, cooking, cigars and dampness can all leave a smell that’s hard to detect in your own home, and a strong air freshener can be just as distracting. I’d much rather have that conversation with you before the first showing than have you read it afterward in a buyer’s feedback.
If you’re thinking about selling in Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound or Sewall’s Point, I can walk through your home with you and look at it alongside the properties your buyers are likely to tour. We can decide what’s worth doing before the photos, where you can save your money and what asking price the local sales support. Contact me at Lifestyle Realty Group.
For more about buying and selling on Florida’s Treasure Coast, watch Florida Explained on YouTube.