Reduce price

B - Lower the Asking Price: When?

Consider seasonal factors, market conditions, pricing trends of competitive homes plus length of time on the market into consideration. In addition, consider your timeline needs and motivations. 

During various times of the year you can put a house on the market and only expect to get two or three showings in 30 days, while during the hot selling season, you may have 15 to 20 showings.

If you haven’t received any buyer encouragement after a dozen showings (excluding most buyers who attend your open house), don’t procrastinate, get the price down unless you're willing to improve your home using the preparation and staging recommendations in step one (Prepare) on our site.

An exception to this is if your home has appeal to a limited market. Is yours a three bedroom in a four bedroom area? Is you're one of few homes without a basement? Not having a key item means you need to hang tough longer as your buyer just hasn't emerged (limited number of buyers) to see your home.

Slow periods also reduce the number of buyers, which makes it unnecessary to quickly drop your asking price during this time - unless you’re in an urgent need to move. Slow periods are caused by bad weather, back-to-school focus, vacationing, the economy, consumer confidence, etc.

Believe it or not, the selling season really does begin to crystallize following the Super Bowl. Cabin fever begins to set in with prospective buyers by early March. March and April is an ideal time to put your home on the market.

If your home would appeal to an upper middle class buyer and above, plus  you're in an area where corporate transferees are the norm, then selling in the dead of winter is quite common. The first of the year is when many corporations implement their new budgets, resulting in the relocation of management personnel.

             IF YOU'RE HOME IS LISTED

Agents can be creative in not talking about a price reduction to their seller clients. Their approach could be to say something like, “It’s time to reposition your home to cause it to stand out. A proven way to do this is to amend the price.”

Is there really an easy way to tell an owner that their price is too high?

On the Next Page is an example of how a simple phone call can easily spread the news.

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