Putting a house on the market can be exciting and stressful. In an ideal situation, we would all sell our homes quickly and for a tidy profit. The longer this process takes, however, the more we begin to worry that something is wrong.
If your house has been on the market for a few weeks and you haven’t gotten the interest you wanted or expected, it’s time take a hard look at what you’re offering and what you’ve done to make your case. Is your online listing descriptive? Have you taken professional, well-lighted photos? Did you stage your home in an attractive and enticing way? Have you made all the updates within your budget? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then it might be time to do something a bit more drastic. It might be time to lower your asking price.
Below are five signs that the price of your house may be too high. Read through them and if you recognize yourself, contact Network Real Estate. Our agents can help you find the best number to ensure your home sells at a price that’s fair to all.
- No one is viewing your home. Your home will garner the most interest the first few weeks after you put it on the market. If one or two months pass by and interest has slowed or dried up completely, it’s likely that the window has closed. You need to regain the interest of buyers and grab their attention, and lowering your asking price is a good way to convince them to take another look.
- People are looking, but no one is making an offer. If you’ve had plenty of viewers but no one has expressed interest beyond a walk through, something is up and it might be time to reevaluate. How did you arrive at your pricing? Is it comparable to other listings of similar homes? You may want to visit other homes for sale in your neighborhood and see how your own home measures up. If it’s a matter of price, you can adjust as necessary.
- You’ve had some offers, but they’re all really low. If multiple potential buyers have offered you a price well below what you’re asking, they probably know something you don’t. If you’re getting offers, it means your home is desirable, but not at its current price. Don’t fret. This is actually a blessing in disguise. It means that if you do reduce your price, the chances are very high that your home will sell, and quickly. It’s hard to put a price on that!
- You need to sell your home by a certain day. If you’re selling your home for a specific reason and are operating with a firm deadline in mind, then you don’t have time to wait for the market to improve or the right person to come along. Perhaps you’re starting a new job, or maybe you want to get settled in a neighborhood in a new school district. In these cases, lowering your asking price and getting a less-than-ideal offer is a fair trade for an easier transition to your new life.
- Your listing agent has recommended that you lower your price. Real estate agents serve many purposes and are experts in their field. They also have access to marketing plans and analyses, plus they look at houses all day, helping both buyers and sellers. This means they have invaluable insight when it comes to your asking price. If a trusted and experienced real estate agent, such as the realtors who work with Network Real Estate, suggests lowering your asking price, then it would serve you well to heed the advice.
While lowering your asking price is never an ideal situation, it can be an excellent strategy for selling your home and beginning the next phase of your life. For more advice about selling and buying real estate in southeastern North Carolina, contact
Network Real Estate – we’re happy to help!
Neal Johnson is a CMCA, CRB, CNE and GRI-certified, licensed real estate broker at Network Real Estate, which has exclusively served a high volume of property sales and purchases in the greater Wilmington area for more than 30 years. With offices at College Road, Historic Downtown and Pleasure Island, Network’s brokers are widespread and well-versed in this marketplace, making Network a preferred real estate company for first-home buyers and beyond.